Hi all
I need some help, I`m a 38 year old male. Ive been in the printing trade
for the last 19 years and i need a change. As there seems to be no jobs going
for my trade in France how easy would it be to get other work in France.
Either none skilled or to train up. Ive been thinking about this for a long time
now so its not a spur of the moment thing.

Any help would be great.

regards
trotter

Welcome

Work in France is a hot topic here. You will find many threads if you do a search. Some people find work easily and some don't. French unemployment is very high, but on the other hand, there is always low paid work if you look hard enough. Firstly, learn french. You will find it tremendously difficult without fluency. There is a site - www.anpe.fr which is similar to the job centre of the UK. You can search in any area, and see what's on offer.

If you are prepared to live frugally and can speak good french you may survive! It is hard but people do succeed.

Good luck

Speak good french, i`m a geordie i cant speak good english
Thanks for the advice i`ll have a good look around here. I`m trying to learn
french at the moment.

According to the latest news some of Sarkozy's initiatives seem to be working and French unemployment figures are continuing to decline quite noticeably although there are a number of people out of work. I assume he isn't massaging the figures like certain politicians we know;

His Mrs, Carla Bruni lives a 3 minute walk down the road from me. I only learnt this a month ago as there's sometime a big police presence whilst old Sarky kips over for the night. If I happen to bump into him, do you have any messages I or queries I can pass on?


Trotter - There must surely be a printing trade in France, but I would think you'd need to look around the major cities to be sure of finding something more secure. My French partner understands the Geordie accent (we're watching the Hairy Biker's Cookbook on DVD at the moment), but she comes completely undone by the Scottish, so there's hope for you yet!

You could try commiserating with Carla over the loss of Yves St Laurent. They were both at his funeral yesterday.
Trotter your English accent is absolutely irrelevant w<hen it comes to speaking French. Just stand in front of the mirror and start using your lips to practise 'euw' (pucker lips forward like an ape), ' eee' instead of the letter I (but don't shriek like a mouse) and 'arran' like trying to explain it hurts at the dentist when you have a mouthful of instruments. Drop your haitches, drop the letter 's' at the end of words and you'll be well on your way.

Thanks G-J-B, i always watch the hairy bikers, class i think its best if i try and learn French 1st.
Thanks for the tips onlyonebrenda i`ll practice them .

Has anyone got any other tips for learning, how did you learn a different language, can it be made easy.

We've been here for 2 years now, and I'm only just starting to speak with fluency. We've taken on average 8 hours of french lessons a week and use Michel Thomas CD's whenever we can. Get involved with a local group, volunteer at your local school/college, watch french tv with subtitles on, make yourself read out loud in french and join your local Anglo-French group!

We are lucky in having a daughter attend the local college, so we get a lot of exposure with her friends and teachers. If you haven't a child in school, don't let it stop you from helping, they always need volunteers for trips and events.

Mostly, don't be afraid to speak as much french as you can when you are out and about. Fluency comes with practice, and your brain will adapt much quicker if you get in the habit of thinking in french too - I practice sentences to myself before I drop off to sleep!

Good luck!