When you don't speak French (yet)

What's it like for an American middle school student? Experience and tips for kids and parents considering a move to France.
Timeline
00:00 Intro
00:46 First Days of Going to School In a New Language
02:30 English Speaking International School vs. French School
03:42 Don't Skip English Class!
05:39 How Old is Too Old?
08:57 Making Friends in France
11:51 Advice for Parents
13:10 Tutors and After-School Activities
16:14 Advice for Other Kids
Free move-to-France resource list with links to all the things (housing, car rental, international health insurance etc): unique-writer-5502.ck.page/85...
About Us:
We are an American family of 3 who moved to France for an extended stay adventure in 2022.
We wanted to experience Europe as more than rushed tourists on a 10-day vacation. To dive into the culture, learn a new language, experience daily life, and truly know what it was like to work and live somewhere other than the US.
In France, we set up a business, enrolled in a middle school, found housing, and even got our cat a European passport!
While in the US preparing to leave, the information we found about staying in France for longer than a short vacation was directed at college students, young & single digital nomads, or retirees. Where was the useful information for families like us?
With a year under our belts in France, we created Baguette Bound to pass on what we have learned. We hope to make it easier and inspire other families who are interested in experiencing a long stay in France with their families. Stay tuned for more information on French culture, local travel ideas, and the logistics of moving across the world.
Contact us @ baguettebound.com/
Book a Consult: bookwithraina.as.me/BaguetteB...
#movetofrance #france #americansinfrance #slowliving #expatinfrance #frenchlifestyle #baguettebound #frenchcountryside #frenchcountry #movingtofrance #frenchschool #studyabroad

[@fontainerouge]

Raise your kid to be curious & like people and they'll adapt to anything.

[@fruitmonarch6501]

As a french person, I'm amazed you adapted so quickly, it must've been so hard and yet you sound so positive about it, hats off to you, Julianna!

[@backintimealwyn5736]

she seems very angry at some points of the video. she's obviously very smart and in the end it will be great for her even if it's hard, the hardest things that we succeed in are the ones that make us the proudest and the strongest. I wish her the best.

[@goofygrandlouis6296]

OK.. But who's "Benoit" ? If I were the husband.. I'd investigate.. 🤨

[@thirdculturemama]

Hey Julianna, so fun to watch this video. I saw myself, I moved to France with no French skills at age 10, thrown into French school. Later got my bac and masters in France. Today, in a weird twist of events I am teaching French to French native speakers, I am teaching your grade 6eme ! If only they knew where I came from... you got this, darling! Your future is so bright.

[@fessedelynx9245]

I remember having a British girl in my English class at school and it was very nice and fun because she helped us with English and we helped her with French. Of course, it's not the same for everyone, but we had a very good friendship and the classes were more fun. I also think that children are more resilient and understand each other quickly, which helps. We knew that it couldn't be easy for her, and she was always positive and eager to learn. I have very fond memories of that time. Bravo for your maturity and bravery, because it’s not simple at all to be the new kid, especially if you don’t speak the language, so bravo 🔥

[@klaus2t703]

Wow. Good video. And a very nice, eloquent, intelligent and self reflective daugther. ("be nice to your teachers", "don´t youse your foreigner status as an excuse" .. simple, but wise) The parents did a good job! Moving to a foreign country is always a challenge, not easy, but you not only learn a new language you also learn a new culture and become open minded. What an increase in quality of life. Many - who don´t go out of their bubble - won´t understand.

[@gsbeak]

I'm French. My sister married a Welsh man and they have 2 daughters who have always been living in UK. When starting middle school they were perfectly bilingual because the family always speak French at home. When my niece began French lessons as a foreign language, she hid the fact that her mother is French and spoke French with a very strong English accent. When the French teacher met my sister for the first time it was a big surprise for her to discover that my niece was in fact fluent in French...My niece did not want, in fact, to be the "special kid" in class.

[@dinkster1729]

A member of the staff at a military residence in Quebec City told me my son's French was improving. I told him my son had been in French nursery schools and French schools since the beginning of his school years. Maybe, this guy was surprised that my son's French had "improved" so much since he'd only been in Quebec City for a few weeks. Another fellow on staff there pretended he didn't speak English because he recognized that my son was of French-Canadian ancestry. My naive son: "That guy? He can't speak English at all. I have to speak to him in French. Bilingual jokesters are a lot of fun.

