New members of the France forum, introduce yourselves here - 2022

Hello,
My name is Emma and I arrived in France 2 months ago now. I am Australian and have moved to Provence with my French partner and our 9 month old son.

I am looking forward to settling in here. Learning the French language and hopefully meeting other English speakers within the area .

Hi, my name is Roberto, I have been a French résident since 1977. Once on pension I decided to travel,I arrived in the Republic of South Africa in January 2020 and got involved in the lockdown of Covid, impossible to leave the country for over 10 months,now my visa has expired and I cannot leave until renewed.
I have been trying since to pay income tax in France to no avail.... the offices where I have been declaring for over 40 years tells me to contact the non resident offices and the latter tells me the contrary...
Anyone has advice ?

Hello, my name is Betlhem Gezahegn. I moved to France 1 month back from United States to be with my husband. I currently live in lorient ,France . I am looking forward to learning French and make new friends. I am hopeful I will meet some people that live in lorient who are willing to help me learn French and settle down .

Hello, My name is Mia I am Ukrainian in Paris I am looking for someone to help me about any information how to become a nurse in France (Paris )with my Ukrainian diploma.
Thanks 😊

Hi All -

I'm Regina, recently retired and will be spending a year in Farnce to explore the possibility of staying for good. I've applied for my Long Stay Visitors visa and will start in April with 4 months in Marseille.

I have so many questions and I've learned that forums like these are usually the best bet due to others having similar issues!

Hi,
We three (me, hubby and our mad saluki) will be moving to Lot et Garonne in a couple of months time.  We recently signed our compromis and paid the deposit and are now busily sorting through our belongings - deciding what's coming with and what we're  leaving.
Getting excited now but also anxious about leaving family behind (3 kids and 2 grandkids)
I'm  sure we're  going to have lots of questions along the way - this seems a good way to reach out to folks who've already started!

Hello, my name is Sofie. I’m Chinese, and I just moved from Germany to Toulouse with my family.
I’m looking forward to learning French and making some new friends here. My daughter is about 17 months old, any moms wanna meet up for a walk or a cup of coffee?

Hello Emma
I'm am American.  I absolutely love France, and I have always found the people to be very friendly and helpful - especially if you are respectful make a sincere effort to learn the language. 

I have made a concerted effort to learn french over the last 4 years.  I have tried many different learning programs. I found "Learn French with Alexa" very helpful - especially for learning grammar and sentence structure.  For "training your ear" to hear and understand without having to translate, I found "Quino" to be the best.  But absolutely, nothing works better than living in France and hearing the language everyday.

I really love the town of Menton.  It's the ideal place for my lifestyle.  I'm retired now and hope to move to Menton once COVID restrictions are lifted and we can once again return to some kind of normal lifestyle.

Best wishes from Oklahoma City, USA

Thanks Julien. and hello to everyone!

With great difficulty, I have acquired a European passport, and this has definitely changed me and how I think about things. I feel so lucky to have it! I am a British children's author, and am trying to develop a presence in France by going to bilingual (primary) schools. to give free workshops.  I have been to over 40 schools and am going to my first Paris school in March.  Have contacted some more so am hoping for the best.
***

good luck and good health to us all
Charlotte

Hello all:
I moved to Paris 5 months ago and am still getting settled in. My guess is it will take at least a year before I feel somewhat comfortable. I started work as a Real Estate Agent at Keller Williams but that is difficult considering I am still just learning French  ; )  My hope is to specialize in English-speaking clientele that wants to buy or sell their dream home.

so, how long does it actually take to get your permanent SS#??? 4 months and still waiting...

You didn't say what your nationality is. If you are an EU citizen, like me, it should take about 3 months. Otherwise, it depends on what kind of a visa you're applying for. A work visa as a RE agent would probably get rejected, since the government only approves work visas for individuals having hard-to-find skills (their first priority is finding jobs for their citizens, rather than replacing citizens with foreigners in jobs).

My name is Sean. I am 55 years old, ready to retire. I am wanting to emigrate to bretagne. I do not know any of the molecular details involved with this, including basics of obtaining passport and needed appropriate visa.I am in the process of learning french. My goal is to emigrate to bretagne for long term or permanent residency and either work in some agricultural/horticultural/Land or forestry management job or in the food services sector as a cook. Would like to be in a rural area but not far from a major city ( like brest quimper or morlaix) mostly intersted in the finistère, but am open to anything in bretagne. I have seen ads for assistance to british expat families and do not know the best way to proceed with anything ! HELP! Can anyone provide me with needed information or resources to obtain such? So many questions! Like: how would I coordinate job application /employment inquiries with obtaing visa?-- just one of many !

Hi Regina
How are you finding your time in France.  Are you single or did you move with family?  I am thinking of retiring to France in about 3 years or perhaps sooner if i can think of an additional income stream
Thanks
Jane

Hi Regina, I can't help you because I don't live in Marseille.. but I would like to and for that reason I'll be curious to know how your stay works out. I hope I can see whatever replies you receive and would especially enjoy hearing about any experiences you might share.

All the best.. Creag

Goodnight. I am looking for information on official studies of Telecommunications in Strasbourg. Can somebody help me?
I have Bachelor studies in Spain.
Thanks a lot.

