Jump to content

Tourangelle

Members
  • Posts

    955
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by Tourangelle

  1. [quote user="raindog"]Seine-Saint-Denis is about your best bet. [/quote] Sarcelles, Villiers le bel, Aubervilliers, Drancy....NO!  I hope the previous poster was joking, you should avoid the 9-3 like the plague.  I have a friend who lives in Malakoff, it is really nice there, definitely worth a look, it is just to the south of Paris.  Another pleasant suburb is Fontenay-sous-Bois, to the east.
  2. Personally I think it depends 100% on the child and on the parents, but my perspective is that of a teacher in collège who has seen children arrive and go through the system.  To be honest, I have never had a British child, but lots of other nationalities.  I have seen a couple of bright children arrive and not look back, arriving in France at 11.  Others have been less successful.  Several reasons for a lack of success (by which I mean failure to integrate and to write the language), they didn't have proper schooling in their home country, (which obviously wouldn't be a problem here), school was seen as a legal obligation, not something good, various things like that.  The ones who came out ok (example, last year a Bosnian with refugee status who had arrived at 12 went off to lycée having got her brevet) were the ones who had their parents behind them, and help from the school.  The school has a specific section for new arrivals, they have them in primary schools too, they are called CLIN, but are only available where there is a significant immigrant community. What I would do if I were you is continue not to show your concern to your child, as it won't help.  Get her as familiar as you can with the French language.  Do you speak French yourself?  This will be key, will you be able to talk to teachers about her progress and about how she is integrating with her classmates and understand what she is studying in order to help her at home?  If not, you will not be able to support her properly.  Make sure she knows key phrases for her first day, can she ask to go to the toilet, does she know how to say that she doesn't understand?  Find out about activities on Wednesdays, try to find her friends from her class, don't necessarily opt for the school where you find a person who speaks English, but go for the school where you feel she will be most comfortable.  I'm not saying she'll be ok, your attitude and what you do to prepare her are going to be the most important elements in her success or failure to integrate.
  3. Don't you have a livret de famille?  We got married in the UK, but we registered the marriage at the embassy in London, who translated the marriage certificate and then our livret de famille came through.  It took ages, (six weeks-ish) because it went to Nantes, then back to London, then to us, and it cost a lot in recorded delivery, but certainly less than 50 euros.  I'm afraid you're probably right about the price because that is exactly what I paid to have my degree certificate translated.  I'm hoping to avoid all of this to some extent because it is a change in département, and not a new request.  I'm kind of perplexed as to why it matters that you are married given that your husband works.  I suppose they just like to have all the info they can!
  4. Thanks Clair. I can also provide the French spouse too if necessary, although it does seem strange...but if that it what it takes!
  5. [quote user="Clair"]I have just been on the phone to my préfecture, to request a carte de séjour for Mr Clair... [quote]Me: " Could you tell me how to go about getting a titre de séjour for my British husband? Préfecture: "he does not need one. Me:"I know he doesn't, but he prefers to have one and I understand that he can ask for one and you can issue it. P:" yes, if he asks for one, we'll issue it. He will need to supply... 3 ID photoscopy of valid passportbirth certificatemarriage certificatecopy of French wife's ID cardproof of permanent address in Franceproof of health cover"Me:" he is employed and he has that from his work, so...? P:"in that case, he'll need to have a proof of employment, a copy of his employment contract and a copy of a payslip. You'll need to request a formulaire from your mairie."[/quote] I have just phone the mairie and they have set aside a form for me to collect this afternoon. I have been in contact with the mairie several times to find out about how the various changes will be affecting Mr Clair and, from my tel calls to them, they do know that there are changes afoot, however, they have not yet been informed of them.[/quote] Clair do you mind me asking, why do you have to go to the mairie? Is it just because you are not near to a prefecture?
  6. But where do you go if they say no?  I mean who is the next authority up, as it were?  I think I am going to have this problem soon when I go to renew mine, because I've moved to a different departement. I'm perfectly prepared to argue it out with them and the town I live in has a prefecture in it, but where do you go if they say no? CMU is totally not an issue for me, not only do I work, but I'm a civil servant, and I think it is particularly useful to have French papers.
