Patf Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 An interesting discussion - just to add that many french doctors dentists and vets have done some of their training in the UK so have learnt some english. Also, there's a shortage of doctors in rural France, and I believe many are recruited from abroad.We have a very kind, competent doctor, who understands and speaks some english, but goodness knows how I'd cope if I needed to go to him for personal advice eg marriage problems, children's emotional problems etc. Even though my french is OK. His father, aged 85, still practises, and he speaks only french.My hairdresser used to help me improve my french, she's retired now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I have to admit I am stuck in the 1990's when it comes to the UK and that was before internet. Maybe the internet is spoon feeding people too much and everyone is becoming wimps.I can't imagine though a French person living in Stoke on Trent going onto a forum and asking if anyone knows of a French speaking Electrician in the area. But if you say that happens then fair enough. Cant imagine there being any French speaking Electrician in Stoke on Trent mind you.But anyway, life is not about speaking the language it is about communication. You can point, draw pictures, shake your head or whatever. Moving to a French village and not hiring the local electrician or hairdresser because they do not speak English is just silly. The probability of finding one in the next village or the area is zero yet people ask the question. We have employed many many tradesmen in France and not one speaks English. It comes with the territory. I have never had or met a English speaking hairdresser either. I am sure your one is an exception to the rule.Another one is vets. Why does a vet have to be English speaking. It is the animal that is the patient. The cat or the dog does not care. Does speaking English make the vet better ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspers girl Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 hithankyou for the ear bashing and the judgements and assumptions alittlebitof french and iban have you quite finished with the character assassination feel free to carry on as it says more about your small mindedness than mine. i have no idea why you feel it necessary. must reflect your lifestyle. A big thank you for the pm with the English speaking doctor i contacted this morning living in nerac.just shows you two do not know eveything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 http://www.jennaclinic.co.uk/#!page2/cjg9http://www.romford.co.uk/directory/russian-speaking-hairdresserhttp://www.stjameshealthcentre.co.ukhttps://www.justlanded.com/english/United-Kingdom/Forums/Health/French-speaking-doctorhttp://www.providencesurgery.co.ukThe above are just some odds and sods from around the UKThis, fair enough, is for London, but bearing in mind you can get there (even from Stoke on Trent) in a couple of hours, it gives an idea of scale - and even includes a vet!http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Medecins-et-professions-paramedicales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 [quote user="jaspers girl"]hithankyou for the ear bashing and the judgements and assumptions alittlebitof french and iban have you quite finished with the character assassination feel free to carry on as it says more about your small mindedness than mine. i have no idea why you feel it necessary. must reflect your lifestyle. A big thank you for the pm with the English speaking doctor i contacted this morning living in nerac.just shows you two do not know eveything  [/quote]I have not been called alittlebitof french for a while. Maybe it is just coincidence you calling me that but as Mr Spook says in Star Trek..."there is no such thing".I am happy you have found your English speaking Doctor.Live long and prosper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Well said OP - and to put my oar in, Nerac is neither that remote, or that small ... and there are plenty of English in that region ... so not an unexpected question.I also agree with Betty, loads of "furriners" in the UK try to find a speaker of their own language ... though I still think that it is much easier to be understood in very poor English in the UK, than very poor French in France.And I for one would prefer to really understand what my French doctor / dentist / you name it/ was saying to me when it could be life threatening. Hence why finding someone who speaks at least some English is very helpful and comforting even for those of use who debrouiller very well these days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I would say Nerac (having googled it) is remote. It is miles from a decent city. I had a quick walk around on google street thingy and looks OK. Not a lot going on by the looks of it but pretty.Thanks betty for your links. If I was a French student just out of University I would head straight for the UK. Having said that, if I was a young French Electrician or plumber I would head straight to the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 And I don't get why it is comforting to hear one's native language in France from a professional. What if they get it wrong.IF I had ever needed comfort, I would not have stayed. And I'll tell you why, you end up in say les urgences, and are very ill and everyone is speaking french and from my perspective, I 'need' the comfort of understanding them, not