DZ

I am glad to hear that you have found such good hairdressers! For anyone else still needing some basic hairdresser vocabulary, I woud recommend this article from the French Accent Magazine: http://www.frenchaccentmagazine.com/jan07/pages/coiffeur.htm

Hi Sassy There have been many discussions on this forum on moving to France with teenagers, in which I have taken great interest as that is what I had been considering doing myself (and chickened out of, perhaps sadly...).  Here is a link to one I remember.  I don't know if this will be helpful, but it's always interesting to read. http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/749961/ShowPost.aspx Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

You'll find some helpful advice in this article from the most recent issue of "French Accent" magazine. http://www.frenchaccentmagazine.com/avril07/pages/accident_avril07.htm

It sounds like your friend might have a real problem when her little son turns into a teenager, Twinkle!  While all relationships in the family need to be built on respect, young people need to know who is boss.  It was really hard (and I mean it) to institute thi truth in my own family but now that they are all teenagers (with one pre-teen) I can say we have a truly great relationship. And I do agree that the French boys of my sons' age seem to be much more immature and somehow younger, even physically - even my boys remarked on that.  I wonder why that is?  Mind you, I can only comment on boys from a couple of villages that I know well - it might be all different in big cities, where they are all streetwise etc.

Hi Polly You could start by looking at some statistics and comparing the different regions you are considering according to different criteria in the survey below (done last year).  But, of course, nothing replaces actually going there and seeing for yourself what you think about the given region.  I am personally biased in favour of Herault (but, having said that, I don't live there, so I don't have to look for a job - unemployment is very high there). http://www.lexpress.fr/info/france/dossier/departement/dossier.asp?ida=438183

My experience of French children is rather limited due to my rather infrequent trips to France, but whatever I see of the youngsters at these occasions confirms me in my opinion that they are angels in comparison to the rowdy and scarily disrespectful lot I have to put up with on the buses each day in South East London... Of course, this is generalisation and I know loads of wonderful young people, but the general picture is rather grim.  What is it really like in France?

I am not a writer but greatly admire people who have such a talent, especially whenever I am engrossed in a really good book  I often wonder, do writers set about writing a book when they have the plot clearly developed in their heads or does it tend to develop and change while they are writing?  How does it work for you, Jude? By the way, there was a thread on this Forum quite recently started by someone writing a short story and wanting to hear the Forum's opinions, but it suddenly just vanished.  I wonder why? And does anybody remember the wonderful story about the Bnnett family, "Vive les Anglais", serialised on this Forum way back in 2005?  I wish there were more chapters coming.

Thank you, Cassis - one can always expect a friendly and lovely reply from you! I was asking because France and Poland tend to be quite close culturally in many respects and it is a custom to send Easter cards left, right and centre where I come from.  But of the main differences between those two countries is the level of religious practice, so I am guessing that Easter is not such a big thing over in France?

Is it a custom to send Easter cards in France?  I know Christmas cards are not really done, so I am wondering if our French friends will think we are weird/eccentric if we send them Easter cards?

We signed up for ADSL through the Orange website from the UK lat month and when we went to France 2 weeks later it was easy enough to set up the internet connection.  The modem was delivered to our local post office in France.

Neither do I but I like it too - in fact, the tune got stuck in my head for good!

You beat me to it, Missy!  I was planning to start a similar thread myself.  I loved your photos, by the way!  Here is one of many door photos by my OH taken in our village - the place is full of such wonderful buildings - they simply beg to be taken a photo of! [IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p230/eyephotos/40583_001-S1-0006.jpg[/IMG]

There were a couple of informative articles on consumer rights and information in the on-line French Accent magazine (http://www.frenchaccentmagazine.com/index.html).  It appears that in order to access advice from the main consumer defence organizations you have to subscribe to their monthly publications or go in person to one of their offices (www.60millions-mag.com or www.quechoisir.org), however a new website has been recently created which gives you free access to lots of practical consumer information (www.conso.net).  

[quote user="Loiseau"] Gosh, I found those antipodean girls and the sharks a bit brain-twisting!! Angela [/quote] I was wondering if I was really thick but I really could not get the story in any order even though I understood every word... I wonder what a French person would make of it?

As advertised, the test took me 45 minutes and revealed exactly what I expected.  It was fun!

Fascinating!  Are these new words actually being used or do people prefer to use the English equivalent in France?  Just wondering if I should be learning them!

You can get sous-couche acrylique in Castorama.

Yes, I was very impressed with the woman's honesty. as you say, Katie, she could have just used the place without ever telling me!  We have now made a deal about the occasional renting.  She is a very proud person and would not hear of the very low rent I offered her - she insisted on double that!  Thanks a million everyone who responded - I think this forum is like one big wise friend (well, most of the time!).

Thanks, everyone, for your quick responses!  You have helped me make up my mind. 

Hi, I hope you can help me with my dilemma.  We have "une maison secondaire", which we rent very occasionally to friends and acquaintances for a set rate (very cheap by English standards, btw).  A local woman looks after our house and cleans after the guests (she happens to be Polish).  She has now asked if she could book the house for her Polish friend and was shocked to hear the amount of money she would be required to pay.  I am now wondering if I'm not being mean.  The house is standing empty and it could be used by someone for a nominal fee, but is it advisable to get into such double-standard arrangements (ie. different rates for English acquaintances and people from a poorer country)?  I don't want to upset my very good housekeeper, but am wondering about the wisdom of entering into special arrangements... Has anyone on the forum had such a problem to consider?

Very true, Gastines - "The Secret Life of Bees" is a fantastic book.  I read it last month.  Will look out for "A Redbird Christmas".  A book I would like to recommend is "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, an extraordinary and very wise piece of writing.

Age is a matter of mind: if you don't mind, it doesn't matter!

[quote user="Clair"]Take heart people, I only scored 91%...[:-))][8-)][blink][:'(][/quote] Lol! This only goes to show that such tests don't test real fluency in a language!  I feel much better now! 

There is a nice little intermediate level proficiency test on the French.about.com website today (just be careful to open any sound file in a separate window, otherwise you might have to start all over again!). I am truly useless on the rules governing the accents! http://french.about.com/library/weekly/bl-proficiency2.htm

[quote user="Blanche Neige"] Just as they forecast, I looked out this morning and the world is white and a little snow still falling. S.E. England [/quote] What an apt name you have for today, Blanche Neige!  It is surprisingly white in South-East London, so much so that all the schools are closed.  This means that I can't go to work today, so will just have to go on the Forum instead!