If you’re planing to install in France for a few month, or if you intend to live there for a couple of years, learning the language will only make your life better.
Do you need to learn French?
Financial services, Real Estate companies, Legal professionals, all of them have their ways with the English language.
They will be able to provide advice in both languages with no troubles.
Contracts have to be written in a language understood by the parties that’s integral to the European dynamics of inclusiveness.
The biggest, most reliable french companies all have an international division.
If they don’t, look for another.
Every Publics services from Security to Heath to Tax services is equipped to assist you.
Education can be delivered in both languages in both languages in many schools & institutes.
Entertainment
Most cinemas propose non-dubbed versions of the movies or English-subbed versions.
The biggest museums & art galleries have bilingual guides.
Restaurants
Most restaurants have their menues in both languages.
Self-Catering & the Markets
Almost every super/hypermarket will be English friendly.
Many markets have English label nowadays.
If you want to live in France, and enjoy your french mates.
You could say Pastries, or Patisseries.
Bakery or Boulangerie.
And so on.
There are very few languages in the world that as a close to English as French.
French vocabulary has been introduced into the English language since the Normand invasion of Britain up to the XXth century.
English is classified as a Germanic language, but up to 2/3 of its vocabulary is directly inherited from Romance languages, namely Latin (1/3) & French (1/3).
If anything, learning French will allow you to discover new English words.
Similarly, English is an easy language to learn if you are already speaking french, and is of great value if you wish to understand the evolution of French language as the 2 languages are so intertwined.
Travel & Taste
Les Marches locaux (Markets) are probably one of the best places to learn French.
Because you’ll learn French in its rawest form.
Local producers won’t try to tailor their speech for the customers, they’ll speak their way.
That’s also why markets are the best place to learn dialects.
And also the best places to discover regional specialties.
Try to visit as many cities, towns & villages as you can especially at the border of Spain, Italy & Germany.
The cities, towns & generally the Regions bordering these countries will have a lot of foreign communities but also give you access to regional languages such as Occitan, Savoyard or Languedocien.
That’s as many open doors for you to the rest of Europe.
Travelling is a game, Play.
The Joy of thinking in another Language
Linguistic flexibility in 1 of the many that allows to enjoy Cognitive Joy.
When you’re able to understand what the main character says in this movie you’ve always watch with subtitle, and understand the emotion behind the words you’ll be golden.
It brings us back to the reason why you decided to move: you wanted it.
And you probably want to speak the language of the country you’re living in just to interact with others.
But maybe even more so to remind yourself that you wanted to satisfy yourself.
Being able to switch from French to English & back to French is a pleasure in itself.
So much so that we’re now learning true foreign languages such as Arabic or Japanese.
Japanese is an especially challenging one & probably one of the hardest languages to learn period.
Even so, Enjoyment > Difficulty.
You may already know that feeling if you’ve got a couple of foreign languages under your arm.
Your daily french games
Order a full meal in French.
Watch a cookery show (’emission de cuisine’).
Ask for directions.
Treat yourself to your favorite meal, as long as you can read it out loud.
Read a Hugo’s poem, a LaFontaine’s fable.
other writings: Le HorlaGuy de Maupassant, À la recherche du temps perduMarcel Proust or Vingt mille lieues sous les mersJules Verne.
Watch a whole movie twice: with & then without subs.
examples: Céline et Julie vont en bateau Jacques Rivette, A Bout de souffle Jean-Luc Godard, Shoah Claude Lanzmann or La Règle du jeu Jean Renoir.
Listen a whole song trice a week: listen, sing along, sing without.
examples: any popular song you like.
Try Random Expressions.
Think of French as a regional dialect of English (or vice-versa).
All you need to learn is the accent.
Some key phrases to get you started:
La grande illusion, c’est le passé.
Les portes de l’avenir sont ouvertes à ceux qui savent les pousser.
Here are for you 20 of the best towns of France where it’s good to live & work:
Rennes
Clermont-Ferrand
Lyon
Bordeaux
Montpellier
Tours
Grenoble
Annecy.
Angers
Brest
Strasbourg
Nantes
Toulouse
Nice
Lille
Dijon
Metz
Orleans
Nancy
Rouen
A little thing about Paris & Ile-de-France
The capital is an amazing place to be, especially if you’re from outside of Europe.
However, in the last few decades many French workers (cadres) have began to massively quit Paris & Ile-de-France.
