Language proficiency

[stranded]

Goddamn all this positivity! Alright, alright, I’m going to put my back into again, forget the b1 for now and work on developing the language of love to get me a horizontal dictionary for the summer. Sadly, with a very attentive swmbo, the latter project will have to remain entirely in my own head, which should save me considerable embarrassment.

Seriously though, you lot should get together and form a motivational consultancy. Particular thanks to Bouba who really has gone above and beyond in the kick up the arse stakes.

Right, back to that podcast…

 

[Bouba]

Goddamn all this positivity! Alright, alright, I’m going to put my back into again, forget the b1 for now and work on developing the language of love to get me a horizontal dictionary for the summer. Sadly, with a very attentive swmbo, the latter project will have to remain entirely in my own head, which should save me considerable embarrassment.

Seriously though, you lot should get together and form a motivational consultancy. Particular thanks to Bouba who really has gone above and beyond in the kick up the arse stakes.

Right, back to that podcast…

I didn’t need a B1 and I certainly don’t need a B2…to me they are goals and deadlines…it’s the only way to motivate myself…if your goal is to live in France then you need B1…don’t forget about it…keep it dead center and in focus…in fact go further…make an date for the exam. Nothing focuses the mind like a deadline

 

[Clancy Moped]

Try this

 

[capnsensible]

Having used Duolingo for some years, I recently signed up to Babbel and I have learned far more that I ever did with Duolingo. Not free though...

Not relevant to the OP but Duolingo Spanish is Latin American Spanish.

Not so. Some words trend more in Latin America but the core is most certainly international Spanish. Its a common mistake. I spent a term at a language school and several tutors pointed out this misconception.

 

[Poignard]

Try this

That is very good.

 

[Davy_S]

Not so. Some words trend more in Latin America but the core is most certainly international Spanish. Its a common mistake. I spent a term at a language school and several tutors pointed out this misconception.

Exactamente.

 

[Irish Rover]

When people ask me if I can speak Turkish my answer is always the same - 'Enough to get myself into trouble".

 

[Clancy Moped]

That is very good.

I'm using it for Spanish, its put together in a more of everyday way..... I think.

 

[ChromeDome]

I can do everything but the language the French way

 

[Bouba]

There are two ways to learn French….the way I used to do it (which drove the wife crazy) which is to have someone (on video) teach and explain it all in English. And the way I now prefer (meaning the wife was right all along) totally in French..but using videos that do it clearly and at your level

 

[stranded]

Try this

I like that approach a lot - there’s quite a lot out there with Paul Noble’s name on it - do you know which product this came in?

 

[capnsensible]

Exactamente.

The course tended towards a Mexican style in its very early days but the course has and is still evolving all the time. Especially taking on those early complaints.

 

[Bouba]

The course tended towards a Mexican style in its very early days but the course has and is still evolving all the time. Especially taking on those early complaints.

If I were them I wouldn’t accept any complaint unless it was in Spanish...and if they can complain in Spanish then the course was a success

 

[Davy_S]

I actually found that the Rosetta Stone was the better of the language courses, i had a cracked copy of Spanish and Greek because at the time they were quite expensive, they had to be downloaded onto a laptop with a false code to make them work, but i also use Duolingo which is quite good.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

You could do it Fr Hackett’s way which is on the pillow…it means ditching your wife for a French one…it only gets confusing if you want to be a polyglot

46 years ago I started my first 6 months working ( training) in France, for the previous 3 months I had done an hour a day in the UK Michelin language school at the end of which my French was marginally better than the day I started when it was none existent. I arrived in Clermont-Ferand on a Saturday lunch time having somehow managed to navigate the train from Calais to Paris then a taxi across Paris which is when I discovered just how bad my French was, and finally the train to CF. I was staying at a small hotel used by most English stagaires, the hotel de la Gare I spent a long Saturday afternoon and Sunday wandering about the town trying to find the factory I had to report to ( there were several of them). The following week I spent 8 hours a day on a course designed for people managing the departments that made the rubberised fabric that is used for the carcases of car tyres, the course was entirely in French and I didn't understand a word of it and the lectures knew it. The following Monday I had to report to my monitor at another factory after a long weekend wandering the streets of CF. He told me that my French was the worst he had experienced for someone that was expected to eventually become "cadre" and went on to say it had better improve and quickly. At the end of the rather short and brutal meeting he offered the advice that French is best learned on the pillow, it was very good advice.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

As most know I have a French wife and French nationality when I made my application after 4 years living in France which was obligatory, if you were over 65 then officially you didn't need the B1 but there was no way of convincing those vetting the application that it was the case. Nowadays it's mandatory regardless of age. It took over 2 years to compile my case file with all the required translations, several interviews, a policeman coming to our apartment in Grenoble for a nose around then an 30 minute interview at the prefecture and finally after 6 months of submitting the final file I was informed that I was accepted and given the date to be presented with my papers, it was the last one before covid struck so I was lucky.
In the village that I live in there was a guy married to a local but commuting and working in London, he pissed the people off who were collecting his paperwork and the fact that he was working in London seemed a big issue, that was 8 years ago, he still hasn't got his nationality and is resigned to staying on a CdS.

