Ahh, but you see it is all part of France and if the majority wanted it to change then it would. One can’t pick and choose and changing something you don’t like could have unforeseen consequences for something you do. One has to take in the round. I don’t pay twice as much for anything as I would elsewhere in Europe nor am I limited to French goods. With the internet one can buy anything anywhere, and I do 
Even Amazon prices for the same item can vary from country to country. I always shop around for any substantial purchase.
Yeah, and you can also be fired at the end of the school year in the UK ;-) that's job security for you :-)) on the flip side of the coin, you can also leave/apply elsewhere, making for a more flexible employment market - swings and roundabouts, as usual
Any further or higher education qualification course contains at least one if not two compulsory foreign languages.
Ah but changing all those things would be but the Thin End Of The Wedge ;-)
(and then what would we have to râle about, I ask you?)
Prep school in Perthshire - off to Glenshee every Thursday, oh the hell of the bus, and being sick, and the tomato soup, and being sick, and the rocks, and the no visibility, and the wet...and I almost forgot, having to herringbone your way up the hill in the teeth of the gale because no lifts, obviously... still, chin up, made me the man I am today ;-@
John I love France and I don’t want (most things) to change. Closed shops on Sundays and bank holidays, no 24hr supermarkets, 2hr lunches, friendly villages and great markets. Being able to let my daughter go into the town with her friends in the knowledge that she’s safe, Love them.
Paying twice as much for goods as you would anywhere else in Europe, having to wait days for service, non existent customer service. Being able to buy products other than French products These are all things I would gladly change and I think many people would also.
It is because if you choose to teach in the public sector with the CAPES or the Agrégation you are a CIVIL SERVANT so you HAVE to go where you are sent, whether you like it or not. etc. that isn't the case if you are in the state-recognised private sector.
In Britain you are not, as a teacher, a civil servant: and you can apply for any job, anywhere you like, whenever you like. You are not sent to a particular post (and no other) by the Ministry. Does this clarify things for you?
I'm sorry to shout.
OMG squared We’ll be back to Lance Corporal Jones yet.
Is that where the 60s tower blocks came from
It’s a fine point as to whether the insurance company needed to ask the question or whether he needed to declare it as being material. Personally I wouldn’t try and be smart with a proposal by holding something back.
I was only joking about Surrey.
This isn't some guy trying to live below the radar in fact it would be impossible for him to do so he runs a school works with the public must have the relevant insurance and paperwork he has been doing this for 32 years now suddenly they jump up and say he isn't qualified but its taken over 30 years for them to decide his qualifications aren't valid, come on something doesn't add up.this guy appears to be fighting to get his qualifications recognised as i would if someone came along and said mine weren't valid In 2002 i worked for a German company they wanted to transfer me to Toulouse the general manager in Paris OK'd it and i was to contact the guy in Toulouse who instantly asked to see my qualifications as i couldn't possibly be qualified enough turned out i had better qualifications than he and more experience he instantly changed tactics to my French wasn't up to his standard which in fairness it wasn't i'm not French, the guy in Paris would not overrule him but offered me Bordeaux by this time i had had enough plus the 8 hour travel time would give me a 16 hour day subtle move that knowing the travel would kill it for me I fail to see how skiing down a slope in a given time entitles you to teach after you have already qualified as an instructor
I, for one, hope in never changes Pam. I just don’t understand your desire for France to be less, well, French?
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A brain surgeon from any EU state can come to France and practice with automatic recognition of their qualifications.
And (in theory) any EU drivers license is exchanged for a French one (and vice versa in the UK despite driving on the other side of the road.)
But teach skiing or aerobics...
Here's what you have to do to have your fitness qualifications "maybe" recognised here. Note that I was a member of UK REPS and EREPS (UK and European Register of Exercise Professionals) EREPS has defined a qualification framework which is based on the Central YMCA criteria in the UK (the body that gave me my UK qualifications). Despite being 'recognised' on a European level this is what this lot demand:
- Go to my department of Sport
- Apply for a demande d'equivalence which includes
= Copies of the syllabus of all courses taken and getting translated into French (120 pages for my Drummond ETM course which they very kindly emailed to me)
= References from all employers precisely outlining my duties (which is fun chasing them down as I was self employed)
= Copies of all certificates and get them translated into French
= Justifications of level of performance
= Level of Spoken French
This is collected locally then someone in Dijon makes a decision based on the dossier.
So I guess I will turn your statement around and say I'l tired as hell of the French thinking they can just get away with making up their own rules that violate the treaty of Lisbon.
I think I'll just go and cut open someone's head...
Just as you may have to renounce certain driving licences when you arrive here, if your licence from another country is not recognised.... (sort of like all the expats who try to jump through hoops and find loopholes, rather than just pass their driving test).
Medical exams are the same, and rightly so....... it's not just a French thing, and I know for a fact that in Ireland, foreign doctors from certain countries have to re-take exams to prove they are up to standard.
