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la petite pomme
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  Just wanted to say "Bonjour" and introduce myself as a new member.

I'm going to be moving to France this summer (Loire) as partner has been sent over by work. I already speak fluent French, having a degree in it and spent a year or so in Paris, as well as a stint working in Pas de Calais. This time - the move will be permanent (or, at least, it's supposed to be - I suppose we will see how it goes).

My main concern is my daughter Marta, now 6. She already has what I would term (very) basic French as my brother in law is French (though living in the UK) and speaks to her in French and I have taught her the odd thing during her short life. But I just can't imagine plonking her in the middle of a French school and leaving her to fend for herself. She is not a particularly outgoing child and has already expressed some reseverations. I feel like a terrible mum for uprooting her like this but fully recognise that sometimes "in at the deep end" is the best way to go.

My question is - how did your kids fare at the beginning? How long did it take them to settle in? How did the other kids respond to them?

 

I know every situation is different but any advice (about anything!) would be appreciated

 

Thanks!

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Hi pp, don't think you're alone in those thoughts, im sure most of us who have put children of any age in to school over here have had those thoughts.

 

My 4 1/2 year old is in her second year now, she loves it and is chattering away fairly fluently now, since Septembeer she has come on leaps and bounds, but I think a lot of that is to do with the fact that the french children are now a year older as well and they are speaking with clearer diction than at 3 1/2 so Ella can understand better what is being said to her.

 

It was a bit hard the first day, box of tissues (mansize was needed for me) at the ready is a good idea, however I think generally most children of a younger age seem to settle in quicker than the older children, also i've found a few mums have been keen for their little angels to play with "the english child"  as I think they think this will help their children out learning English!!!!  I am obviously offering my point of view, but I would say within two weeks Ella had identified who she wanted to play with as she is quite a quiet child and some of the children were a little bit too much for her.  She loves it and has loads of friends now who we regularly see at the park and around the town and they always do the little kisses to each other.

 

If I was to start another child in school here, with hindsight i would make sure they knew how to ask to "faire le pee pee" and also to ask for a drink, other than that everything else seemed to be picked up quite quickly.

 

Good luck.

 

Emma

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Hi there

We have two children who started at school here this academic year.  They had VERY basic french skills.  They could ask for the loo, and count a bit and not much more!!!  They are the only English children at our very small village school.  They have thrived, our daughter is speaking and reading french and english and our son (who had a tough time in school in the UK) is speaking a bit, understanding a lot and is starting to read some  french.  They get two extra french lessons a week at school.

For us, it has worked very well, but I know this is not always the case.  Our children have the advantage that there are the two of them, so they always had someone to talk to and that they are both fairly outgoing.

Good luck with your move.

Miszter

PS  I forgot to say - the children are 7 & 8.

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Hello

My youngest was 6 when he started school in France in Sept2005.  I had lots of problems with him not wanting to stay at school as he is a particulary clingy child, we had the same problems at school in the UK.  What made it worse for me was the fact his older brother was in the same school and this put a lot of pressure on him.  Eldest son settled in very quickly and made friends, youngest son relied on eldest son and had to be prised off him at the end of play time.  It took 6 weeks before my son settled and it was the hardest 6 weeks of my life. I was living in France by myself and had no one to share the anguish with, it was very hard.

When I look back at that time, I can hardly believe it really happened.  My son is in CE1 now and is completely fluent.  He can read and write in French, as best as a 7 yar old can and has lots of friends.  He is getting very good grades, 18 and 19 out of 20 and even helps the teacher when the class speak about English.  Recently he went on a school trip and on some buildings they had plaques in English, the teacher asked him if he wanted to read these to the class, which he did. So I feel he has the best of both worlds now, he can read and write in both English and French.

Yes it is tough, but it doesn't last forever.

Good luck.

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Thanks to all who have replied. Starting reception in the UK she was always clingy and got through that, so I am hoping that it will be a matter of time before she finds her feet and settles in. I for one am really looking forward to the move, though am fully aware that it won't be straight forward and we will have lots of new day to day problems that we just don't face in England. I hope in a year or so I can look back and feel that my worries were if not unfounded then not as bad as I'd imagined!

Thanks for all your help and support.

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  • 2 weeks later...

TU, sorry had forgotten I had replied to this thread so hadn't checked it.

It was suggested to me by a french lady before Ella started school, that I should encourage her to answer to her middle name as it would be very confusing for her and her maitresse, but it has never appeared to be a problem as yet!!!

 

Emma

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Dotty wrote

When I look back at that time, I can hardly believe it really happened.  My son is in CE1 now and is completely fluent.  He can read and write in French, as best as a 7 yar old can and has lots of friends.  He is getting very good grades, 18 and 19 out of 20 and even helps the teacher when the class speak about English.  Recently he went on a school trip and on some buildings they had plaques in English, the teacher asked him if he wanted to read these to the class, which he did. So I feel he has the best of both worlds now, he can read and write in both English and French.

Yes it is tough, but it doesn't last forever.

Good luck.

 

The first year my boys were permanently in French school they went away for a week skiing, the best thing for them. It was the first time they had ever been parted from me.  They were forced to speak French for a week as well as enjoy themselves of course. But for me, I was ill with worry.  It seems that their only problem was me being too clingy. [:)]

I also invited loads of kids around after school the first year (and still now) and this has helped both my French and theirs.  They were only 7 at the time, but they are fluent and very good in class.  So don't worry, you will pass that on if you are not careful.

Georgina

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Hi there

I too am moving to France in the summer and my daughter is also 6 - I'm glad you put this message on here as it has reassured me too that whilst it may be difficult at first, in the long-term we are giving her a fantastic chance to integrate into another culture and learn another language, something she would never do if we stayed in England.

Good Luck

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junebaby do not fear - at 6 years old your daughter will not have much problem integrating into the school life and should very soon start speaking some French  - one of my greatest pleasures was when my daughter, she started at maternelle when she was 4, started to talk French in her sleep, I think she was 5 at the time and it was lovely [:)]

I don't know what your plans are but we only ever spoke English in the house, except when I was helping the children with their schoolwork in the early years, and now we have two totally bilingual children, one at Bordeaux university and the other at Lycée. The downside of only speaking English at home though is that it's not good for the parents French but you can't always have everything [:(]

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