If you are moving to France because you went there on travels and find the country expensive, try towns & cities like Toulouse, Bordeaux or Dijon.
The metropolises experience multiple issues with Safety & Transportations systems.
Same for the other large Metropolises, such as Marseilles.
About the Cities/Towns in the list
Most of the Cities/Towns in the following list offer services & amenities comparable to those offered in metropolises.
Culture & Education are central policies, they all host a least 1 State University and in most cases private schools (‘Ecoles supérieurs’).
They all hold a Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, large-scale hospital linked to a university.
The transportation web is consistant & performant.
Real estate is reasonable & infrastructures are good.
Safety is also more sustainable assured, since they are less populated & the amount of agent per citizen is higher.
Why live in these Cities/Towns?
The Quality of Life & High is the atmosphere is highly desirable.
Most of them are close to the sea, the mountain, or both in some cases.
Climate is soft & the place is sunny most of the year.
Environmental condition are superior to most of the country, wherever it is air quality carbon footprint, or low amount of hazardous industrial sites.
Waste management is greener & Cycling is becoming the norm.
The use of concrete is limited.
Again, transportation is more modern & more up to date to the newest policies in terms of sustainable Urbanisme.
The TGV lines are dispatched to connect to airports.
The 4G cover is good.
The transition to 5G has began.
Real estate is reasonably priced, wherever it is rental or buying.
Culture & Entertainment, including restoration, are on par with those of metropolises.
Education is the prior public policy, there’s a large choice of high schools & Universities.
It is easier to access to a general practitioner, a dentist, or other specialized medical practitioners.
Safety is assured, with access to many Police stations & Gendarmeries bureau.
Every one of them has at least 1 Precinct, and most of them have more than 3.
Why Work in these Cities/Towns?
Employment market is sturdy, with many new jobs offers flourishing.
Unemployment rate is low & is getting lower as more people move in.
Most white-collar jobs have a faster career progression.
Structures Financing businesses have a low barrier to entry.
Construction/Civil engineering & Real Estate are 2 of the biggest sectors that attract people creating a snowball effect: more people in, more buildings & roads needed.
Subsequently, Industrial & Retail Real Estate tend to see their prices rapidly diminish even if they are still consequent.
The same effect has not be witnessed yet on Office real estate, where Teleworking is an advantageous alternative.
There are more High-Tech companies than anywhere else in the country, compared to the number of inhabitant.
This enhances the development of sectors such as Web/Mobile development, Digital marketing & Graphic Design.
This encourages the implementation of Teleworking in companies.
There’s a large number of students & specializations are diversified, so are career paths.
Young Bachelors & Masters degrees owners find a job easily.
R&D is rising.
Most of the population is well-off & consumption rate is high, wherever is domestic or from tourists.
The number of hotels is high.
The case of Rennes : an emerging metropolis
The top city of western France in term of Life Quality.
Almost 90% of Rennes inhabitants recommend their city to a person willing to move.
Housing is inexpensive.
Transportation may become more congested as Rennes becomes quite popular.
Atmosphere is great with high environmental quality, and a very clement climate.
A welcoming Employment market in most sectors.
Dynamism is high relatively to the rest of the country.
Cost of Life is low to medium depending on the district you live in.
Entertainment is diverse, and parks are plentiful.
Museums, Art galleries & Cinemas are promoted by the inhabitant and many value offers exist.
Restaurants & Snack bars are on par with those of metropolises.
Services are responsive & Infrastructures are of high quality.
The City possess a CHU & multiple Hospitals.
The University is one of the city’s pride.
Education is 1 of Rennes top strengths.
The Case of Lyon: Mature & Large and even more attractive
Jardins des Curiosités, Lyon
Lyon may be a tricky 1.
It quite a large metropolis, developed & presenting some issues of the larger metropolises (traffic, safety, pollution).
Even so, more than 80% of its inhabitant would recommend it to someone willing to move.
Another city with such high recommendation ratio is Strasbourg.
Strasbourg is an eastern France city, rapidly developing, close to the German border & highly integrated in the European development.
Meaning that the Lyonais (Lyon’s inhabitant) are highly confident in the attractiveness of their city.
It is still considered 1 of the best alternatives to Paris is you want to live in a metropolis.
Wherever you are a domestic or a foreign investor.
Multiple European & International have installed a division or a subsidiary in Lyon.
