mum38

Hello,

Have your kids chosen to do a 'bac' / A-Levels with a high percentage of English to get extra marks for the exam (i.e. littéraire+ anglais renforçé+ litt étrangère) or gone for a wider choice such as Bac ES or Bac S ?

Next year our son will be in 'lycée' so I'm trying to encourage him to work harder in science if he wants to do that or languages if he wants to do that...As we are discovering how to dialogue with a teenager (not argue) and not get angry when I see his marks in English for example I would really like to suggest interesting jobs to motivate him.

So what have your kids chosen to do for work etc ? Anything using English ?! The Literary A-Level would be so easy for him as he's good at French and actually likes philosophy (which I would hate). However he's already told me 'there's no way I'm going to be an English teacher !' So, apart from teaching I've read that this particular A-Level limits you job-wise.

I'm interested in how any of you parents out there dealt with this subject with your kids !

Thanks, mum38

dmu

Hi, my elder daughter did a Bac S, in a European section with English and German. Having a Degree in Biology and having studied drama, she's now teaching French and English to Kindergarten children in Germany. The younger one did a Bac L, likewise with English (anglais renforçé) and German, mainly because she was hopeless at maths and hated physics. She has a Degree in Law (one of the few options if you didn't want to be a teacher, historian, ...) and, after an Erasmus year in Germany, stayed in Germany to take a Degree in Geography (the only option with a Bac L for what she wanted to do).
All three Bacs include Philosophy in 3rd year, but with different coefficients.
A Bac L doesn't open many doors, whereas a Bac S (or ES) does.
Your son won't have to make a decision until the end of first year Lycée ("2nde"), so he has plenty of time and there's a Counsellor to give advice about different careers and paths.
Hope this reassures you!

Chatter Static

We have lots to work out our eldest is in his first year at college and is doing English and Spanish as his additional languages and the headmaster has asked that he study Latin next year we are keen to make sure he is steered in the right direction and to be fair it a system thats a tad Greek to me.

dmu

I forgot to mention that my two also did Latin up to 3ème. They could have done Spanish rather than German, but I advised them to do German (for the simple reason that I speak it!) and they've never regretted it.
We're lucky that so many language options are offered in a Collège/Lycée in rural Hérault (Occitan, too).

Tweedpipe

I'd immediately agree that a Bac L is/would be somewhat career limiting. 'Junior' TP who is currently peeping over my shoulder as I write, also says he couldn't agree more. He did a Bac ES which traditionally opens a number of doors, followed by a degree in Political Science and Business studies.
A valid comment from DMU: the Counsellors generally do give excellent advice about different careers and paths.

cyrian

Hi
I can't help with the French school system - my daughter went to une ecole superieure for 1 year.
There are lots of jobs available today that did not exist 10 - 20 years ago.
My SIL works for a Swiss bank in London in a job that is impossible to define or describe. He has a UK law degree with French.
It is easy to think of jobs like lawyers; doctors or accountants etc. but there are many other jobs that are less well known.
My daughter went through the stage where she lost interest in school and her parents were just stupid people who knew nothing about anything.
She came to her own decision that she wanted to achieve more from life and decided that she needed to apply herself to gain qualifications.
After school, she went to university after she had identified her career direction and had chosen the best course to fit her ambitions.
She decided that she wanted a career in business consulting with Accenture and this course fitted well with that end.
She did not go to university to do some random course after which she would see what jobs were available.
She chose the course to fit the career choice.
It will be very difficult for you without your son realising himself that he will be entering the real world in a few years and he needs to structure his education to fit with his aspirations and job options.
Being fluent in French and English (or other language) increases the possible jobs available.
I hope that with your help he can realise that he will have to live with the choices he makes today.
Good luck

petitefrancaise

I think your son must be troisieme right now and about to sit his brevet?


Since this is his first serious external examination in the french system, he's perhaps getting a bit stressed. All he has to do is get through his brevet this summer with a half way decent mark. Then he'll go to Lycee for a year during which time he'll get a better idea of what studying at lycee level is like, he'll figure out which subjects he likes himself. Then at the end of next year he'll be choosing his Bac. So, if it were me (and it has been me...) I would just tell him that right now all he needs to think about is his Brevet and not the rest of his life!

If you can, get him into a lycee with at least a european section as extra weighted marks are alway useful,, if he can take an advanced english course, this will make it much easier for him to get into an english speaking uni. At this stage, it's all about keeping options open for him so that he can make his decision later.

Hope this helps

mum38

Thanks for your replies.

But what do you do if your kid (who is very capable, really good marks in French/English) says 'I don't want to use English, I want to be a carpenter' !!!

I hope he'll wake up to reality in 'Seconde' that using English will help in life !

dennerlymum

Hi

In the end what we all really want is for our children to be happy - if your son really wants to be a carpenter and understands and accepts the financial implications of this choice, then perhaps better for the time being to help him towards this - rather than force him towards a more academic choice that he doesnt want - a reluctant adolescent will find lycee very very challenging...... as will you!

ps although very bright and more than capable of a university led career, my husbands background means that he is a technician at airbus

... he has consistently earned more than me and has generally been more relaxed and happy than me during our 20+ years together!