English Language Papers

[Teamedup]

In the last few months we have had a couple of copies of The Connexion in our letter box.

Are there other such small english newpapers circulating in France and who reads them?

 

 

[Tresco]

TU, We get a free copy once in a while.

The first time it came I grabbed it and read it from cover to cover.

I think perhaps the second and third times I did the same thing, and I suspect this is something a lot of us do, grasp at anything in English, however basic it is.

In the end, I thought it was full of stories that were geared towards English speaking peoples 'interests' in France, and full of ads directed at English speaking people here.

I haven't read it for a while, though. I'm guessing you would be quite surprised (or even mortified) at the content?[;-)]

 

[RumziGal]

We've had two recently.   I think they're both still in their plastic covers somewhere.......

[Teamedup]

haven't read it for a while, though. I'm guessing you would be quite surprised (or even mortified) at the content?   [;-)]

 

[6] Ah you know me so well. [:)]

 

 

[Quillan]

Talking of News Papers. Do the French have online papers like we have in the UK? Also do they have 'down loadable' ones like I can download The Times or the Guardian in to my PDA?

I have bought one of these English papers in our supermarket. There were a couple of interesting articals and loads of adverts for getting Sky in France. Don't bother with them now, I either buy a French one or read the ones in the bar.

[Suandpete]

    There's this one:  http://www.lemonde.fr/

[Beryl]

I buy the French News very rarely. It too, has lots of adverts by and for the expats. 

If I buy anything aimed at expats, it is likely to be Britmag as I quite enjoy reading about what other English speaking peoples are doing in France and the news stories are more relevant to me. However, I normally buy a local French paper and read what I can.

[WJT]

Oh dear, am I the only one here that buys it [:$].

I buy the Connexion as well as the French News, I enjoy reading both. However, I enjoy reading everything I can get my hands on about our region here including the Sud Ouest and Sarladaise. The Connexion and French News usually include a supplement on our area which I look forward to reading. In fact, the last Thursday of the month in the Sud Ouest paper they include an English supplement.

I have never received a free copy of the Connexion though [:(].

Like Beryl, I too buy some of the Britmags, certainly Living France [;-)] but also have my subscription to French Property News, it is geared to people looking to buy properties but still look forward to receiving it every month.  [:$]

Oh yea, not to mention still participate in the Living France forum and look forward to looking in at least a few times a day! [:D]

[Clair]

[quote user="Quillan"]Talking of News Papers. Do the French have online papers like we have in the UK? Also do they have 'down loadable' ones like I can download The Times or the Guardian in to my PDA? I have bought one of these English papers in our supermarket. There were a couple of interesting articals and loads of adverts for getting Sky in France. Don't bother with them now, I either buy a French one or read the ones in the bar.[/quote]

I have an RSS toolbar which downloads headlines from Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, The Telegraph, the AFP... and others... I am a news freak! [blink]

I also have a subscription to French News, as I find it gives me an English perspective on France. I do have a laugh sometimes when I read their French language lessons! [:D]

[La Vette]

WJT - you are not the only one who buys and reads it.  We subscribed to both Connextion and French News but have given up on French News now (just because we dont need two).  I find that these papers also give an update as to what has been happening in the french news ie the elections, new regulations about this and that, articles about inheritance, carte vitales etc etc, so are very useful for people living here.  As for the ads, where else was I going to find someone to fit a Sky box for English TV, and a very good job he did too.

[Teamedup]

I've just googled 'French News', so now I know what it is and that there are at least two of these. French News at least, have never tried to solicite our custom.

 

 

 

[TreizeVents]

[quote user="Clair"] I do have a laugh sometimes when I read their French language lessons! [:D]

[/quote]

I rather like the sections on French language.  I sometimes take them to my French teacher.  She thinks they are useful.  Do you have a problem with them, or are they just funny to you or ......?

I enjoy the French Brit papers mainly to tell me what is of concern to Brits, much like these forums.

In Languedoc we also have two other English language perdiodicals

http://www.languedocsun.com/ Also in paper version.

Blahblahblah  paper version they must have a website, but I can't find it.

[Tresco]

[quote user="Teamedup"][6] Ah you know me so well. [/quote]

But you are always full of surprises TU![:D]

I can understand what people are saying about their liking for these papers, but I just find them very parochial somehow.

This is odd as they aren't comparable with a regional paper like Sud Ouest, which also drives me crazy, BTW.[:D]

[Will]

I think French newspapers are the ultimate role model for parochiality, that's why I like reading them (as far as I can). As well as the amateurish layout, flowery prose and the dramatisation of even the most trivial event, all of which are diametrically opposite to what we were taught in journalistic training in England. [6].

We have been sent a couple of copies of the Connexion which seemed to be very Provence-focused. I suppose I can understand that because there are a lot of anglophones there, and have been for ages, but I didn't really see their relevance to us in the north west.

There is a local free sheet in our part of France, called something like The Rendezvous (who clever of them, and how adventurous, to actually use a French word). It seems to be aimed at what I would call the Anglo Info crowd, i.e. those who say they like being in France but in reality are seeking a Little England where they can pick and choose what aspects of French life they maintain and what aspects of England (or Wales of course) they retain or recreate.

It's harmless I suppose, but it's interesting that when I considered doing something similar a few years ago, to cater for a growing English-speaking population, all the information I got was that such a thing would go against French laws designed to preserve the language, and we could only do it as a dual-language publication, rather than English only. Has this changed, I wonder, or is this one of the many rules that is used selectively?

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Out of all the online stuff I reckon France2's offering is the best in terms of content and depth.

We've never had anyone give us a free copy of anything English language published in France (but our name doesn't leap out of the 'phone book as being English, which may have something to do with it), but our French teacher is given French News by another client (she also teaches English to French types) and I have to say it really is fairly awful.

I'm sure newspapers have gone downhill since I were a lad: the odd copy of the Times, Independent or whatever that our guests leave behind (and which we value as firelighters, when we can get them to actually burn - something has changed in the manufacturing process, I am sure) reads like a student rag.

[Suze01]

We have had the last two Connexion's in our letterbox this year so far.

The trouble with these papers is that it's full of old news as they're produced monthly.

[Patf]

I sometimes buy French News and enjoy parts of it.  Often they get their facts wrong. Swiss Barry writes a column aka Barry Cornell. There's an online forum too - not very busy but OK. Pat.

[Clair]

[quote user="TreizeVents"]I rather like the sections on French language.  I sometimes take them to my French teacher.  She thinks they are useful.  Do you have a problem with them, or are they just funny to you or ......?[/quote]

No problems with them, just their occasional howlers![:)]

[Laura]

Ah, so it's not just us who've received 2 copies of The Connexion from nowhere then! Neither myself nor my boyfriend have subscribed to it, but strangely we got 2 free copies in the post addressed to my boyfriend who has been living here since he was 10 years old and who has never wanted to read anything in English... no idea how that happened. He's the kind of person who likes to think he's 100% French (and, to be fair, he does an extremely good job of it - you'd never know he hadn't spent his whole life in France) and was disgusted to find English reading material in his mailbox... I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his face, and was most grateful to take it off him for my own reading pleasure! I must admit though, although there are some interesting articles, it seems to address its readers as people who are incapable of dealing with everyday life in France without help - I would like to think that most Brits living in France are better integrated than what its editors seem to believe.