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French
Language |
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For many people, the biggest concern
about moving to France (or buying French property) is their limited (or nonexistent) knowledge of the French
language. While this is not a trivial matter, there are a number of steps that
can be taken to minimise difficulties. This page considers three approaches:
In addition to these topics, the following related pages
may also be of interest:
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Living in France Without the French Language |
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There are many villages within France,
as well as some areas (especially in the Dordogne and Provence) which have become
so popular with the English, that English has effectively become a second
language. Many of the inhabitants are English, there are English social clubs,
notices are often posted in English as well as French and local businesses have
often learnt some English accordingly. The advantages of being able to deal in
your native language for most things (with rough translations generally
available for the rest) are obvious. Throughout France one can get English TV
(with a satellite dish), and many channels (including several BBC channels and
several ITV channels) are free. In addition, one can not only get English papers,
but there are French newspapers which are published in English. Consequently,
one can get by without speaking French.
You may decide that you want to live in
an area where there is not a large English population. This has the advantage
that house prices have not been bid up by English buyers and that one has a more
authentic French experience. Even in these areas, it is not absolutely necessary
to speak French. You can get by on a day-to-day basis reasonably well with a
smile and sign language.
However, for formal contracts, you would
be well advised to either have a translation or have a bi-lingual
representative. Perhaps the most important requirement for these is for the
house purchase and associated contracts. In addition, there are a number of
forms and applications which you will need to complete upon moving to France
(for example, your residence permit) for which you will likely need a translator
(even if it is a neighbour or friend you speaks a bit of both languages).
However, once you've completed the activities associated with the original move,
there is very little absolute requirement to speak French.
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Free
Translation |
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There are a number of free software
packages which will automatically translate between English and French. While
very useful, the quality of translation is less than perfect. For information on
how to get the most accurate translations from them, click on Free
Translation.
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Learning
the French Language |
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One can live in France and live well without speaking
French. However, the more French you speak the more you will be accepted into
the French community and the more you will gain from the French experience.
Consequently, one should try to learn some French, even if you don't speak a
word when you arrive.
There are many approaches to learning French: attending
classes, private tuition, audio tapes, computer courses and so on. Which
approach is most useful varies widely from person to person, as we all have our
preferred learning styles. Alternatively, if you speak a little French and make
the effort to use it whenever possible, you will gradually pick up more and over
time will become fluent; this is the way children learn languages and it works
well for adults (although adults learn slower than children).
English and French share many words in common. For example,
every English word that ends in 'ion' (of which I'm told there are several
thousand) is spelled exactly the same in French, with only a few exceptions.
However, when speaking, you need to give it a French pronunciation in order to
be understood. The quickest way of picking up a French vocabulary is to learn
how the French pronounce the
alphabet; one can then take advantage of the large
number of words which are the same in both languages.
Most of the day-to-day activities (buying something in a
store, ordering a meal) can be done without speaking a word of French and
without the other person speaking a word of English.
Goodwill and sigh language
will take you a long way. You just have to be relaxed and feel free to be a bit
silly; if you want a steak or some lamb in a restaurant and don't know how to
ask for it, feel free to 'moo' or 'baa'.
Try to use your French whenever
possible, no matter how little it is. This will endear you to the locals,
reinforce any lessons that you are taking and will be a great learning exercise.
Even if the only words you know are 'thank you' (merci) and
please (s'il vous plaît), combined with a smile they will
take you a long way. The French are very proud of their language and will
appreciate the effort. Sometimes, they even understand
English and after you’ve struggled for a while, will start speaking English
(fluently or broken, depending on their ability). However, if you start in
English, they may be offended by the implication that they can or should
speak English (imagine if a French person came up to you on the street in your
native country and starting speaking French with the assumption that you should
understand their language!) and will likely not try as hard to understand or
help.
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Some
Cautions |
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Many Frenchmen often will not speak
English even if they are able to do so, for a variety of reasons. The French
consider language proficiency very important and sometimes are too embarrassed
to speak poor English (although after listening to someone speaking terrible
French for a while, they sometimes will give it a go). Alternatively, they may
expect people living or working in France to speak French and see no reason to
speak English. They may also think that you prefer to speak in French (for the
practice) and will struggle to understand you rather than insult your language
ability by speaking English (although after a while, when you are clearly out of
your depth, they will give you an encouraging smile and switch to perfect
English).
For whatever reason, you should never
assume that French people cannot understand English merely because they appear
not to. I'm constantly amazed by tourists that open criticise individuals or
the French in general, assuming that the people around them won’t understand (in
such cases, the French will often give no sign that they understand, but will be
deeply offended).
Of particular note, if you are
selling/buying something or engaged in a business negotiation, never assume that
the French people opposite you do not understand English perfectly, even if they
appear not to understand a word of it. It is not unknown for French salesmen
or businessmen to appear not to understand English either for the reasons
discussed above or in order to gain business advantage. Turning to your
wife/husband/business partner and making statements such as “the price is
reasonable, but I’ll try to get another 10% off” is likely to completely
undermine your negotiating position. Making rude statements about the other
party, even if you think they will not be understood, will also have a similar
effect.
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