hearing my maternelle language.I moved to France for an adventure, with five words of french, and I only knew what three of them meant. Even though I did not imagine I would have actually been staying, I got stuck in and accepted that part of the new life in a different country was trying to get to grips with the language and culture. I have no talent for languages, including english, and it was hard for me. Took me a week to learn 'etre', indicatif/present, I am not kidding it did and I was in my twenties then, so much for languages coming easy, the younger one is!!!!! My husband had given me a copy of the Bescherelle Conjugaison book. For some reason, I thought that 'je suis' etc was some sort of key and once I had learnt that bit that everything else would slip into place and be easy. And once I had managed 'etre' present, my husband said, 'now there's the rest of the book to learn'...... I did not even know what a conjugaison was, I had truly thought it was something to do with marriage or sexual relations....... but not what exactly. Re the OP. Like or lump what I have said. I find it all very odd indeed and am glad that I deliberately chose to live far from other 'anglais' and I'm sure that my french friends would have found it odd and disturbing that I would have been asking if there was any english speaking anyone in the area, especially artisans or professionals. My french friends are rather keen on things french.And yes, I see and hear of these enclaves in the UK too....... I have absolutely no time for them at all, I believe it very very unhealthy for society. There again, look at France......... being told that there are many english speakers anywhere gives me the shudders......... and then there are the poor souls who live in the 'cité', enclaves, near ghettos in many cities and towns.... again very unhealthy for any society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 albf - trouble with you is - you aint got no imagination! Always harping on the same old moan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Surely the point is that this is an English language Forum to help English speakers.As many of the long-time posters here will know I am a stickler for consulting French sources in such things as legal and social-security issues among others, and of course the ideal is to learn French as quickly as practically possible.However the OP was a specific question about a present situation.If someone who lives in Nerac needs an English-speaking Doctor now, and comes to an English forum for the information then it is unhelpfulto tell that person to learn French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 [quote user="Patf"]albf - trouble with you is - you aint got no imagination! Always harping on the same old moan.[/quote]I don't harp....I am a happy smily person.There is a logic to my posts.......I think. I am with Idun. I am not a language person. I struggle with English nevermind French. The day I gave up trying to learn French was the best day of my life in France. When you struggle with language (even you own) you see life differently.It is not a question of saying to someone looking for help 'learn French' it is trying to explain to them that the challenge of living in France (or any foreign country) is to try and exist happily without needing your own language. That is fun. Without that I would not live here. Why on earth would you live in France ? France is rubbish.In terms of heath, I truly believe you don't need an English speaking doctor. But, if you prefer and you can find one then that is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I thank you for breathing new life into this forum ALBF even if it does mean putting some peoples noses out of joint, at least it has got them posting, recently there have been no more than a handfull of postings per day and now we have a 5 page thread within 24 hours, chapeau to you! When I have the time later I will post about English speaking plumbers, hairdressers and Doctors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspers girl Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 thanks everyone doctor found and now registered,please can we now stop the character assassination which it seems to have now changed to the town of Nerac alittlebitfrench ( you missed the joke on the name)why not start your own topic this ones now concluded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspers girl Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 thank you exactly the point i was trying to make and for the record i do speak french but when in pain i would like to be able to communicate and be understood quickly as the op stated i did not ask or need any other profession-in English so why this attack i have no idea . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Jaspers Girl says....."for the record i do speak french but when in pain i would like to be able to communicate and be understood quickly"It is quite easy to be understood in French....you just say 'aye' instead of 'ouch'. LOLP.S. I never got the alittlebitof french joke even in a previous life. I am sure I will get it one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnie Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Depends upon your impression of remote. Nerac is self-contained and has all the necessary commerces, including a hospital. Also, it is only about 26 kilometres from Agen the county town. There is a bus service linking the two. Whilst not buzzing with heavy traffic I would not in any way call it remote.