Would anyone move back to the UK??

[Cerise]

Easy then, although I chose to live here as an adult, if I had children I wouldn't even contemplate it.  I am not at all impressed with the French education system and although I know the English one is far from perfect I'd prefer it any day.  So if I had children to consider I think I'd head for a part of the UK I liked.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Cerise"]Easy then, although I chose to live here as an adult, if I had children I wouldn't even contemplate it.  I am not at all impressed with the French education system and although I know the English one is far from perfect I'd prefer it any day.  So if I had children to consider I think I'd head for a part of the UK I liked.[/quote]

Conversely, I think it is a fine place to raise young children. My own view of the education system (both as a parent and as a pretend teacher) is that it is perfectly adequate for teaching most children to read, write & add up. And as a side benefit more children (you'll notice I don't either say or imply all - no rose colour spectacles in this ménage) appear to be capable of holding both a knife & fork and a moderately coherent conversation, often at the same time, than is the norm in certain other parts of the world.

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Cerise"]........................................  I am not at all impressed with the French education system and although I know the English one is far from perfect I'd prefer it any day.  So if I had children to consider I think I'd head for a part of the UK I liked.

[/quote]

Well,  given the choice between well-spoken and polite french children I've met here and the UK's chav-doh, doh, hoodies incapable of string a sentence together, its no contest for me.

[woolybanana]

But looking further, the number of kids who are unable to read and write and who are let down in other ways (eg dyslexia support) is very high. No, I've had a fair bit of first hand experience of the French system and I'm satisfied its purpose is to put a kid in a box in which it  WILL STAY all its life.

[Danny]

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Cerise"]........................................  I am not at all impressed with the French education system and although I know the English one is far from perfect I'd prefer it any day.  So if I had children to consider I think I'd head for a part of the UK I liked.
[/quote]

Well,  given the choice between well-spoken and polite french children I've met here and the UK's chav-doh, doh, hoodies incapable of string a sentence together, its no contest for me.


[/quote]

That's not really comparing like for like though, is it? I am sure the French equivalent "chav-doh, doh, hoodies" ( not exactly sure I know what you mean!) are to be found in great supply in the larger conurbations. Not in rural Vienne, I am sure.

Danny

[odile]

exactement Danny. As said before, apart from house prices - it is perfectly possible to get off the rat race, have a few chickens, grow veg, get away from all sort of conlficts/problems WITHOUT moving out of the UK. Going to France is simply ONE option - and certainly not a cure all. A French firend of mine went back to France after 15 years in UK, with her 3 boys. They were back in UK within a year as the French primary school system was totally unsuitable for their kids. There is no one size fits all. the French system is very old-fashioned in many ways - still relies on memorisation and regurgitation in many ways. And it is obvious that schools in a suburb of a large town are going to be very different than schools in a rural village- JUST like in the UK.

[YCCMB]

[quote user="Fiona"]

I have always failed to understand why there are some people who like to turn it into a sort of "competition" where every aspect of life in the UK is minutely dissected and vilified in an attempt to demonstrate (or justify?) a preference for life in France.

Well I sincerely hope that was not directed at me as that was most certainly not my intention.

[/quote]

No, it wasn't directed at you, Fiona. Not sure why you would even think that. However, your comment about being able to afford a better property does raise some interesting questions.

Let's be absolutely clear, I have no advice to give to you, because I'm sure my advice is worthless (and that's NOT, repeat NOT a ploy to elicit any particular response: as far as I am concerned it's a statement of fact) It's worthless because I don't know you and you don't know me. If you get a bigger, better house with more land, whatever, whatever in France....and I'm simply examining this from the standpoint you suggest, using the word "afford" as the key point....does it all stop there? Repairs, renovation, modernisation, heating, cooking etc....and at least the latter two are still necessary whether you're earning a living or not. If you want to "leave the earning a living debate out of it" and pretend that jobs are easy to come by in either country, fine.

[YCCMB]

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Cerise"]........................................  I am not at all impressed with the French education system and although I know the English one is far from perfect I'd prefer it any day.  So if I had children to consider I think I'd head for a part of the UK I liked.

[/quote]

Well,  given the choice between well-spoken and polite french children I've met here and the UK's chav-doh, doh, hoodies incapable of string a sentence together, its no contest for me.

[/quote]

And this, Fiona, is EXACTLY what I meant in the phrase that you quoted from me above.

[Fiona]

Fair points everyone....

I guess I did ask for comments re good versus bad of France and Uk in my original post, so apologies if I appear to have changed track!!  It amazes me how much opinions vary - some clearly love their lives here and others don't.  I think the key difference is that - yes France obviously does have the same social problems (to a certain extent anyway - I can't really say if that is true in the main) as the UK but one of the fundamental differences is in the sheer size of the country.  Yes there are inner city pockets of trouble and depravation - like the UK, but the problem with the UK is there is just a sheer lack of space!  You can't really travel anywhere without getting stuck in a traffic jam.  The rural idylls of the UK are never that far away from a big town or city - which has it advantages but also its disadvantages.  The point I was trying to make in my last post about leaving the earning a living question out (and I must admit I posted that in a hurry so didn't really read it through), is that I am faced with the question - would we move to a more rural area of Britain or a France - assuming we could find work in either location.  What would be our actual choice of a place to live?  Or should so I say what is our actual choice.  And for us France offers something the UK simply can't - geography!  We are heading to Ariege where we will be within an hour of ski slopes, a couple of hours of the Med, an hour so from Spain.  With the best will in the world we could never hope to spend weekends in the winter skiing and then in the summer have a day out by the Med.  When we try and head down to Brighton (a mere 58 miles away) we usually end up giving up in disgust or having a row as the stress of trying to negotiate traffic jams takes its toll - and then there's the parking!!  Call us dreamers if you want but that is what I am ing to give my kids - a free-er life, space to run around, clean air to breathe and the chance to learn to ski, horse ride etc...  That is what we want to move to (as opposed to what we want to move away from).  All we can do is try it, yes I am seriously concerned about whether the French education system will serve my kids well - only time will tell.  Yes I have serious concerns about earing a living - but we can only do our best to find work or set up our business...  We can but try eh!   As for the other choices of places to live - they have crossed our minds but in all honesty I don't want to move that far away.  I like Europe!