  7. I'm 30, so not that much older, when I was 26 I was living in Lyon and I wouldn't recommend there.  If I didn't hate the heat I'd like to live in Toulouse, or thereabouts, I think it is a fantastic city, there is loads going on and some fantastic places nearby like Carcassone.
  8. There is a whole thread on "French kissing" in French culture which should answer your questions.  Have a look on the website kelkoo for white goods.  Also try the camif, on the internet.
  9. [quote user="Frosty"]The only problem I can see is that if they put your son into 3eme, (which is the last year) he will be expected to take his 'brevet' at the end of this school year, and this exam is based on the previous 4 years scool work. So maybe its worth asking if he can be held back a year. [/quote] Can I advise against this if when you say he already speaks French you also mean he writes it?  It's not really based on the last four years except in the sense that in maths, say, they aren't going to teach them how to multiply if they are supposed to have learnt that in 6eme, they aren't going to review past participles if they did it in 5eme and so on.  I mean it is not like GCSEs with coursework or anything like that, and the history and geography syllabus is just the year of 3eme. Also, and this is recent, for the continous assessment, in all the other subjects it is now only the marks in 3eme that count, whereas before it used to be those in 4eme as well.  And of course he will sail through the certification in English!
  10. On the contrary I'm not brave, I'm a very nervous, very occasional driver (the two kind of go together), or at least I have been since I passed my test, in part due to the fact that living in one of France's largest cities, public transport was great.  Now, for various reasons I have to drive more regularly, so who knows.  But right now, I don't speed, and those who ostensibly do make me more nervous, and I'd be delighted if more of them got caught!
  11. Somebody flashed me the other day and there was a dog wandering about in the middle of the road...  In general, it really annoys me actually, because I don't speed and I'd rather others got caught, serve them right plus if I don't see the reason for the flashing I get worried about the car!
  12. I recently completed a long distance move and we went with a company called Guigard who are part of the Déménageur Bretons group.  They were fine.  We took an option where they "wrapped" the furniture and provided the boxes, but the actual packing was done by us.  They did offer an all inclusive service, which we knew our employers would not reimburse!  However, we got several quotes, and went with the company that offered a reasonable price although not the cheapest, for various reasons.  A quote is free, so get a few to come around.  All seemed to offer various options with packing or not packing included.  So it is not direct experience, but it was certainly not an "expat" option.
  13. This is all very confusing, really, because I really can't see why anybody would have mentioned a lycée to you, as the pp said, he should definitely be collège at thirteen, (you know it is not done by school year but by calendar year).  I've heard of people who emigrate's children having to do a test if they are thought to speak some French already, and also to try and find out if they are literate in their language of origin.  But as you have had contact with the inspection académique, then it does sound like you have approached a private school (don't worry, it won't be expensive).  I only really know about public schools, but I have got a couple of friends who teach in private schools, so if it does turn out to be private and you have some specific questions I could ask them.  On the down side, if it does turn out to be private, then there are differences between the ways that schools function.
  14. I just wondered whether they were thinking of putting him in a special class for a few months to concentrate on his French, but then why wouldn't they do that for his brother too?  I suppose if your youngest son is 10-11, they might be unsure about whether he should go to a primary or a secondary school.  Was it a catholic school by any chance?
  15. If your eldest is 13 then he should be in collège, in 3eme, not lycée. I agree with Val, it sounds like a placement test  for French, but didn't they tell you?  Are you sure you are sending them to the local school?  If they are testing him (and why not the other?) then perhaps it is to see if they need to send him somewhere special first. Importantly, the mairie is NOT the place to ask about post primary education, you should enquire in the individual schools.
  16. Don't quote me out of context, then!
  17. I imagine nobody mentioned teacher's strikes because that's not the question?  The question was why so cheap.  Why have you highlighted what I said about lycées, whilst cutting out that I said "generally"?  I said that Brittany was an exception.  Really, I don't see the point of this last post.
  18. There are two sorts of private schools in France, the ones that are "genuinely" private as we understand it in the UK , and those that are "privé sous contrat" which is to say that they are almost entirely government funded.  They are usually catholic schools, although the dose of religion may be very minimal. Although it may sound like they are like church schools in the UK, in fact they are not allowed to recruit pupils on religious grounds.  The "privé sous contrat" schools must follow the same curriculum as public (state) schools and the teachers are trained and recruited in the same way, although with separate quotas.  Often, it is just a traditional thing to send your child to private schools, certain families do, and in certain areas (Brittany, Ardèche) it is more widespread than others.  For other families, it is a way of avoiding a local school which might not be seen as being so good.  It is generally true that while the primary schools are ok and the collèges can be fine too, private lycées do not get as good results as the public ones.