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Anywhere more than a 25 minute commute by car into a city centre is remote for me.The buoyancy of the housing market in France tends to back-up my logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Minnie, that's just what I was going to say, but you got there first. In fact it's a pretty little town which attracts lots of English ... so not at all remote.As for ALBF, nearly everything here is about 30 minutes drive away, but we are by no means remote ... even less can it be said that 47 is remote ... where there are very many more larger towns than here, plus many more somewhat scattered villages and individual establishments .. one (but not the only) reason we moved south. Personally, I dislike going into the more highly populated areas, or the less remote ones you would call them .... and prefer those areas more able to exist under their own steam.As it seems you have not visited Nerac but only looked on that fount of all knowledge (not) Google may I respectfully suggest that you stop casting stones or even aspersions on a place you are obviously never going to visit, and leave the recommendations about it to those who are prepared to help others on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I think we should congratulate Jasper's girl for fighting her corner so bravely [;-)] Glad you found what you were looking for.When I first joined this forum I found all the opposing opinions daunting, but when starting a new venture you need to sit back and evaluate the pros and cons. Then form your own opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Judith you are very funny. Your posts make me laugh.P.S Where is W1 by the way in France ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 In my very narrow range of experience during the last 10 years in troudeculdemondeville I have found that all doctors, hairdressers, motor mechanics, truck drivers carrossières have to study and pass a certain level of English to qualify for their métier ( I assisted in the lessons with the latter) and I'm pretty sure that its the same for the building trades as well so plumbers and electricians. Now whilst the profs perpetuate the myth that if they dont get a pass mark in English they wont qualify so as to maintain some discipline (AKA fear) in the classroom the reality is that none of them will fail their BAC Pro or BTS or whatever for lack of competence in English or Spanish or whatever language they have to study any more than I would have been allowed to fail my HNC for the low marks that the sadist of a liberal studies teacher gave all of us. A very small percentage go on to become proficient in the second language but its normally when they have some interest and exchanges in the country be it through music or like one of my students who had to order all the parts from British classic car suppliers for his fathers garage. There will be a few from each trade that go on to learn the language especially if they have done a stage overseas, there is something called project Remus or whatever (I just invented that name) where they can get funding to study abroad, sadly it was only the children of immigrant families in my lycée that were up for it, the others were just to closed minded like their fermé parents, the funding is there going begging which is a real tragedy. Once you get into professions like Doctors I think English is learned to a much higher level, or maybe its just because they are more academic to start with, a lot more professionals do speak English especially if they want to further their career, they are much more likely to have travelled and studied abroad also. I asked at the Mairie for a recommendation of a Médecin, I didnt realise they sent me to the one that cops for all the English patients from a wide radius especially the couple of ghetto villages, he was delighted that I was determined from day 1 to communicate in French despite like Idun having only 5 words and a Bescherelle permanantly in my hand, I know him well now and he admits that he hates having so many English patients and specifically having to communicate with them in English, he is very very concerned about it for the reasons ALBF described but he is stuck with them, I dont know how well he speaks English as we have only ever spoken in French but I have heard some of his colleagues speaking it when they were cornered (not by me) and they were quite good but they had the good sense not to admit it and accept English patients, my médecin on my recommendation now charges a higher price for consultations in English which he said didnt go down well at all but he was a surprised and dissapointed to have not lost any of them and that not one had decided to go for a €21 consultation in French rather than a €42 one in English. My Syrian opthalmo and I eventually started speaking in English because we both had troubles with each others French accent and his French was weak, not as good as mine in fact but it was inspiring to see just how well he did with his limited vocab, some of the more ignorant patients refused to be treated by him as he was a p****n foreigner that cant speak French" so I got foisted on him and it was a good thing for both of us, he is IMO one of the finest opthalmos at the hospital and despite his handicap he communicates better than most of the others because he is à l'écoute (a good listener) which is as rare as hens teeth in these