Gentle Persuasion

[JohnBoy]

I'm new to this forum, but have had a lifelong fascination with France and all things French. I would love to have a foothold in France by way of (initially) a holiday home, with a view to eventual semi-retirement in France. My wife, however, has reservations, principally because of the 'language barrier'. She has 'O' level French, I have 'A' level, although rather rusty I'll admit - took the exam in 1974!

We have already been on a property-hunt in Normandy a couple of years ago, but found nothing suitable. Fortunate, really, because since then we've both decided that we'd like to live somewhere a little warmer - just returned from a holiday near Tournon d'Agenais which we thought was beautiful. No disrespect to Normandy - we visit every year and it's equally beautiful - just a bit cooler!

Is there anybody out there who was a slightly 'reluctant' partner in a house purchase/permanent move, who could persuade Cathy that a)it's possible to get by in France without being truly bi-lingual and b)that the French people accept Brits into their community.

We've had three holidays in France this year and a fourth (short break) has just been booked, so I'm pretty certain we'd get a fair bit of use out of a holiday home.

Thanks.

John

[Grumpy]

John,
I think that you have got to be really clear in your mind as to why you want to buy a holiday home. Look at it another way, you are thinking of spending say 30,000 on another house. How many years worth of pretty good holidays would that fund? When you have another house in a foreign country, you might have the worry of what was happening to it in your absence. And so on .. Having played the devil's advocate, I cannot wait for the time when we have our own place in France. We have a rented house near Paris at the moment, but have plenty of plans! Almost without exception, we have had a most delightful welcome by the French people we encounter. Our language skills have grown enormously and all our French contacts are very complimentary about them. Unfortunately, the time when you really need language skills is when you do not have them. Negotiating with immobiliers, visits to the prefecture for carte de sejour and documents for the cars and so on. Anyway, having rambled for a bit, I wish you the best of luck in your search. Fun, isn't it?

[Elayne]

Yes it is possible to get by - when we first moved to France 20 years ago my husband couldn't speak a word of French and he was in his forties. He now speaks it fluently because we made friends iwth the locals

However if you are unsure of your area I would continue to have short breaks and holidays in different areas on a rental basis until you find the area you would be comfortable living in.

We spent 3 years looking for the exact village that we wanted to be in. Lots of things have to be taken into consideration - nearness to airports, autoroutes, hospitals, etc. Climate. And above all do you feel comfortable there because if you go to a small village it is obvious that you will stick out like sore thumbs to start with,. That is normal in any village in the world so don't be put off. We persevered and have a wonderful wonderful relationship with everyone in our village. In fact life could not be fulller in that respect

If you want any more ideas or just to chat then you can email me on [email protected] We live near Isle sur la Sorgue in Provence

[Jane T]

Don't give up, John! I was in a similar position to you in that I know France fairly well and am OK with the language, whereas my other half has only been a few times and understands a bit but is reluctant to speak and not convinced that we could make a go of it, in our case actually living in France. We were initially tempted a few years ago when good friends moved over and loved it, despite being similarly linguistically challenged. Now we are amazed to see that the reluctant partner chats away with the neighbours, regardless of their very strong accent. They have found all their French neighbours and those in the locality have been more than helpful and very welcoming, which has been very encouraging for us. I would agree that unless you are intending to work in France, you will easily get by, and could find yourselves improving in leaps and bounds.

As for any other concerns, I was equally amazed that my reluctant partner is now all set to move over lock, stock and barrel as soon as we can (next year, unfortunately) after a few days looking after our friends' smallholding last month.

And do keep up with this website. Despite what others have said recently, I have found the help and advice invaluable, and hope that in future we may have more to contribute ourselves.

Best of luck!

[Jc]

You'll more than find excuses for putting it off.JUMP! It'easier than you could ever expect when you get there.The people in our area (34) are unbelievably friendly.

[jem]

Hi John.I'm sure others will tell you that it's not difficult to get by with only rudimentary language skills,and I'd totally agree with them.Neither my husband nor I had even O-level French when we bought our house 4 years ago-having both loathed French lessons at school!We just walked in off the street to an estate agent who only spoke French,with good will on both sides,were able to complete the purchase totally unaided!The French are as willing as everyone else to respond to a friendly manner!It's amazing how quickly we learn when we want to! Everyone has always been very friendly,possibly more so than our neighbours in England!