I had read it… No problem David. I just couldn’t decide between hussey and hussy !
I have always understood expat to mean someone who is working abroad for a company or organisation based in their home country. I describe myself as a migrant.
Quite so, Geof. That is what we are. There’s no stigma in that word, objectively. However,
Maybe but I feel that it is more as someone else has already touched on - that ‘immigrants’ are a class of people ‘with whom we do not wish to be associated’.
I was greatly entertained by the tale of a Brit, long time living in FR, excellent FR lang, who was contacted by the son of an older couple who had a place in the same village, spoke no FR and were astounded to find they were about to become 3rd country citizens. Our man was asked to help.
After a lot of careful explanation of the situation to this couple, who still failed to grasp that Brexit applied to them, our man was asked to take the mayor out for a real slap-up dinner and have a quiet word because this, it was believed, would be the solution.
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Agreed, I have a few thoughts on the fact(s),
e.g. is @janejones ,now a france citizen still an immigrant? - I presume same applies to the Moroccans, Algerians, Cameroons et al.
Is it (to go back to ‘Hussey’) where one is born which makes one an immigrant?
Then an Italian born in Italy, living in France, would be an immigrant. An Italian, born in France would not.
Is that crazy, or is that the definition we want / seek?
If one expands the definition of ‘where one was born’ to e.g. EU, then EU citizens may not be ‘immigrants’. Would EU citizens be counted in France immigration stats? Perhaps, I do recall the UK spouting on about polish plumbers … though France doesn’t require EU citizens to register so maybe not?
And to revisit a comment I made years ago, being a citizen of the world, an Andromedan born in France will not be an immigrant (unless the immigrant definition does include being human), but a human being born on Earth will - it seems only the end of nation states will end ‘immigration’ - and probably nuclear war also. Back to crazy…
EDIT - also in a nod to the seemingly eternal SF thread seguing , I see this is a discussion of managing to speak French, rather than immigration politic - so…
If the Andromedan spoke perfect French would they be less of an immigrant than I?
Well I was only a first generation immigrant in the UK (neither parent was British born) so going up in the world to be an actual immigrant here!!
I don’t feel the need to have a label… but if someone does label me Anglaise or Briteesh … I will laughingly correct them by informing them that I’m one-quarter French… and that generally leads on to a friendly discussion of this and that…
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This migrant expatriate voyager thing rather gives away our age.
The young now are effectively global nomads. Parents are citizens of one country in which they may or may not be living. Children born in one country, schooled in another and job searched to a third. Along the way they marry nationals from one of the above or another entirely. National identity is blurred and often holding multiple passports, answering that question “Where are you from?”, is all but impossible.
Rather freeing not to have a label.
Only the very privileged, unfortunately.
Absolutely. Others are still living in their parents box room, and their world travel defined by the curent ethnic mcdonald’s wrap.
I got chastised by a neighbour the other week for refering to myself as a immigrant, he said that I wasn’t I was a good friend and a Scottish honorary Frenchman as I had chosen to live the rest of my life here 
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Geof. Apart from surname, I’m a bit like you, having lived and worked in most countries in Asia plus a few in Europe and in Africa. Through lack of use, I have forgotten a lot of my Japanese, Chinese and Bahasa but am very good at charades 
(and can order a beer and say thank you and sorry in 12 languages). Worst one I had was trying to explain to an apothecary in Kalimantan via sign language and charades that my sick friend was suffering from explosive diarrhoea . Not my finest hour
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@Susannah You have almost perfectly described my wife’s life! Born in Luxembourg, educated in England, worked mainly in Belgium and Netherlands, married to this particular Brit, and now lives in France.
I suspect this pattern is probably more common than some would think, given the numbers of children of diplomats, military, career expatriates of multinational companies etc etc.
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Ditto! Only we were in Japan. Four of us trying to obtain medication for our sick friend, miming the ailment quite dramatically. In Japan it is not considered polite for folk to laugh at strangers but we had a little audience rolling in the aisles.
Clearly, there’s a lot of it about.
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Perhaps what you say concerns UK but is not quite accurate in EU countries.
Young people throughout Europe learn early about the neighbouring countries and cultures. They learn more than one language. Shared foods, customs and ease of travel bind European youth cultures together. When they are old enough, the freedom of movement enables them to cross borders for work and further education. All this is not only restricted to the wealthy, nor do they regard that as a reason not to explore.
The ‘island mentality’ within UK begins with inadequate state teaching about other countries and cultures. This, over generations leading to xenophobia at its most extreme.
Brexit has done a huge disservice in preventing young British residents from freedom to discover Europe. Perhaps some are not the least curious to leave ‘their parent’s box room’ but whose fault is this? And that is by no means the majority of young people, whose curiosity and wanderlust should be lauded. They are citizens of the world.
This old SF thread is interesting and reflects the reality of many parents today
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Seems to me that younger generations go to more exotic places than “just” Europe. When I went abroad for the first time in the mid sixties Yugoslavia was another world. These days, friends’ grandchildren know China, New Zealand, South America, the US. Europe seems very tame. I’m always amazed on University Challenge how these teams in their early 20s know so much about China.
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My neighbours kids (now 16 through to mid 20’s) have never even been to Paris. Sons of the farmer adjoining our land have - but only to the agricultural show. None have been outside France apart from the girl who went to Ibiza… They may have learnt about them in school but have zero interest. Again you are talking about a sub-set of young people who are mor privileged - which may be a sizeable chunk of the young population but no means all of them. The disparity among populations is something I find alarming. The haves and the have-not are hardly in the same spectrum.
This is very true!,
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I believe that this is the greatest challenge we face: solve this and many other matters could be resolved successfully.
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Communism tried. Doesn’t work.
Not everyone truly wants to be equal, just have equal opportunity to achieve advantage. This can be effected in many ways, assuming the will. ‘Trickle down economics’ is definitely not one of them.
Perhaps we are using the wrong model? There tends to be a knee jerk defence of democracy but maybe it is time for a new system?
I know a joke about trickle-down economics.
But 99% of people don’t get it.
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Yes, like democracy. So many of us don’t have it and have never experienced it.