parts. His English is superb as he studied at the Moorfield eye hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 So, in the collective estimation of yourself and ALBF, Chamcer, I should be s**t scared when I visit hospital in the UK and my consultant is Egyptian or Italian or whatever (I rarely see a consultant, but when I do, I'd say 50%of them are non-native English speakers) Basically, and my limited but nonetheless existent knowledge of French hospitals seems to indicate pretty much the same: there are plenty of health professionals in both countries making a fairly good fist of practising their chosen profession in a country where they don't speak their native language to patients.In fact, in my earlier trawl for links to find GP's in the UK, I came across one link which I discarded, directly aimed at French medical students wishing to continue their studies (at higher level) in the UK..Be afraid......ETA I'm just watching Question Time where one of the speakers has just stated that 26% of doctors working in the UK were not born in the UK. it would therefore be logical to assume that someone from another country would have a fair chance of finding a doctor who speaks their language, and it follows that if you want to communicate with an English-speaking doctor in the UK, you have a one in four chance of it being a doctor whose first language is not English. Yet, apart from a couple of notable examples (I recall not long ago where a Nigerian doctor, working as a locum in the UK because he'd already been banned from practising in Germany, committed some awful mistake) the population doesn't seem to be howling that they're terrified their GP may commit some terrible error due to language problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 [quote user="You can call me Betty"]So, in the collective estimation of yourself and ALBF, Chamcer, I should be s**t scared when I visit hospital in the UK and my consultant is Egyptian or Italian or whatever (I rarely see a consultant, but when I do, I'd say 50%of them are non-native English speakers) Be afraid......[/quote] Not sure how you drew that conclusion Betty? I'm sure a lot more people in France than I think can speak English or even good English but I would be the last to know, even my ex who I knew was very intelligent and had had the best education in France I didn't realise her level of English, she never ever spoke it to me or even any of my family who dont speak French, a couple of times when struggling to understand what I was saying sho would put forward a very difficult or advanced English word with superb prononciation which surprised me but I really had no idea until we went to Church on Sunday in my village in Sussex, the vicar asked her slowly in English if she enjoyed the service and could understand any of his sermon, she replied "yes I followed all of it until the bit where you were talking about XYz and then I found it a little hard to follow" [blink][blink] Its not often that I am most for words but I was gobsmacked! After that it was back to business as usual although she did open up a little to my step mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Betty said "Basically, and my limited but nonetheless existent knowledge of French hospitals seems to indicate pretty much the same: there are plenty of health professionals in both countries making a fairly good fist of practising their chosen profession in a country where they don't speak their native language to patients"As I understand it, only doctors with French or EU qualifications can practice medicine in France. So that rules out most of the world.The exception to that is the American Hospital in Paris where a small percentage of Doctors can practice with lets say an 'American' qualification. Going back to the EU, in order to practice medicine in France you would have to pass a language test and I should imagine you would have to be bordering on bilingual to pass them. That pretty much locks out most EU doctors from working in France.So if you go and see a doctor, specialist or go to hospital in France you will most certainly will be seen by a French doctor.Going back to the point of an 'English' speaking French doctor, like I said I have never met one that will 'practice' medicine in English. The translation of French medical terms and terminology into English (and vice versa) is not as straight forward as one might think. I have seen umpteen cardiologists all over France not one spoke English. You would think in cardiology most would speak English !!!!! I have also had two operations in hospital and at no stage during the whole process from the doctor to the anaesthetist to all the support staff has anyone spoken English. Even the 'Kiné after the operation did not speak English.When I said flippantly to learn French earlier in the thread, is because the whole medical world in France operates in French. You might get by with your local doctor but if life gets more serious you will need some language skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Well, although not recent, this does only date from a couple of years ago....perhaps you are aware of a more recent law change or mass evacuation?http://sante.lefigaro.fr/actualite/2013/06/04/20705-plus-plus-medecins-etrangers-franceAnd check out the related article link at the end of the first article:"Mon medecin generaliste est un etranger" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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