cyrian

Would one way forward be to start a thread on one topic to attract the collective experience of the members and then summarise the result?
Then, the same could happen with the next topic etc. etc.
These could then be collected into a sticky with each sub-heading.
I will start the ball rolling with an "opening a bank account" thread.

bigglesworth

Sorry Cyrian, I should have read this first!

cyrian

No problem.
I do not have the experience to cover many topics and it needs input from others who know better than me.

Clo49

Even though I don't often log in this forum, I read it very very often. As a French person (excuse my English), I must agree that things have really changed here. You are right when you mention all the administrative problems in any area. Even a French has to fight with the mairie, the préfecture, the social security, plus the rsi and the ursaaf for those who are auto-entrepreneurs. As we say here, when dealing with all the administrative matters, you have to rely on the person whom you meet at the counter. If he or she is not ready to answer you right away (does he or she know the procedure ?) this person will take weeks or months to give you the right answer. My daughter has been waiting for a signature from a mairie for weeks now despite her many phone calls and visits and she cannot start her business. And before the mairie, she had to deal with the préfecture, which took her 3 months. And believe me, her French is excellent !
My other daughter has been living in England for 17 years now and her British husband wants to come to France. He does not understand why my daughter and myself are so reluctant to share this idea but if they actually came to France, neither of them would have a job : she's a freelance accountant (which is strictly forbidden in France) and he does not speak French. Besides, their son aged 6 understands French but does not want to speak it. So !!!

bigglesworth

Good morning Clo. Perhaps we can prevail upon you to help the rest of us help others with the inevitable difficulties of any move?

Tweedpipe

Clo49 raises some interesting points here.
We have been waiting since Sept 2013 for my next-door neighbour (an artisan /general maintenance guy) to do a small job for me on the roof. He agreed to do the task, and I've since reminded him - once only!

And we've been waiting for our heating maintenance guy, to change a rather specially designed tap over the kitchen sink. Asked for an estimate during his last visit in May of last year, and called him back as a reminder in Sept last year. Still waiting! During last year's visit we also discussed with him about the possibility of installing air-conditioning. He said he would send us a detailed estimate. Nothing to date! As for 3 other plumbers we have 'experience' with, well what can I say? In terms of reliability & customer satisfaction they absolutely stink. Too much contact with drains no doubt!

And in Feb this year, we called 3 other workman for an estimate to add additional loft insulation. One didn't reply, the 2 others said they would send us a written estimate. Only one did, and it was EXPENSIVE! So recently we randomly contacted another listed in Yellow Pages. He said he would send us a detailed estimate within 3 days. Much to our surprise we received it 2 days later, very detailed and to our satisfaction. Called him back to accept the job. He came the following week, and performed a superbly professional job in a day & half, even brushing up every trace of stray insulation material that had escaped from the bags and the blower. Oh, I forgot to add - he wasn't French. He was Turkish. Spoke pretty good French, and was genuinely one of the most reliable and professional workmen we've ever had. Told him we would definitely call on his services again.
Talk about Turkish delight.......

Often a young child doesn't want to speak a second language (even when they can) until they have young friends with whom to converse in that same language. This was the case with our son, who was brought up in a bi-lingual environment here in France. We would generally converse at home in French, but I always spoke directly to him in English from a very early age. But he was always a little reluctant to answer back in English, it was often in French. Until we moved to Italy, (he was then about 5 or 6) where from day one he was thrown into an additional language - which he loved, and had for the first time, young English friends in his class. Within weeks he began to converse much more with me in English, I guess because of his friends it became more of a 'living', and perhaps even a 'fun' language.

bigglesworth

Just for a bit of contrast, we use the same two French cousins for just about everything. They have most trades covered between them.
Two weeks ago, the far end of one of the barn roof timbers cracked. Just a small storm and we would have lost a measurable amount of the roof. I rang Samuel (who I know is absolutely snowed under at the moment) and he had a chap here the very next morning.
I now have a problem with the old bathroom (plumbing done when we bought the house) and when I rang Charles last night he was most apologetic that he cannot get here before Monday.
I do know, listening to others that we are very lucky, and we may not be typical. I wonder if it is the mince pies Er Indoors makes for their children every year. Mind you, her Victoria sponge when they did the roof went down a treat too!