Lyon is a large metropolis which knows how to adapt to remain attractive.
Not as much as the emerging cities & town but more than the other metropolises.
Many entrepreneurs & experienced professionals, especially foreigners, may want to turn to Lyon for bigger businesses opportunities.
The case of Annecy: to keep in mind
Annecy
Annecy possess an ideal geographical localisation.
The atmosphere & Climate are some of the best in France.
Unemployment is very low.
Buying power is very high.
This is partly due to the fact that a consequent wedge of its population is working in Swiss where salaries are globally higher.
Other Cities/Towns by the German/Swiss border function on a comparable model.
This capital injection tends to rise Real Estate’s prices but also population creating to the aforementioned snowballing effect.
So, we may see a rise of the Construction sector in Annecy in the upcoming years.
The Very nature of Teleworking does not attach you to any country.
Why choose France then?
In many countries Managers, HR directors & executives have acknowledge it, and it is great.
In France, the State has acknowledged it.
In a press release released on March 16, 2020, the Ministère du Travail (Ministry of Labour) declared that 4/10 jobs in France are now compatible with teleworking.
Not should, nor could, ARE.
80% of HR Directors & Managers want to implement Teleworking in the long term.
Teleworking will improve work conditions in the long run.
A fourth of the employees may become Teleworkers for 2 days a week in the near future.
Teleworking is an opportunity to reduce costs & gain in productivity says the majority of French HR Directors.
Why?
They realized employees adapt fast to the agile method of project management.
Almost 2/3 of them are convinced that the Informatics/Logistics costs will be minor and largely compensated by the gains in Real Estate occupation & upkeep.
They also consider that Teleworking will boost their attractiveness while allowing them satisfying their customers more easily.
How will it be implemented?
Most HR managers propose the redaction of a Charter (charte de télétravail).
This Charter will fix the practices & procedures to adopt in order to prevent the most important issues of Teleworking:
The reduction of belonging feeling.
The reduction of cohesion.
Psycho-social risks.
A rotating system, on a 2 days a week basis, should help to prevent most of these.
Other measures, such as a personal monitoring, and on-the-job support & feedback are also in preparation.
Most of the functions in companies can be turned into the Teleworking process in the near future.
Although, there is 1 domain where Teleworking will be difficult to implement: logistics.
The New Management
Managers will be implemental in the implementation of teleworking.
A shift from management per task, judged too rigid, to management per objectives is already viewed as necessary in the current business development.
According to managers in french industries & B2C businesses teleworking could be the greatest opportunity to develop new product management & marketing practices attuned to the end consumers needs in terms of reshaping.
Marketing professionals from Orange Business Service already declare that management via teleworking would be a definitive way to attract & retain customers, namely the inner customer: the employee.
According to managers & executives the economy of resources (e.g. time & money), the synergy between planning & implementing help employees to do more and therefore see the end-goal sooner.
Teleworking is a door to more meaning-visible work.
According to multiple Work Barometers realized since 2015, more than 70% of the French population wants to work at home.
Managers & executives have begin to acknowledged it.
More than 90% of HR responsables interrogated know that teleworking will crack open the actual managerial practices to give birth to new ones.
The managers post-Covid will become a skills-developer.
This will be achieved by developing Competence Charters & increasing feedback between executives & team members as well as dialogue between services.
Remote working & Teleworking
You’re convinced you want to become a Teleworker in France?
Now you need to know which sectors & jobs are about to see this change happen the fastest.
Generally speaking, IT, Finance, Law, HR & Marketing are more encline to be executed remotely.
Sectors
The principals sectors that will experience Teleworking in France the fastest are Digital Marketing, Web/Mobile development, Machine Learning, Financial services, and many other IT based services.
Web/Mobile Development & Machine Learning
Web/Mobile & Machine Learning software Developer.
These jobs benefit from a huge leverage for teleworking since they are highly sough after (‘metier en tension’).
Furthermore, the nature of the job allows you to telework more easily.
UX/UI Designer
The same goes for the App Designer.
Wherever it is prototype creation, tests, feedback implementation, all that is required is reliable communication tools for the job to be exercised remotely.
Digital Marketing
Community Manager
The Brand ambassador.
Engage & animate communities.
One of the most “teleworkable” jobs.
Digital Artist
Realizes the commercial bundle.
Naturally inclined to teleworking, as a contractor or as an employee.