[@nox8730]

I understand that. I lived 3 years in Ecuador, South America, as a kid. I was called "el estranjero" by kids there. When coming back to France (or actually, coming back to my country for the 1 st time) and starting grade school, i refused to ever speak spanish again because i didn't want to be the odd kid again in France. The end result is that i pretty much lost all my spanish in a mere few years.

[@comedebreuille5396]

Ahah are you sure you are not my mother ?? 😂 Her sister married a Welsh man and they have two daughters who have always been living in the UK exactly like yours !

[@gsbeak]

@@comedebreuille5396 I would have needed to change my gender to be your mother... Funny coincidence. 🙂

[@comedebreuille5396]

@@gsbeak so you must be my uncle, Olivier is that you ? 😉

[@TTC-bw6fr]

My God your daughter is so mature. Je viens de découvrir votre chaîne et vous remercie, vous et votre famille d'enrichir notre culture et pays. Bonne continuation.

[@user-bp5gz6ir2w]

What a lovely and intelligent young lady, she will go far!

[@madjic-uc8hf]

I'm a 55 yo Frenchman and my son is 20 yo, I'm blasted by how Juliana speaks about her choices on education putting first the interest for her future and not her immediate comfort. The way she puts it is impressive, and in her place I'm pretty sure I would have been very scared. Also, you'll see (if you didn't see it already) that everything you learn in the public school in France are made with an "academic" approach. For example, English teacher will be more focused on if you use correctly preterit or past perfect than if you are really able to talk with English speakers. Same for music, for example, you'll spend 4 years learning music without touching an instrument but learning notes and solfège. This is why (in my opinion) there are so few people speaking good English or playing instruments in France, the Education system makes you lose the fun of it ! But for you, it's not a problem in English: you already speak it, being reminded on academic rules will only be a "plus". Welcome to France, by the way.

[@jean-Pierre-bt8xw]

I am totally in awe and impressed... I am French, I served in french army based in Germany, I had the bases of english in french school standards of the 90's... then a poor level excepted for gramary, sentence structure and conjugation... my accent was awfully french.. .then army force dme to served 6 months in an american base in Germany, as link officer... and after 2 weeks of hard time, I became fluent, using even american expressions and some american accents... I put a S because Texans and Northern states of USA didn't speak the same (I swear). then I saw your videos and in this one, your daughter keep her english ability and when she speaks french, she doesn't have any american accent... Thanks alot for the sweet words towards my country I saw in other of your videos. Makes me proud to be French and "gonfler à bloc", lol keep up the good work. Bravo et merci donc ! :)

[@HippocraticHustle]

I love these videos with Julianna. This was so helpful. We have a 8th grader daughter (only child too!) and we are trying to figure out how to navigate a crazy move too. Thanks Julianna!!!

[@rddavies]

You can tell Juliana will be successful as she has that je ne sais quoi - charm, humor, smarts, etc. etc.

[@sonicart1808]

A huge well done to you, this is no easy ride 👍

[@joanrojas9084]

Thank you Juliana! Sharing your insights born of experience was so very helpful. You are a very lucky girl; someday you’ll decide to stay, or return - you can do whatever you like, with so many advantages under your belt at such an early age. Bravo to you and your parents for believing in your ability to grab this opportunity and make the most of it!

[@afterburner94]

Woah the algorithm pushed you guys inyo my feed. I'm discovering your channel with this video. Thats such a great and novel concept to talk about relocation to France thru the prism of your kids French school enrollment. I'm sure it will act as valuable information for any English-speaking family willing to relocate to France. Kudos to you all. Wishing Juliana to ace le brevet and just generally kickass later au lycée et dans ses études à l'université !

[@WordAte]

When starting to learn Dutch, I began reviewing English grammar. It helps to remember the structure of my native language.

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

Very different, very helpful, very entertaining, and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. Refreshing in comparison to so many other "family-moves-to-foreign-country" videos. Merci.

