You’ve never been embarrassed by the antics of your compatriots? Or pre-judged based on the behaviour of them?
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sadly, it’s only human nature for someone to think OH and I are as “rude/arrogant” as other Brits they might have come across…
What is now a firm friendship, started with the Frenchman explaining to me why he disliked English people.
He was somewhat surprised when I agreed with him, that the people he was describing “sounded awful” and assured him that if he would give OH and I the benefit of the doubt, we could prove that not all Brits were “ghastly”… 
the fact that I said this in halting French did work in our favour… 
but it still took a while…
and it did help that he liked my cooking… 
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Absolutely not at all. I believe by and large Scots have a different mindset when travelling and living overseas.
Have you ever heard of Scottish exceptionalism? Me neither.
I think I just did 
Wha’s like us, eh?
More seriously, attitudes change very quickly when I say I’m Scottish and not English but that only works once you actually get to the conversation stage.
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That’s what we did with our B1 but when we looked into B2 it was incredibly more advanced. I don’t think either myself (brain fading) or my partner (dyslexic) would have a hope with it. The director of the exam centre we used encouraged us to try for a B1 without doing any further studying (we do face-to-face courses every week and on-line every day anyway). However, she said we should really do an intensive course for the B2 and then she’d tell us if it was worth trying for the exam itself. We were seriously daunted…
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Sometimes, I casually throw into a conversation that I am 1/4 French, thanks to Grandma born in Paris… blah blah…
that goes down very well… and me being 3/4 Brit is “forgiven”
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My point here was to make sure everyone understands that most readers here will remain unaffected by this contrary as to what the initial post was implying that’s all
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Which gave the link to the press release, so no scaremongering just information about what the government is proposing.
You should hear what local people round here (remote Lot et Garonne) say about Parisians! A couple we know, heading back to the UK were told by their neighbours they would prefer Brits to buy the house to Parisians!
Mind you, over summer the stereotypical behaviour of Parisians in our local Leclerc is pretty painful! 
That’s why I quickly changed my plates from 95 to 86, I’d rather be called English if it came to the crunch
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of course, back in the day… seems our local country folk went to Paris to find work… then returned to the countryside upon retirement… hence they often left grown kids etc back in Paris…
Now, when these kids raised in Paris visit Mum and Dad in the countryside… they swiftly learn how to behave properly…
so we know there are at least 2 sorts of Parisians… those who are reasonable and those who aren’t…
and, in conversation with these lovely Parisians… I’ve found that they like to hide the fact they are from Paris and (like @JohnH ) get cars which do NOT have Paris plates…
I constantly hear the prejudgement when I say I’m Aussie. Just last week ‘oh that’s why you speak such good French (I don’t BTW, I’m appalled at how crap I am!), the English don’t bother’ 
.
My biggest issue with any tests is that due to utter laziness on my part I can’t write in French 
, or very well anyway. I use deepl for things like reports, I check for obvious Looney translations, some times rewrite the English so it says what I want it to say in French and colleagues are all very kind with me and check and amend where needed! Some are shocked at the discrepancy between my spoken and written, but as I explain one doesn’t write much when having an apero or coffee with friends . On the board I usually manage but the odd error is kindly pointed out by students, I give them permission to do so at the start if the year. I feel it works in my favour, I can genuinely say to them I get how hard it is with a second language, I think it relaxes them to try without embarrassment. My classic line when I make a booboo is ’ I’m here for the English not for French!'. Current embarrassment is we have works at the lycée with one digger that makes the sound if a frog. One class now makes me say grenouille every class which I find next to impossible
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My problem’s the reverse. I can read and write grammatically correct French (have even written several artists’ catalogue essays) but I often fall down when joining an existing conversation and don’t sufficiently grasp the nuances and context. The root of my problem is being retired and not speaking French throughout the day (tho’ certainly not complaining about the former).
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Lawless French is organised into DELF levels, and it’s all online. But it’s all written.
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Of course. I’ve met many foreign students who have the same problem—jumping into a conversation without understanding what’s being discussed—but certainly don’t let it faze them. As always, it’s as much confidence as competence.
We’ll always have that to a degree, but I’ve found that watching tv helped me. Trashy quizzes like Tout le monde veut prendre sa place are great. That auction programme in the afternoon too. The kind of thing I’d never otherwise watch, but for training my mind to pick up throwaway lines and jokes they’re great.
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“Derrick” (Ironically, I’d already watched most of them in German before encountering them in French), “N’oubliez pas les paroles” for a current one, “Questions pour un Champion”, and Bernard Pivot’s fiendishly devilish torture sessions on French dictation.
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So is most of the exam! Although comprehension (watching TV for practice) is also critical.
FYI: non-EU residents over 65 applying for permanent residency (either Carte de Résident de 10 ans or La carte de Résident Longue Durée —UE) do not require proof of French language proficiency. I just applied for the latter after already having the former.
Another article on subject–you need a subscription to read it:
Well if it’s anything like some of its other articles it won’t be accurate! Even headline isn”t as the changes are not planned yet, merely proposed!
I’m curious as a parent of a French citizen, what is this residence permit? And does being a parent change anything for any possible naturalisation plans further down the line? Thanks!
and edit - said French citizen is living / working in UK.