Web Editor (‘Rédacteur web’)
Responsible of the editorial content of the brand.
Coordinates the creation of the content published on the official website.
Translator
That’s an integral part of marketing.
It takes a lot of culture & context knowledge to perform a proper localization campaign.
Translators, you are marketers.
Financial services
Accountant
The computerization of documents & the development of tax/accounting softwares has transformed the accounting profession in less than 20 years.
The closing of the annual accounts, preparations of tax returns or pay slips can now be carried out remotely.
Actuary
Ever dreamed of becoming a risk manager?
The actuary is specialized in corporate risk management.
Often practiced in insurance, finance & strategy, this profession is open to remote work, if you have a few years of background.
Online Teachers
Because you have to learn all these skills.
And if you have the knowledge already, you’ll need more.
Wherever it is a Trainer, a Mentor, or a Coach online service become plentiful.
You can access courses via platform such as Udemy or Skillshare, but many Teacher have their own course & their own private group.
The Agent de fabrication (processing agent) is managing the conception of products mainly in automobile, plasturgie, electrical/electronic appliances, automotive & aeronautics.
Conducteurs de poids lourds (truck drivers) is another job where offers explode.
Finally, Techniciens de maintenance (service technicians) is the job category that recruits the most.
All these jobs are now qualified as ‘metier en tension’, or highly sough after jobs.
B2B Marketing:
Customer Success Specialist, this one requires a sense of information flux management, managing the balance between marketing & adds, but also knowledge of financial services.
Community Manager, this 1 will be sough after in the domains of Marketing & adds, of course, but also Local Branding, PR, and Sports.
Civil engineering, Construction & Real Estate
These jobs will be in demand because New Cities (e.g. Strasbourg) are emerging & metropolises (e.g. Lyon) are growing.
There is another reason.
In certain parts of France, real estate becomes inappropriately over-priced.
The solution? Build new buildings & sell them.
Agriculture & Food engineering.
This is where you’ll find some of the Frenchest jobs such as Viticulteur or Sommelier.
But also Ingénieur agronome as well as œnologue.
Central France invests heavily in Food engineering, especially town like Angers.
More & more universities & institutes are specialized in Agriculture & Agro-engineering.
Machine Learning & Cyber Security
If you’re already a computer scientist/engineer, a programmer or a software engineer you will integrate easily to the market, wherever you are in AI or not.
Know that France is 1 of the biggest investors in machine learning, probably the 1st in Europe.
So, if you’re honing your Python & Tensorflow/Keras skills, France could be the country for you.
Angers received the title of 1st town where it’s good to live multiple years, and has been classed as 1 of the best towns of France many years consecutively.
What makes it a great town to live?
There are 7 reasons orienting our choice/pick:
Academic Excellency
High quality Healthcare
Environmental integration
Cool Atmosphere
Low Crime
Reasonable Housing & Real Estate
Entertainment & Cultural Patrimony
Academic excellency & Food Engineering
Wherever it is Grade School or University, Angers invests highly in it’s education.
Angers has a great State University.
Angers is heavily investing in Engineering through l’Ecole Supérieur d’Agriculture (ESA).
Most notably Agricultural & Biological Engineering through the Istom, an Institute specialized in Food Engineering.
This school, trains engineers specializing in agricultural fields, has strategically set up in the heart of Pays de la Loire. a region that excels in this area.
Innovation in Plants/Crops development though new technology.
The Angers’ University & the Istom have developed a large inter-partnership web with R&D centers & partners such as ESA, Essca, Agro Campus Ouest, INRA.
Angers has also developed a ‘Campus du végétal’, a polarizing infrastructure composed of 2 parts:
La ‘Maison du végétal’ is the Competitiveness & Industrial development pole gathering industrial professionals, CEOs & professional syndicates of the field.
L’Institut du végétal The Campus gathers more 250 researchers & engineers as well as students.
High quality Healthcare
Health physical and mental health factors including
As for the rest of France, the life expectancy is high: 83 years.
France is 5th is most benchmarks in terms of life expectancy (Spain, Italy & Sweden have a similar index).
and adults reporting insufficient sleep or mentally unhealthy days.
Health Amenities & Services
The Accessibility to a general practitioner is very high, 1 of the highest in France.
The same goes for dentists, kinésithérapeute, gynecologists, pediatricians & ophthalmologists.