Tired as hell of expats thinking they can just get away with without having the right paperwork, and then shrugging "I didn't know" when they get caught.
er.....makes a man of you????? My FIRST wife came from a posh Scottish school and never had ANYTHING WHATEVER to do with skiing, but when it came to antique bindings that was quite another matter.....
Interestingly for the CREPS (French Fitness certificate) one of the modules in 20 hours of English...
There are many Brits involved in the winter sport industry, and here are a few examples:
http://www.downhillonly.com Downhill Only Club founded 1925
Also relevant is the Cresta Run, founded over 100 years ago:
"The Cresta Run is a private club, but non-members are also welcome to make a "Run". Initially club members were almost only British and American. During recent years, it has become more open and today the majority of members come from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria and France. One thing has remained however: the club language is still English and the club is exclusively a male domain.
Training for beginners is available. It is a matter of honour for every member of the St. Moritz Tobogganing Club to provide beginners with instruction and introduce them to the techniques."
OK it's not skiing but the Cresta allows Brits and other non locals to instruct and it appears that all instruction is in English. It's a special situation I agree and personally I believe that far too Brits make the effort to speak local languages, however if the customers are English it's natural.
Also relevant:
The story of Chris Ackner a British Instructor
"THE DEATHS of five British doctors and their ski guide, swept away by an avalanche in the French Alps, went unreported for 24 hours. A sixth doctor, who narrowly escaped, survived the night in sub-zero temperatures by sheltering in a hole he dug in the snow.
Dr Christopher Ackner, an experienced skier, knew that to move risked setting off another avalanche or dying of exposure outside. Yesterday he told one of the partners in his practice in Penryn, Cornwall: 'I am lucky to be alive.'
His dead colleagues on a week- long visit to Val d'Isere, which combined a medical conference and ski holiday, were named last night as Ann Gillingham and her husband, Jeremy, both 44, from Perth, who had two teenage children; Jan Hofmeyr, 38, a partner in a Reading surgery, married with two young children; Claire Webber, 33, single, from Bourne End, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire; and Howard Fleet, married and in his late forties, who was a consultant paediatrician at High Wycombe General Hospital.
The avalanche struck on Saturday morning. The six doctors, all accomplished skiers and on the last day of their trip, set off at 9am on a challenging off-piste tour from Tignes to Champagny. Although the weather was bright, and the 100mph winds of the previous day had eased, much of the area was on the second highest state of avalanche alert, known as 'red flag'.
At 11am, beneath a ridge at the Col du Palet, the skiers were swept down the valley by a huge snow slide. The alarm was not raised until 10am yesterday, when the wife of the guide, Hugo Ferrier, told the Snow Fun ski school that he had not returned home. The secretary of the school, who declined to give her name, said last night that Mr Ferrier had a radio linked to the school, but had not been in contact for more than two days.
A taxi he had ordered to collect the party after their run left without reporting that they had failed to turn up. He had left no itinerary or told them when to expect him back.
When the alarm was finally raised, a mountain rescue helicopter from Courcheval flew towards Tignes. In less than an hour it picked up signals from the alarm bleepers worn around the necks of the party. Dr Ackner was found uninjured, but in shock. The rest of the skiers were dead.
Dr Ackner, married with two young children, is expected to be released from hospital in Bourg St Maurice today.
The doctors were combining a skiing holiday with medical lectures every evening. The National Health Service gives GPs pounds 2,100 a year if they attend 30 hours of lectures a year to update their knowledge.
Jean-Lou Costerg, leader of the rescue team, said Dr Ackner had been unable to describe exactly what had happened. He had said 'it was over in a matter of seconds. He was the last in the group and those below him were caught by the avalanche. He had lost his skis and his poles and could not walk off the mountain. He was lucky to survive.'
Last night ski experts said that given the dangers of off-piste skiing, somebody should have been responsible for checking that the party had come down safely at the end of Saturday's run. They were staying at a chalet hotel, La Foret, in Val d'Isere, and were not missed when they failed to show for dinner. The ski school said the guide had been hired privately by the group for the week.
T J Baird, an instructor at another ski school in the resort, Alpine Experience, said it would be accepted procedure for a guide to leave details of his itinerary and inform his school of his return. Bladon Lines, the company which organised the trip for 69 British doctors, said it was 'worried' procedures had apparently not been followed."
It's interesting to note that Chris gave up medicine after the accident and ever since has been a ....ski instructor. He's based in Verbier, so French qualifications don't apply.
From a Dutch ski instructor (and fitness instructor) mate of mine (NB: He teaches in Austria during the season):
The issue not the eurotest as it is, but how they do it: when only French take the test they set an average time to beat, but when a foreigner participates they hire a world cup skier to set the time... They are pretty eager to protect their own..
I'm sure Colin isn't Pam as he must know by know that we DON'T allow personal remarks on SFN.... :)
Just making a wee point here...
This topic seems to have become quite a contentious one so can we please make sure we stick to the "dinner party" rules please. Thank you!
So the Scots GD was with a certain Mr Birkin (of a Jane association) doing drops for SOE & BRCA into the St Cast (22) area?? I know some of all this....