MOVING home with an older child, secondary school age of 11 upwards, is always a worry. When it is to a country where the everyday language is not the mother tongue it can be particularly stressful for the parent and for the child.
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Education for older pupils
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Getting to grips with French life
HOPEFULLY most people won’t just up sticks and head to France, instead they will undertake a little thought and reading in advance to help make a success of a move.There are many books on moving to France, but one written recently by journalist Patricia Mansfield-Divine may prove helpful as it brings together her experience of having lived in France since 1999.
You may recognise Patricia’s name from magazines about France as her work has appeared in many titles, and you will also have seen her comments across many forums and internet messageboards offering tips on French life.
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Life in the deep end on a banlieue
IN many ways, Mohammed Diallo is the face of Caucriauville, writes Zach Spittler.
As a member of staff at a municipal pool in Le Havre, he greets all soon-to-be swimmers with a calm smile and a pleasant charm.
And as an African immigrant living in a particularly notorious French banlieue, his story turns out to be strikingly similar to those living around him.
Mohammed Diallo has only been in Caucriauville since 2005, when he followed his wife back to her home town of Le Havre.
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Health and emergency services
WHETHER you are just visiting France, or live there, it is worth being aware of how to contact the emergency services should the worst happen.If you struggle with the language, or are just not confident of getting your message across in an emergency situation, then the pan-European Union number 112 is worth keeping to hand.
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Preparing children for a move to France
If moving to France let un tracteur take the strain of learning the languageWHEN my daughter was planning to relocate to France we discussed the best way to prepare her children, then three and five, for the move.
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Advice on having a baby in France
NOW having a baby in France is not something I have experience of, but I know a mum who has.Wendy Johnson has fired up a website to keep people in touch with her own story of having a second child and offers plenty of advice on the different procedures and steps involved.
Also a nice touch Wendy adds to her Having a Baby in France site is the note at the end of a story highlighting any costs involved.
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Counting sheep at Mouton Village
Vasles in Deux-Sevres is doing its bit for European relations, by way of sheep, writes Beryl Brennan.Mouton Village occupies a large part of the village, with its 1,600 human inhabitants greatly outnumbered by their four-legged woolly compatriots.
The commune has around 100 sheep farmers and 18,000 breeding ewes at any one time, producing lambs and associated products; it is the main industry and income provider for the area.
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Harmonie in Chinon
Chinon sits on the banks of the scenic Vienne river, just south west of Tours, at the heart of the Loire Valley, writes Beryl Brennan.It was the birthplace of Cardinal Richelieu, the writer Francois Rabelais, and Richard the Lionheart is said to have died here in 1199 from a crossbow wound.
It is also famous for its wines; the appellation covers over 2,000 hectares and some 200 vignerons produce wines from 18 villages situated on both banks of the river.
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Test your French knowledge
AUTHOR Andrew Whittaker has written a new series of questions on all things France to test your knowledge of French history as well as current affairs.Some of the questions are drawn from Andrew’s book Speak the Culture: France, while others have featured in the newspapers or are drawn from the art world.
Below you will find a set of ten questions, alongside a .pdf of the same questions that also features the answers which you can take away with you.
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Tracing the gruesome truth of ancestry, French style
WITH access to the internet French families are now able to research the fate of their ancestors who may have died by the guillotine during the French Revolution.The site, Les Guillotinés, allows families to log on and uncover the appalling injustices carried out over a three year period; from 1792 to 1795.