Now I'm working singapore if you give me opportunity I'll do my best work. Every day

Dear Sir.
           I'm Ajith Mervin I'm looking restaurant job my graduation bachelor degree of hotel management  I'm specifically South Indian cook and pantry I'm from India now I'm working singapore if you give me opportunity I'll do my best thank you.

Welcome ajithmervin89

Feel free to post create your own job ad for France:
https://www.expat.com/en/jobs/europe/france/

See you soon

Hello my name is Rachid Bouallal, 42 years old. I'm currently living in italy, in Padova. I have acquired the EU long term resident permit and i'm looking for a job  (CDI) in the south of France in order to join my family  (parents, brother and sister) who've been there for a long time.  I have a C1 level in english and French, a B1-B2 level in Arabic, a B1 level in Italian. I have a bachelor degree in Business Management and i love computer science related stuff.

A good day,
Rachid

Rachidbou83 wrote:

I have a C1 level in english and French, a B1-B2 level in Arabic, a B1 level in Italian. I have a bachelor degree in Business Management and i love computer science related stuff.

Impressive,
Welcome to the forum and good luck in your endeavour.

Welcome Rachidbou83 on the forum 

Feel free to create your own job ad for your job research in the south of France on Jobs in France page.

Cheers 

Isabelle
Expat.com Team

Hi,
I am Chhavi, 29 years old. I have come to Paris in December from India. I am working here as a Postdoc on a CDD for one year. I am am Economist and looking for language and cultural exchange. I would also like to explore job opportunities in France.

Hi everybody!

Nice to be in this forum and virtually meet you:)
I'm a French comedian, living in Paris, but willing to move to NYC with my family within a couple of years... But I have to be ready before!!!
I do stand up in French and English, but my focus is more on English (because of my project).
I host English shows in Paris, in case you're interested in having loads of fun, let me know! Or if you want to try stand-up (on stage), I can tell you  where you should start

I'd be happy to read more stories, and share mine!

Lisa

We are Earl and Ginny, 77 year olds, but still skiing - January in the French Alps.  we're moving to Beziers in April.  we're quite social and love meeting and hanging out with friends, even those we haven't met yet.  we're also quite open to learning all the local knowledge we can sop up.  We're in an airbnb in the middle of town for 6 weeks with option of 3 more.  we plan on finding a suitable home and buying as soon as the opportunity comes up.  would love to hear from anyone who's been there and done all of that.

Currently residing in France (FrancoKenyan) with my French husband and our two lovely moppets.We're  eager to meet any English native speakers in Brittany area-Pontivy or Morbihan in general.Two years with Convid and confinements has turned us into loners.Expats from Cameroun Douala (8yrs),coming back to France has been challenging (social wise).

My husband owns a small business in Pontivy (age 40)and I'm a  certified English Professor (public sector -late thirties ).

Jackie

Hi, I just moved here from New York, staying in the 13th arrondisement in Paris (and looking for an apartment.) I'm self-employed, have both American and EU citizenship and have been working in the digital design and marketing fields for over 25 years. Paris feels very comfortable to me coming from NYC. So far I love the neighborhood.

I plan on continuing to work remotely with my clients and am hoping to pick up some consulting work in Paris for any company or organization that needs a veteran web strategist for a project. I'm pretty good at reading French but my conversation skills are quite rusty so back to French class for me.

I'm happy to be here and I support Ukraine!

Hello,

Irish man living and working in France for 18 years. I live on the south west side of Toulouse going towards the Pyrenees. I'm originally from a little village in Ireland.

Vinny

Hallo were in abzac 16

Hi everyone,

I'm Fabien (link moderated). Although we're a commercial company I've always been active on different forums to try to help the English speaking community living in France and hopefully make your journey as simple as Frenchly possible ;-)

Hi I’m Donna and myself, husband and 3 children plus the furry creatures are looking to buy our house in France soon and relocate permanently next year. Does anyone live in Magnac Laval or the surrounding area? I hope you are all enjoying your new lives in France!

Hiya Guest56416 (Jackie)
Great to see your message, although disappointed that you would be so far from us as your background sounded similar to ours. My husband is French. I am belgian but grew up in Botswana. We have two small children but had to leave all our fur babies behind when we left Bots.
We are in La Rochelle area in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Just moved here and looking for friends, let me know should you wish to get in touch despite the distance,
ciao

Alo all,

Looking for mates in and around La Rochelle area. We are married with young kids, husband is a french national, I have belgian nationality but consider myself more south African. Enjoy going out for dinner/drinks, squash, badminton, painting etc just a meet and greet over coffee great too.

Hello, Thank you for your message. My wife Catharine and myself live about 90 mins from La Rochelle near the small town of Sauze Vaussais. All of us might be able to arrange something if you are interested. Patrick

Hello. Just checking you got my message from yesterday about possibly meeting up. I'm asking as a few of my messages have disappeared! Patrick

opps

Hello Maya. My messages seem to disappear quickly before I have time to reply. I don't know why. Would you mind resending your last message so I can note your contact details. Patrick

Hello

Hi, my name is Aida. I'm from the US and moving to Grenoble, France very soon. I'm excited for the challenge and the work that I'll be doing there, but also a bit scared about getting myself settled and especially finding an apartment - it's all very overwhelming and exciting at the same time!

Hi Aida, Good luck with your move. Keep us posted to let us know how to settle in. We're considering a move as well and would love to hear about experiences of others.

Bon voyage,

Tariq