EuroTrash

Sometimes I don't mind French artisans being hopeless - my plumber did quite a big job in early 2014, and since then I've reminded him twice that he never sent an invoice, last time being this June. Shan't remind him again, but the trouble is, he wasn't a bad plumber but I'll need to find a different one next time I need a plumber, just in case calling him out again jogs his memory.

cyrian

I feel that many Brits under estimate how difficult it is to converse in a foreign language.
My daughter studied for a year in France in an ecole superieure after having studied french throughout school and 3 years at a UK university.
Initially, she relied on my OH to arrange accommodation; bank account and setting up utilities. After a few months she was fluent with the other students.
Communicating in day-to-day french and maintaining a conversation is difficult. Dealing with officials is 10 times worse.
For those who post "I do not speak french but I will learn" - good luck - it is harder than you think.

EuroTrash

My university sent me off to France for the third year of the course and it made all the difference in the world - when I arrived I was stuttering and hesitating and got sweaty palms when I had to go and talk to the bank and stuff, and by the end of the year I was fine. But, I don't think I actually learned all that much more French, in terms of vocab and grammar, because I knew it (well sort of) already. It was just a question of confidence and getting the mindset right so that I could actually make good use of all the stuff that I already knew. So I think there's two parts to it - you learn French, but also you learn how to USE your French. Somebody that doesn't know a lot of French but is good at using what they do know, will actually get by far better in conversation than somebody who knows lots of vocabulary and can write subjunctives like falling off a log, but can't get words out of their mouth.
Or that's my take on it.

bigglesworth

I absolutely agree. My wife's cousin has been studying French for twenty years, travelling here for thirty. His grammar and vocabulary are both excellent. But his confidence is zero. His constant justification for his refusal to converse is that when he starts a conversation he knows how to say what he plans to say. But he cannot know how to respond when the other person answers.
When I try to explain that the same is true in English he just will not see that.
Confidence does it every time. People forget that there are two people in every conversation, and the other one wishes to understand just as much as you want them to.
Just walk down to the bar and have a couple of beers. Works wonders I find!

EuroTrash

My sort-of-ex is 100 times clever than me and knows far more French than I do. I was always asking him words, or to explain grammar points that I couldn't get my head round, and he nearly always came straight out with the right answer. But he will not speak French. Being an academic and a perfectionist he would be mortified if he realised after he'd said something that he'd got a gender or a verb ending wrong, literally he would probably have nightmares over it for a week, and there's nothing he can do about it. It's just how he is. He hates it when I'm over there and a French client rings up for me on his landline, even just having to say 'Ne quittez pas' freaks him out. He never comes to France for that reason but even if he did, I don't think it would ever change.

bigglesworth

Sounds JUST like my wife's cousin. He and his wife are both academics and sticklers for being right (even when they are not). Both internationally recognised, so I imagine there is a considerable professional downside to being publicly wrong that steers them towards caution.
So they also tend only to mix with Brits, go to British restaurants, etc etc. Such a shame. To have a house in France but mentally to live in England.
When they actually both speak quite decent French.

Bonnet

I was going to ask the OP how she thinks she will have time to do all that skiing and walking when she is running a gite complex or how she will manage to make much money on a seasonal basis.
Can I also remind her to check out the implications of her OH's job if the Brits vote to leave the EU. Any future pension will be frozen for example.It is an unknown but in the future if he has to find another job (not necessarily because of being outside the EU) he will find it very difficult. The French don't "do" charity like the Brits do. Today there is an agreement that EU members can move to find work. It may well be that if GB is no longer in the EU, preference will be given to those who are still in.

Clo49

No problem, Bigglesworth, I don't mind giving a hand, if I can.

And if I happen to move to the Charente area, I might ask you Samuel and Charles' particulars, as it is very difficult to know who is reliable and who is not.

As regards my grandson, the funny thing is that he gets on well with his French grandfather who doesn't understand one word of English.