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| Subject: | French American Family Questions |
| Date: | Tuesday, January 06, 2004 |
| Name: | Jennifer |
| Message: |
Hello.
I just found this site and had a couple questions. My husband and I (he's a French citizen) are considering moving our family to France (we have twin toddlers) and had a couple questions . . . He's been in the US (we live in San Diego, CA) for three years and we are considring moving the family to someone in Provence depending on the job market in France. He is an optical/laser engineer with a Master's degree. Anyone know the hot spots for techie jobs in the south of France? Also, I work and would like to continue to if we move (I am in the process of taking Franch classes). What sort of opportunities are there for Americans looking to enter the French job market (I have a BA from a US university)? In addition, we are currently reasiing our twins tri-lingual (English, French & Spanish) and wanted to know if anyone can tel me anything about multi-lingual learning in France. Thanks! |
Replies Posted 3.
| Name | Francoise |
| Message |
The French job market situation is pretty bad right now. I don't know anything about your husband's field of expertise so I can't really comment, but in your case finding a job will be very difficult unless your French is perfect. Think about it, why would a French company hire you when they have so many qualified unemployed French citizens to choose from? Your best bet would be to arrange a job with an american company with offices in France before you go. If you don't mind a low-paid job you could consider private English tuition or work as an English teacher's help in a school.
If your husband has been living away from France for a few years, he will experience a shock coming back. France has changed a lot in the past few years and not in a good way. Social problems have worsened considerably. France still has better workers rights than the States but this too is changing, see the recent changes in pension provision for instance. Sorry to sound so negative but now is not a great time to consider moving to France. As for the language learning for your daughters, France is a bit behind other countries in that respect. There are a few state-funded schools that start teaching a second language from primary school, some even at nursery school level. I have visited such a school in Alsace where a German lady came in every afternoon and she would only speak in German even when the children addressed her in French. It's amazing how fast kids pick up a new language in this way. These schools are often in border areas so in your case you may want to look somewhere near the Spanish border (I assume you will be the one teaching them English at home). |
| Name | JD |
| Message |
I would think that a good place to look for a job if your field of expertise is Laser/optical is the Bordeaux region because they are investing considerable amounts of money into a this field there.
See some links on "La Route des Lasers": http://www-lmj.cea.fr/html/rubrique121.html It may not be exactly what you would call "the south of France" but Bordeaux region is quite nice too. Cheers. |
| Name | susan todd |
| Message | There is a huge tech park with 1300 international companies between cannes and nice. It's called sophie antipolis. Look that up on the internet. There you can browse all of the companies (it takes a long time) and there were companies with very specialized research and production. I'm sure I saw something about lasers and optics. Good luck. We're moving next fall and hope to find work. My daughter is 13 and will be at a school near there. Susan |
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