The access to mental health providers (psychiatrists) & primary care providers (nurses) is also high.
Angers holds 17 hospitals & multiple red cross establishments.
based on the number of hospitals,
Physical Activity
As said earlier, Parks are plentiful in Angers & more than 300 of them are Equipped for physical activity.
To compare most towns in France have between 20 & 50 equipped parks.
Continuous attention to the environment
Angers develops cross-domain policies to enhance Energy efficiency & Sustainable Urbanisme.
Angers shines through its measures in term of modern Urbanisme.
Angers is the greenest Town of France (palmarès Unep 2014).
Her R&D is oriented through vegetal production & innovation supporting the City of Tomorrow.
Wherever it is professionals, or enthusiast, the Angevins(Angers’ inhabitants) are making their town greener.
The vegetal declination embellish the historical, namely medieval but also antique, patrimony of the town.
Angers, has obtain the label ‘4 fleurs’ at the ‘Villes et Villages fleuris’ national competition.
Every habitant can access to a green space through feet.
Angers holds more than 40 parks, 550 ha of green space or more than 40 m2 per habitant.
The town gathers more than 1 000 ha of natural spaces, 110 000 tree & 1 000 resting spots.
Angers organizes every year a competition named ‘Jardins d’expression’.
The Goal of this competition is to ‘enhance the bond between human & nature though patrimonial valorisation & horticultural know-how.’
Up to 40 Jardins are elaborated by engineer/agriculture/designer students, high schoolers & grade schoolers.
The 40 pieces are then presented to more than 30000 visitors.
A Cool Atmosphere
The amount of Sunlight is consequent at every time of the year.
While at the same time the weather is not too Hot thanks to the western winds.
In term of convenience, commute times are short, walkability is good, and distance to airports is reasonable.
The Public Transportation web, composed mainly of Buses & Tramways, is consistant & effective.
Its is designed to create as little atmospheric pollution as possible.
Angers has many environmental advantages.
The air is one of the purest in France thanks to the winds (vents d’ouest).
You will often be at a reasonable distance of both the sea & the mountain.
Low Crime
Angers’ criminality (property & violent crime risk) is low compared to the National index.
Criminality growth is steady.
The Town is big enough to have 4 Precincts.
The Gendarmeries posts & police departments within the Town’s boundaries are easily accessible, as everywhere else in France.
The Population contributes to the maintain of peace through militant & Associative actions, community support & ‘Maisons de quartier’.
The investment made in Education, Culture & Sports policies are crucial to maintain the criminality at a low level, especially with youths.
The constant embellishment of the town & the activity of communities Associations contributes largely to the reduction of criminal acts.
Reasonable Housing & Real Estate
Angers is not an expensive Town.
This goes for the cost of Life in general as well as Housing.
Housing oscillate between 600€ & 900€.
You can find a 2-bedroom apartment for as little as 700€ in Southern Angers.
You can find a 2-bedroom apartment for as little as 750-800€ in Central Angers.
You can find a 3-bedroom house for as little as 750€ in Southern Angers.
In districts such as La Roseraie or Chateaubriant the prices are reasonable.
It may be difficult to find a 3-bedroom house in Central Angers, but the offers exist.
It’s a good idea to go directly to the owner through immobilier(real estate) websites so you don’t have to pay agency fee.
You’ll often save from 150-200€.
Entertainment & Cultural Patrimony
Angers displays its historical patrimony through constant renovation & restauration.
Angers integrates its historical patrimony into the general Urbanisme.
Most of Angers’ historical patrimony is Medieval, but you also have many Antique structures & art pieces.
Angers displays a quality cultural offer.
The Angevins are a very cinema-loving population.
Angers holds 3 of the great Musée de France (National museums).
The Art Galleries are plentiful as well you can find many famous paintings that were painted in Angers & are now exposed in here to this day.
Multiple poets such as Ronsard & Du Bellay, have their pieces of poetry accessible from local museums & art galleries.
La Cathedral d’Angers is the monument of the Town.
Its Gates are embedded with Polychromies (Multi-color sculptures).
A new gallery is about to be build around the gates to protect the Sculptures.
The project directed by Japanese architecte Kengo Kuma aims to protects the Polychromies of the Cathedral.
The abundant use of Wood, the limitation in the use of Concrete & Steel pairs with the way Angers is built.
Sustainable & Aesthetic Urbanisme are the end goal.