 

[odile]

I live in a large East Midlands town - if I go east from here I will only encounter small villages, some of them really pretty- all the way to the East coast, and if I go north, same again for hours. There are plenty of places in the UK with plenty of space and land, but not between London and Brighton perhaps.

Not many ski slopes though, apart from Snowdome! Bonne chance, whatever you decide to do. But please make sure you all take French conversational lessons before you go. It will make it so much easier to 'integrate' (whatever that means), for work, school and social life.

[KathyF]

[quote user="Bugbear"]Well,  given the choice between well-spoken and polite french children I've met here and the UK's chav-doh, doh, hoodies incapable of string a sentence together, its no contest for me. [/quote]

Well, that's certainly put my young grandsons and their friends in their place, Bugbear![8-)]

Again, one has to ask where the said well-spoken and polite French children and their obviously incoherent and badly behaved British counterparts actually live. I bet there are plenty of badly-spoken and behaved hoodie types in some of the tougher areas of French towns and cities and I know from experience that there are lots of polite, articulate and just plain nice youngsters in the UK.

[Scooby]

[quote user="Fiona"]

For us we could never afford the sort of property that we could in France so that does factor into the equation. 

[/quote]

The reason you can afford a property of that style / size in France is because France is so large that rural areas are often not near centres of employment - and because the old stone properties are a money pit in terms of maintenance and heating costs.  These are very valid considerations when you have an uncertain future with regard to employment / business opportunities.  Because of the relatively smaller size of the UK, rural areas are generally within commuting distance to a large conurbation - i.e. employment.

As an aside - the education system in the UK isn't that bad - even in the least desirable areas (we live in one of the twenty 'worst' areas to live).  My son just got straight A*/A's at GCSE.  He is also not a hoodie / thug but a well behaved, responsible and respectful individual.  My neighbour's son in France on the other hand.......

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Bugbear"]

Well,  given the choice between well-spoken and polite french children I've met here and the UK's chav-doh, doh, hoodies incapable of string a sentence together, its no contest for me.

[/quote]

Can I just apologise for that stupid generalisation.

.

[Benjamin]

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Bugbear"]

Well,  given the choice between well-spoken and polite french children I've met here and the UK's chav-doh, doh, hoodies incapable of string a sentence together, its no contest for me.

[/quote]

Can I just apologise for that stupid generalisation.

It's nice to see all the hard work that Ron's put in on your case hasn't been wasted.    [Www]

.

[/quote]

[jon]

Is that a real aplology......coming from your heart.However on another note the French economy has risen and most...if not all of eauropean countries have dived in the other direiction.I am not always wrong!!!!!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="jon"]

However on another note the French economy has risen and most...if not all of eauropean countries have dived in the other direiction.I am not always wrong!!!!!

[/quote]

Yes, that is quite interesting: growth of 0.1% after a contraction of 0.3%. Which means - technically - that France (and Spain) are not in recession yet, though all the rest of the Eurozone is.

I can't quite see it staying like that, though if it does it is not necessarily all good news because any signs of a recovery here will underpin the value of the euro (which is, as we have observed as strong as goats' breath) against the flailing pound. Ho Hum.

[Bugsy]

[quote user="jon"]

Is that a real aplology......coming from your heart.

[/quote]

Not sure what you mean, anyway what exactly is an aplology Jon ?[8-)]

Benjamin: [:D][:D][:D]

[NormanH]

Not a very European mentality..

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/11/14/18256/france-storms-into-shock-first-place-in-european-gdp-final/

[Bugsy]

Well here's a bit of a surprise

"Much to the surprise of most analysts, France's economy bucked the

trend and expanded in the third quarter, supported by consumer spending

and company investment.

Official data showed that the French economy grew by 0.1% in the June to September period".

.

[YCCMB]

Ooh, goody.....so you lot will be ready and willing to start subsidising us for a change then?

[Russethouse]

Perhaps France will attract more immigrants now [:)]

[Bugsy]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Ooh, goody.....so you lot will be ready and willing to start subsidising us for a change then?

[/quote]

".............................................. and I have always failed to

understand why there are some people who like to turn it into a sort of

"competition" where every aspect of life in the UK is minutely

dissected and vilified in an attempt to demonstrate (or justify?) a

preference for life in France."

Words like Pot............Kettle.............and................. Black................. spring to mind.

[YCCMB]

Ha! I bet you've been dying to do that, haven't you smar...sorry, bugbear? I haven't actually suggested anything competitive, but hey, let's not let the truth get in the way of a good dig, eh?

Did I dissect, vilify, justify a preference for anything? No. But hey, chalk up a point for yourself, you obviously feel you've "won" one.

Sheesh![:D]

[odile]

Salam alekum

[JSA Aude]

Alekum salam [:D]