Is 860 A good score for your TFI, whatever that is? Forgive this ignorant ex pat Brit for not knowing. I came here to enjoy my retirement & have never felt the need to boast about the level of French I have.
If it was changed for an EU licence then all the same entitlements would have / should have been applied.
The big point here Zoe is Australia isnt in the EU so the laws dont apply, the UK is and under the 2005 directive his qualifications should be recognised plus it looks as though he has been arrested 3 times since last November so only 7 months ago not 32 years where have they been for the last 30 while he was paying his tax and cotistations they are sometimes protectionist and in truth i cant fault them why give a foreigner a job when you can employ a Frenchman, look after your own i sometimes wonder if the UK were to apply that principal perhaps they wouldn't have the problems with employment they have as for motorcycles i have the same problem with the 100bhp limit here but even that will push my bike to 140 +mph so im not kicking off to much
maîtrise français langue étrangère and I taught French in an IUT here to foreign students ;-) but I'm not starting a competition, Derek, oh and a first through BRNC too ;-)
Then what are you going on about 
Ooh - just think of the possibilities of an updated 'handbook' David... :)
When did I say anything about that....vraiment il y a des gens qui prennent les biscuits par ic et par là...
I came here to boost my language skills, live with the language & the country and I openly say, that anyone who goes to live in a foreign country has to have the necessary language "bagage" just to survive... I have a score of 860 for my TFI
anyone do better as an ex pat Brit??
Tim, a doctor can't just waltz in and cut someone open, they need to have their diplomas recognised officially, and to do this, they have to furnish paperwork to a governing body, in the case of an EU resident, and for people from outside the EU, it becomes even more complicated.
I am not really justifying it but if you take Central Government and many Local Authorities in the UK they in fact go out of their way to provide translations of official documents, websites etc into non English languages. If you take Wandsworth, central London, which has a moderately diverse population, they make translations available into a variety of languages:
"The interpreting service is based at Bedford House in Balham High Road and provides help with translating documents, letters and forms in a wide variety of languages. Last year they helped more than 7,000 people in 65 different languages.
They have succeeded in meeting the council's target of providing a translation within five working days in 99.8 per cent of cases. Over the past six months 90 per cent of telephone calls were answered within five rings and 99.7 per cent of letters were answered within five working days."
There is a French language accredited school in the state system within the borough. The borough has attracted a new embassy quarter which is proving to be an inwards investment magnet.
It's a very different size community to the one I now live in but here in rural France about 24% of houses are owned by English speaking full or part time residents. There is no translating service (fair enough) but the council does not have a web site in any language (we have been asking for one for years and have offered to translate into English for free) but so far zero. Of course part of the charm is that we are off the beaten track but you would think that local businesses would benefit fro additional trade attracted by the internet. The last mayor (communist) said he preferred the commune to be poor so it could get state handouts. Well over a million euros have been spent on fancy pavements etc but still no effort at real communication.
If you look at the growth rates of the two countries you can't help feeling that at least part of the problem is a sort of cultural isolationism which is hampering the French economy. Part of it is the language, but not all by any means.
it's not a "sudden decision by them, he has been drawn through the courts on three or more occasions over the years, and has had plenty of time to take the stage and exam that would qualify him here. Surely it's not a ten year thing.
I came here and had the right to drive a 250 CC motorcycle on my Australian licence, but when I changed it for a Euro licence, I lost that... did I go about driving a bigger bike against the law?? No, did I whine for years about it being unfair?? no. I simply passed the French driving test. In French. Learned a couple of new words while I was at it. No drama, and everybody wins.
So you’d like the already too high administrative costs to be multiplied by two so that a handful of intransigent English speakers can avoid learning the local language? Don’t think that’ll fly Derek.
Fabienne- I only wish I knew what "proper" English is! When I visit England now and hear people talking, or on the radio, TV etc I hear all sorts of awful things. Now you are not encouraged to correct people either and many people (eg Blair) develop some affectations to make them seem more popular, a man of the common people etc. I'm afraid my daughter will learn mainly 1950's what used to be called Public School English (Sloane Ranger/BCBG) mixed with her mother's Philippines/American English- should be one to enjoy! The French I learned was probably 1940's fashion, very "plume de ma tante", and every question preceeded by "Est ce que....? Round here in the Monts d'Arree they speak something else, whether in French or Breton. D'ac? Incidentally I have a good phrase book for use by British officers in France with useful phrases like "Where is the enemy?" and giving lots of useful advice about not taking advantage of or abusing the local population (especially female ones). Maybe all expats should be issued with an updated version?
Yes and that can be dangerous for the passengers sometimes...cf the case of the tower control advising a plane in danger: "turn left right now" and the pilot missing out the "left" part...guess what happened :(
Oh please David be patient with this poor teacher...I bet he only wants to please you (and may be improves / practices his English) while talking to you...your daughter will never make the same mistakes as he does because she has heard "proper" English since she was born, so no worries there but the other kids really need help since they are French and apparently will need to speak good English later on in life or when France becomes an anglophone country :)
The maintenance system that the FAF use is called CAMP and yes, all the procedures ARE IN ENGLISH as it is a USA based system... I know, I worked for a local aircraft maintenance company at Dinard Airport and my job was to follow all maintenance procedures in English (easy peasy) and then translate all operations into French and control everything that the ETEC,062 did or didn't do!! for one squadron based at Villacoublay flying Dassault Falcon 20s
I would suspect in part as the language of Air Traffic Control is English.
I have heard of some problems with Air France pilots and their command of English with ATC.
Well, contrary to beliefs, I DID.... the French market whilst trading in the UK (1989 to 1998) was actually a bigger market for me than the UK was... of 169 EWW wind turbines built and installed, France received 98, UK FOUR... and the rest went for export to Belgium, Spain, Italy and commonwealth countries
Thanks-I'll try to find it. Corb really was "God" in the early 60's. As students we were taken to Park Hill Sheffield then lauded as a new community in the sky with elevated pedestrian streets etc. Sculptural board marked concrete was "in"- even did some myself! I then got stuck into natural and local materials but those are generally totally "out" now. Never did a really tall building- 9 stories was the max and that was a conversion. In fact Corb did do some nice stuff but his grandiose mega planning was a potential disaster, especially when it was performed by lesser hands and the accountants got involved.
Apparently even the French air force works in English at least some of the time. I do agree however that when in "Rome" etc. My 5 year old daughter who is British but refuses to converse in English is in for an interesting time in school when she's a bit older. The teacher who will eventually teach her English insists on speaking to me in bad English whilst I reply to him in bad French. If she learns his poor English it will be a pity and will no doubt be marked down- see other comments here. Meanwhile she has a good English vocab and simply translates when we talk to her in English in the house and replies in French with the odd Franglais or English thrown in. We go out every night for a dog "valk". I think we have just, but only just, convinced her she is British as she refers to the Queen as "Ma Reine". That conjurs up all sorts of possibilities. She has the opportunity of later choosing French nationality but I'm not sure if the French would ever accept her as a recruit in their services as you have to be French unless it's the Foreign Legion. The idea of foreigners in the services is a no no, unlike the British services. I wonder if the Scots will accept English recruits if they get independence? They won't need too many submariners.
Ah ah ah ah ah or is it the other way around in English ha ha ha ha :)