 

[westernman]

As most know I have a French wife and French nationality when I made my application after 4 years living in France which was obligatory, if you were over 65 then officially you didn't need the B1 but there was no way of convincing those vetting the application that it was the case. Nowadays it's mandatory regardless of age. It took over 2 years to compile my case file with all the required translations, several interviews, a policeman coming to our apartment in Grenoble for a nose around then an 30 minute interview at the prefecture and finally after 6 months of submitting the final file I was informed that I was accepted and given the date to be presented with my papers, it was the last one before covid struck so I was lucky.
In the village that I live in there was a guy married to a local but commuting and working in London, he pissed the people of who were collecting his paperwork and the fact that he was working in London seemed a big issue, that was 8 years ago, he still hasn't got his nationality and is resigned to staying on a CdS.

No policement coming to my house. The interview at the Prefecture was with a lady from the prefecture and a senior officer from the DGSI. That is the French equivalent of the MI5. He was very interested in who I had been in contact with on my trips to Russia and China. He knew a rather surprising amount about where I had been.

Since then he is often in contact with the cofounder of my company. We vet all our business contacts through him. Something which obviously we could not normally do. He often comes to our office wearing his gun.

The "case file" was not difficult. The most difficult part was getting the birth certificates of my parents translated and certified. It was actually me who did the translation. I paid for the "certification". The difficult bit of that, was I could not actually read my father's birth certificate.

I did do the French proficiency exam - that was the most expensive part of the process. If I remember right that cost 120 euros to sit.

Any way, the process was straightforward. Even if the final actual naturalization took a long time to come through.

Actually it did not come through, but my mate from the DGSI said my naturalization had been published in the official journal of the government. So I eventually found the entry, and then downloaded my now French version of my birth certificate from a website and applied for a passport and ID card through the normal website. I picked up the ID card two weeks later (free of charge, but they wanted my Carte de Sejour back!), and the passport a week after that (85 euros).

I never did get to go to any ceremony or sing the Marseillaise.

 

[Bouba]

The most difficult part was getting the birth certificates of my parents translated and certified. It was actually me who did the translation. I paid for the "certification". The difficult bit of that, was I could not actually read my father's birth certificate.

As most know I have a French wife and French nationality when I made my application after 4 years living in France which was obligatory, if you were over 65 then officially you didn't need the B1 but there was no way of convincing those vetting the application that it was the case. Nowadays it's mandatory regardless of age. It took over 2 years to compile my case file with all the required translations, several interviews, a policeman coming to our apartment in Grenoble for a nose around then an 30 minute interview at the prefecture and finally after 6 months of submitting the final file I was informed that I was accepted and given the date to be presented with my papers, it was the last one before covid struck so I was lucky.
In the village that I live in there was a guy married to a local but commuting and working in London, he pissed the people of who were collecting his paperwork and the fact that he was working in London seemed a big issue, that was 8 years ago, he still hasn't got his nationality and is resigned to staying on a CdS.

Fr Hackett...did you have to provide your parents birth certificates ?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Fr Hackett...did you have to provide your parents birth certificates ?

Yes, plus marriage and death certificates.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

No policement coming to my house. The interview at the Prefecture was with a lady from the prefecture and a senior officer from the DGSI. That is the French equivalent of the MI5. He was very interested in who I had been in contact with on my trips to Russia and China. He knew a rather surprising amount about where I had been.

Since then he is often in contact with the cofounder of my company. We vet all our business contacts through him. Something which obviously we could not normally do. He often comes to our office wearing his gun.

The "case file" was not difficult. The most difficult part was getting the birth certificates of my parents translated and certified. It was actually me who did the translation. I paid for the "certification". The difficult bit of that, was I could not actually read my father's birth certificate.

I did do the French proficiency exam - that was the most expensive part of the process. If I remember right that cost 120 euros to sit.

Any way, the process was straightforward. Even if the final actual naturalization took a long time to come through.

Actually it did not come through, but my mate from the DGSI said my naturalization had been published in the official journal of the government. So I eventually found the entry, and then downloaded my now French version of my birth certificate from a website and applied for a passport and ID card through the normal website. I picked up the ID card two weeks later (free of charge, but they wanted my Carte de Sejour back!), and the passport a week after that (85 euros).

I never did get to go to any ceremony or sing the Marseillaise.

At the ceremony before you walked into the room there was a box which you had to put your CdS in, ID card in the pack and passport €85 at the local Marie took less than 2 weeks.
For the interview I was given a tip to which was to try control it and move it in a direction I wanted but it was all straight forward stuff History, bit of politics and French geography then talking about current news.