  19. Generally when a French child asks for help with irregular verbs, they haven't learnt the list of preterites and past participles that you find at the end of text books.  It may well be this is what she is concerned about, because teachers generally get the pupils to learn them slowly, say 10 by 10 or 20 by 20 at a time.  If the girl has missed a period of school she is probably behind on these.  Otherwise there aren't really irregular verbs in English except have and be.  She should have learnt these in 6eme.  The tenses, as such, are not taught in "isolation", but integrated into the chapters, so she may well not have done a lot of exercises.  I am sure you will find it all much easier as soon as she gets the text book for the year and you will beable to go over it with her.  If it is just the irregular verbs, try games, like throwing a ball to each other when you say the verbs, or miming the active ones.  Try to get her to find rules, like those that do not change, ie put, cut, those that are the same whether it be the preterite or the past participle, such as spend spent spent, have had had, and those that are different all the way through, give gave given, etc.  Get her to spot the odd one out of those that you say, for example.  Vary the activities, make them fun and put them in context and she'll be well on her way!
  20. [quote user="maureen"]I have also travelled to UK on my Carte de Sejour, although the Frontier Police looked down their nose, but they couldn't refuse it. [/quote] This is misinformation.  A carte de séjour is not a travel document it merely allows  you to show that you live in France. They could have refused it, you were lucky, I have heard this story go both ways.
  21. Just to say this recommendation turned out to be really good.  Not only was the hotel absolutely fine, but there was a really good truckers' restaurant five minutes away![:)]
  22. Don't worry about it at all.  The person employing you doesn't know the ropes, that's all.  All he needs to declare you is your passport, nobody will ask any questions about how long you have been here.  I had periods of being a penniless student on my husband's social security, and then when I went back to work I gave only my passport.  It really should not be a problem.  In fact, even in 1999 when I think but I am not sure that the cds was required, I got a job and was properly declared before it came through.
  23. Noooooooooo, no fun at all.  What would parents have to do in the holidays otherwise????  Actually, we teachers write those lists and we enjoy making them long and uncomprehensible, and try to slip in the odd item that doesn't exist, 89 page exercise book  size A3 anyone?  Not to mention my favourite, the English activity book which we will use for the first month only, but which I will frighten your child into bringing every lesson. Only kidding....I'm not that scary![:P]
  24. ok, I'm going to give this a go.  So, you've got your cpam cover, and you are happily part of the French system.  Therefore you are covered at 65 or 70% for medical stuff, like the rest of us.  You don't have to do anything else.  If you are not ill or don't have any existing conditions, you could just chose to pay the difference yourself for your occasional visit to the doctor.  (Cue lots of people screaming in horror at this last phrase, and trotting out their awful stories of having to sell their pet cobra to finance their medical treatment.)  It is possible, I know people (even sensible people) who do it.  However, you can choose to go for a mutuelle, which is like insurance (incidentally, is top up insurance a word used in these books?  because it can't really top up as it is not insurance as such in the first place, it's social security.  But I digress).  So you opt for a mutuelle.  You thought 70+30=100, right?  So why would you need more? Well, not all doctors are conventionné (part of the system).  Or,  they are conventionné but with honoraires libres which means they charge the basic rate and then some... with 100% cover you get reimbursed for the basic rate only, but with 200% you get more and so on.  I know you said glasses weren't an issue, but they are extremly badly reimbursed.  So, if you have 300% then your mutuel will pay for more of your glasses than the basic social security rate, and so on.  Same thing with teeth.  It is essential to have a filling, so the ss reimburses that quite well, but that cosmetic bridge work you quite fancy?  They might pay a bit, but without a good mutuel, you get stuck with the big bill.  Have a look at maaf.fr they wont let you buy on line, but you can do simulations of how much it might cost with different options.
  25. Whereabouts in Lyon are you going to live and study?  It's really big here, which is why I ask before suggesting anything.
×
×
  • Create New...