It may be hard to draw a clear line between public interest and voyeurism, if there is actually a line at all.
As for having children, if we died tonight it’s unlikely our son in NZ would know for several days, quite possibly a couple of weeks. Some children & parents relatively live in each others pockets, but we tend to be in touch less frequently, sometimes less than once per week.
Don’t bring It into it!
Whatever your stance on belief, I think bringing a deity into this is a mistake. 
We all want a good departure, so I am empathetic about all those that aren’t. But since there are so many elderly people who die each day how can I have any real emotion about ones where I have no connection? Were they my age perhaps, or known to me via a friend, or having crossed paths at some point then maybe. It’s sad, but no more than that for me.
Dying in a capsized boat at the age of 33 off the coast of a free country is another matter. That keeps me awake at night.
That term says it all really, you may be an expat but I am not.
There’s a whiff of the old bores I remember propping up the bars in the M/E about you.
Good riddance I say 
Now, why don’t you follow their lead and piss off too?
What is the RAA? Latin was compulsory at my prep school, everyone did it from 7 or 8, even the very stupid, probably did all of us a lot of good.
In learning language there have been and are numerous studies proving that speaking multiple languages improves brain ‘plasticity’, delaying cognitive decay.
Here is one that is easier to read than some:
And here are some more good reasons to try:
I rather like the quotations but then again, I am a woolly sentimentalist
Vero not always about language as I said.
Please believe me that a friend of mine who is French and worked in admin in a Libourne office
was unable to clarify a few situations,
Naturally she addressed her letters in French but failed to get anywhere with the matters.
How many of you understand all the contents in all the gov letters you receive?
I think its a matter of respect for the country you move to that one embraces the language and customs. Its hugely divisive in UK that people don’t and I get the impression its an issue in parts of France too.
Yet I’ve never met anything but kindness and sympathy in France for my poor French. Its becoming fluent that worries me most in considering the move.
I have however perfected apologising for it… 
If you keep trying to speak in French… to ask a question… to ask again if not understanding the reply… to answer a question… etc etc … you will be fine.
You won’t be expected to be perfect… but your attempts will be appreciated.
what is fluent, anyway??? it’s different things to different folk…
I think that’s right.
And it may be for you (it is for me) a matter of confidence. I found a weekly conversation with a chap (who is now a friend) helped a great deal.
I also identified my weaknesses (largely grammar) and am still working on that. Also watching lots of videos on YouTube.
I’m always apologising for my French, and my interlocutors are always telling me that my French is very good. Conclusion: French people are happy to lie to make foreigners happy.
Or they are hard of hearing:sob:
or can’t correctly write their mother tongue
The locals here reply to my apologies about my French with “It isn’t that bad, I understood you.” or some variant of “”I’ve heard worse.”
My French friends just smile and say my French is better then their English… Which, considering they don’t speak any English, I take as a backhanded compliment 
My neighbour’s son lived for many years in UK and speaks excellent English. However, he knows that I’m keen to improve my French so he doesn’t speak to me in English even if it would be undoubtedly quicker and less painful for him if we did!
I confess that I am amongst those who cannot imagine why you would want to move to a country without wanting to integrate into the culture and society of that country - which pretty much means learning the language.
But I guess there are a good few people who only move for the warmer weather and not the country itself and if they can get by in an expat bubble, then that’s even better.
My French is a work in progress, it’s not terribly good but I get by with simple stuff and I can manage less simple stuff if written - but I’m not kidding myself that I don’t need loads of help from online tools.
At least I have the excuse that, for now, I don’t live in France.
But I expect no one there to have to speak English simply because I can’t speak French - I expect most on SF would feel the same.
I frequently see posts on Facebook from people thinking of moving to France or another European country, and asking to be told the advantages of France …
predictive texting ?
I completely get why someone might wish to move to another country but not want the very considerable struggle and difficulty of learning a further language, even though they would like to integrate into the rest of the culture which is far more than just understanding when to say tu or vous.