Jump to content

Family with 5 & 7 year old children need advice


Irishfamily
 Share

Recommended Posts

I'm sure this question has been asked and answered before so apologies if I am repeating it.

My wife and I are seriously considering relocating to the Vendee, after many excellent holidays in the area and having great French families as friends, we would also like to enjoy this more relaxed lifestyle - but one thing is holding back the final move, the KIDS !

We have two boys aged 5 & 7, the younger has just started school in September, the elder has been in school two years. We are worried that they will find it difficult to cope learning the basics of everyday French life especially schooling and education.

Is there anyone who was in the same position as we find ourselves in ? any help and advice would be greatfully appreciated.

1) How quickly did the younger children get a confident grasp of the language ?

2) Were they confused between learning English before and now learning French ?

3) Did they feel alienated at school being 'foreign'?

4) Being so young they will learn through the French education system, but do they then not know how to read and write in English or do they study English privately ?

5) Anyone recommend a good school in the La Roche sur Yon (85 - Vendee) area ?

Any advice please !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

>
>
.
>
>
>Is there anyone who was in
>the same position as we
>find ourselves in ? any
>help and advice would be
>greatfully appreciated.
>
>1) How quickly did the younger
>children get a confident grasp
>of the language ?
>
My two were 8 & 10 when we came permenantly and were speaking fluently within 6 months. We were told that if our daughter had been any older, then it would have been a different story as she would never have caught up in time to get on in collge.

>2) Were they confused between learning
>English before and now learning
>French ?
>
Not really, they forgot about speaking english except with us at home and even argued and fought in french.

>3) Did they feel alienated at
>school being 'foreign'?
>
Not really. We had the press round as they were the very first english children ever to live and go to school in this village and it made them very popular - our house was full of kids every afternoon and still they come now to see us at weekend and holidays.

>4) Being so young they will
>learn through the French education
>system, but do they then
>not know how to read
>and write in English or
>do they study English privately
>?
>No. They will learn english along with the local kids , just a little bit to start off in primaire and then into it fully at collge and Lyce. There won't be any special help,but then you have come to live in France so therefore french is surely more important for them to learn. Don't forget that in collge they will also HAVE to learn another language,plus Latin if they opt for a career in medicine etc. My son did Breton as well as spanish,english and french and benefitted.

I wouldn't worry at all about them, the first couple of weeks will be hard but they are still young enough to forget their previous schooling and adapt to a new life which is surely more important now.



Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello irishfamily,


>Is there anyone who was in
>the same position as we
>find ourselves in ? any
>help and advice would be
>greatfully appreciated.

My circumstances where a little different in the fact that our family moved from France to the UK (early 80's) when i was 8 and my brother 10. However you are getting the perspective from the "Kid" rather than an adult, so to speak!

>1) How quickly did the younger
>children get a confident grasp
>of the language ?

It was difficult for a short time, i would say 6 months, we went straight to an english speaking school and thus had no other solution than to pick up the language, we had a lot of fun learning English at that age! We also had extra tutoring which took place whilst classmates where doing sport -NOT a good idea - i am no good at team sports at all!!

>2) Were they confused between learning
>English before and now learning
>French ?

A bit yes, but quite honestly at that age i think the language is not your biggest concern, but rather monitoring their development in other subjects, our teachers when we fist arrived in the UK, reported that we had advanced levels of mathematics, history, geography, grammar etc. than our classmates. It may or may not be the case that you will be able to help in these matters depending on your French skills, so your children do not get a bit lost/confused and stay on track. BTW - both my brother and i spoke fluent English within three years that includes smart remarks, slang, and lost any trace of a French accent. By continuing both English and French at higher levels i now speak Both like a native.

>3) Did they feel alienated at
>school being 'foreign'?

No never, we where quite the center of attention, particularly from the girls!

>4) Being so young they will
>learn through the French education
>system, but do they then
>not know how to read
>and write in English or
>do they study English privately

I guess that is up to you, in our case i did my French GCSE at 13, and my A Level at 15. I would imagine that you will probably speak a good deal of English at home, it is worth continuing with English, one reason i can thnk of is that they may want to go back to their roots later on in life (like i am doing by going back to France 20 odd years after leaving, and i'm glad my French is very good)

>5) Anyone recommend a good school
>in the La Roche sur
>Yon (85 - Vendee) area

I'm sorry i Cannot.

>Any advice please !


Whatever you decide to do good luck, and although i strongly believe that intergration is very important, you should never let your kids forget where their real roots lie, because you just never know what can happen in the future, not only will they be better equipped but they will have more choices in life as to what country they want to live etc. I can rest assured that i always have the choice of calling both the UK and France home, since my parents made sure we where forever in touch with our native France.

I wonder what other posters have or are doing with their kids regarding this? i think i'll post a new thread later.

regards,
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...