[@susanlassiterlampley14]

What a wonderful video. Thank you for doing it. It brought back so many memories as I was 16 when I spent my Jr. year in high as an exchange student in France after having only had 2 years of high school French -- which is nothing really when you get there! I remember the first day of class and the other students were so curious about me and also wanted to help me. It was a wonderful year. She's so fortunate to have her family with her -- I didn't and I lived in the school just outside of Paris -- but it was one of the best years of my life. I admire what your family is all doing together over there and I keep thinking that I'll move back during retirement, which could be any time. Oh, and her accent is perfect!

[@maximeblanc5085]

Super intéressant ! Merci pour ce témoignage.

[@philippedombinou8589]

Impressionnant, tout mes compliments c'est remarquable👍💪

[@yvesd_fr1810]

This young lady seems particularly smart, imho... She pinpointed several interesting points and her french appears quite good, indeed !

[@julien5053]

Wow, Julianna si so mature for her age, it's very impressive !

[@brigittelacour5055]

Baccalauréat isn't only to enter university it also a diploma. It could also be a professional diploma too if you're study a technical baccalauréat. You have 3 different baccalaureat, one with general studies including philosophy, one with a bit less general but with a bit "technical" studies, one with mote less general studies and lot more technical skills. The third one give a work qualification and you can work with that or even study a more qualified level or even go to university. The second one could also lead to work with certain specialisation but mostly require farther studies, and it's really difficult to find a job with only a general baccalauréat !

[@Rachel-rs7jn]

I think she was talking about the SAT there? The SAT is not required to graduate from high school, only if you want to go on.

[@BaguetteBound]

Thanks for clarifying this more!

[@brigittelacour5055]

What is SAT ? ​@@Rachel-rs7jn

[@brigittelacour5055]

After the equivalent of 9 grade you can chose to study in professional, could be as full time pupils or mixed school and work with a professional tutor ( alternance) to acquiere professional diploma CAP, BEP, even baccalaureat , in wide area from plumbing to child care. Lots of profession in France required a professional diploma to be allowed to work as like even hairdresser.

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

Juliana has a superb accent! Watch out, in a few months she will have a perfect South-West accent; that is useful, because in this part of France we tend to pronounce all letters.

[@budapestkeleti6404]

what do you mean by pronouncing all letters? like silent t, s, e letters?

[@stephanesoler3085]

@@budapestkeleti6404not the t, never. But the s and e are sometimes prononced indeed

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

Most often the e at the end of the word.

[@budapestkeleti6404]

@@jean-pascalesparceil9008 the way how Tino Rossi or Edith Piaf sang

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

@@budapestkeleti6404 More like Claude Nougaro and Francis Cabrel.

[@heathcliff1096]

Your daughter has a very good French accent indeed ! Carry on !

[@clairemariviv]

My apologies I thought at first your daughter would be timid to speak. But she speaks her mind she is very confident smart girl. Well done 👍 .. new subscriber x

[@dariuskokoszko4245]

in 3eme you have to do a "stage " in a company or any business to see the workplace and how it works

[@kimdelo9795]

I love this. In my experience, if Julianna had a sibling they would be speaking French to each other at home after a year and leaving their parents in the dust. Kids are just amazing with languages, and they’re put in situations where they are forced to use the language all day, every day, unlike adults who stay at home summoning their courage to go out to the bakery or the bank. What a great experience for her.

[@dinkster1729]

Kids just learn it faster. Or, maybe, immigrants are so busy earning a living that they don't get much instruction in the language of the community. I remember my Spanish as a 2nd Language teacher had a daughter who had come to Canada at 8 years of age and a younger daughter who was born here. He was very educated and very loquacious as well since he had a degree in agriculture and taught Spanish in a Central American technical college . However his daughter at age 14 spoke English like a Canadian kid when he brought her to school one evening. He was still struggling with the language, but did learn English eventually a few years later, but would never pass for a native speaker of Canadian English.

[@brigittelacour5055]

I'm french living in France. I was married to a British and he only spoke English to our kids so they're all bilingual. They learnt German as first foreign language and Spanish as second, except the youngest who did the English second language as he is dyslexic ( German is a structural language, Spanish not ) 1 switched for English first and German second in lycée ( 3 last years) 2 kept german first and chose english second after a test and attestation from an English teacher. The second language is learnt quicker and the level is pretty similar at the beginning of lycée if you study German first and English second ( not so if it's the contrary) But to be sure they had the writing knowledge in English their father make them do the English programme at home with the textbooks their school uses. Plus they received lots of books from the British family.

