I think that if you come here with limited french skills, you have two choices:
1) Pay for french courses out of your own pocket.
2) Bumble along with your current level of french, supplemented by reading and going to the library, and wait until you qualify to receive free french instruction or to receive a stipend.
I have opted for number two due to financial constraints. I've been here since the end of August and we really did hustle to apply for the carte de séjour. Even still, it takes time to accomplish things because you need certain pieces of paper before you can move on to the next step. It really is like a board game!
I am registered with Assedic (unemployment) but still need to follow up with ANPE (employment) today so I will discuss french lessons with them at my appointment.
I have my 'visite medicale' on the 23rd, which is more than just a medical visit; this is when the carte de séjour is distributed (right now i have a receipt that is only valid for three months). It is also a welcome meeting and they do an interview to assess your level of french.
I had not previously heard or read about the "contrat d'accueil et d'intégration" that you sign at your medical visit. Here is the brochure that I received along with the letter for my medical visit appointment :
http://www.anaem.fr/IMG/pdf/cai_publication/Dépliant%20C.A%20I%20verso.pdf
Here's the contract that's going to be signed at the visit:
http://www.anaem.fr/IMG/pdf/Contrat_2008.pdf
It seems quite funny that I am obligated to pay 275 Euros in taxes for the carte de sejour, but will receive french instruction that is valued *much more* than that!
This afternoon I am going to an association to start french lessons. I was supposed to contact them before, so I hope that I can start today.
Correction: The association that i went to today is called trait d'union, but there are a ton of organizations with this name in france so the url I found was not right.
5 comments:
Stephanie,
I would be most appreciative if you were to post about the steps associated with arranging to study French and receive a stipend. I fully intend to do that, if possible, upon arriving in France in spring 2009.
I would prefer not to slip into gentile poverty with my first step off the boat.
I also updated my post on the Agnès Varda film with your YouTube offering. It makes a great addition to the original post!
Thank you!
i did the free french lessons and it was a HUGE help. i had to persevere a bit to get them to give them to me, they kept saying the classes were full. keep at them!
There has been a lot of coverage on the French language support, apparently an english woman sued the gov't on behalf of EU members to receive same support as non EU members. I too would like more info as I've been paying quite a bit for study and my little school and professor is open to working with the system.
by the way, got my CdS this week, yay!
also, I didn't receive any 'contrat' or other info at my medical visit, just some brochures re: health and a letter stating I was cleared for the CdJ.
hmmm.
Hi,we are trying to learn some of the pitfalls we may encounter starting with the"long stay visa"for non working.,and if we make it to france,what problems we may have obtaining carte de sejour.
My husband,american 53,retired early (sans ret.income),but has enough savings to stay in france for some years (if we live the austere lifestyle ...;)
I am filipina 36,(sans US passport)We're legally married here in phils.,where we now live.
At the moment we're trying to find a small apartment ( can't be hotel says the french embassy)as one of the visa requirements.(we need 2 or 3 mos.lease doc.or "promise to lease"somewhere in the south but don't want to pay for a vacation "gite" on the sea,(maybe small village near the rail)
We're a little paranoid that for the CDS,they will ask for obscure documents impossible to acquire such as,US long form birth cert.,vaccination records,my husband has'nt file tax returns (legally) for 5 years,the type of medical insurance we must have for non-EU CDS.(if its diff.than what the french embassy needs.
And also we have no idea, what the stipend is for re:language course,we both have pretty good beginner skills...:)
Also if anyone has a very small room studio anywhere bet.italy and spain w/in 30km of the Med.coast.near the 500euros monthly.We can only sign a short term as we dont have CDS yet.
Any details would be appreciated.
Thanks,aubri and ric
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