[@Jean-MarcBordeaux]

Omg Love your channel I took the plunge 8 months ago to move to France, Can you do a video on the carte vital. and how you renewed your visa while in France, that would be so helpful. Loved your other videos about the driving test etc, I was so crazy I brought my car over and imported it with Florida plates, What a hoot. I am awaiting to change it over to French plates. Everywhere I park French people are coming up to me. Looking over the car, Yes I am still trying to learn French..😊

[@BaguetteBound]

Holy cow, you were a brave one importing a car!! Good luck with the plate change, and thanks fir the video suggestions! Welcome to France!

[@CatinDesBois06]

Very mature kid, I'm glad to see people enjoying the process of integration and sharing Great great future

[@CatinDesBois06]

and you're braver than most of the humain being juliana 🙏

[@sarahnd]

Our daughter wasn't allowed to skip English (she was 14) but it wasn't a great experience. The teacher (whose English was not native) obviously felt threatened by having a native speaker in the class and tried to shut her up and actually criticized her pronunciation, because it was American, rather than British. It was a real shame, since a smart teacher would have used a native speaker student to get the other students involved in a fun way. All depends on the personality of the teacher, I guess.

[@afterburner94]

I am French and have taught French to middle-schoolers in the US. Your account of that teacher is awful. Absolute God awful level of educational behavior and pettiness. I am gonna say it and I do not care : fuck.that.teacher. that person should NOT be allowed to teach.

[@kimdelo9795]

The only C my partner (an Engineer) ever made in school was in a French class where the teacher was butt-hurt and intimidated because he actually spoke French, having spent the first ten years of his life in a French speaking country.

[@dinkster1729]

@@kimdelo9795 There's French as a 2nd language and there's French. It could be the teacher was marking every little mistake and not giving credit for the fact that your partner had native-like fluency in French. I substituted for a French as a second language teacher near St John's, Newfoundland. She didn't know enough French to conduct classes in French. One of her grade 11 students was from Montreal, a very bilingual city. His accent was perfect, even though, as the regular teacher said, he made the same mistakes in written French that his classmates made. Being able to speak and read and write and understand French counts for nothing in the FSL teacher's book, I guess.

[@kellymcbright5456]

I had a native german speaker in my german class. In general i do not like the idea of having natives in foreign language class, since it is unfair. But to me i wanted to find out whether it could be a chance to lift up the skill level since he might pull the others. Most teachers are very insecure on their professional skills. Do not forget that in most cases they learn just "half" sciences since they study two or even three subjects making them a third of a scientist. In comparison to the biologists or literarature or whatever students who study just one and thus get 100 percent of the science.

[@hepdepaddel]

My niece speaks Spanish fluently, thanks to her dad. However, when she took Spanish as her second foreign language at school, because she expected it to be easy, she had to realize that grammar and spelling still are a challenge. And after a few years, at least the lessons in the first foreign language here become quite similar to the native language: you don‘t learn vocabulary and grammar but discuss literature.

[@zorglub20770]

you got a pretty smart and articulate daughter here. I wish all the French kids would sound the same (obviously, there are some)

[@osefbloublou1597]

This girl is so lucky to be your daughter. You offer her a great educative scheme. Cheers from Paris

[@jonasweber9408]

One random advise I would give is actually using Chat GPT 😊 you can ask it to “write to me in basic french, have a conversation with me and correct mistakes I do” Or even ask it to make tests or other things, it can help

[@spiderd9158]

I'm a french mother from Bordeaux (Villenave d'ornon exactly i'm 50 yeats old). My daughter (14 years old) speaks very well english. Your daughter made a good and fast transition. So much respect to her. If you need anything, we can meet each other. For the BAC in Terminale (last year of high school), you make a mistake, try to take the BAC is obligatory and even if she doesn't go to University, have this diploma is good and offer you a lot of open doors to public administrations as well. Welcome to your family in France. My daughter Love speaking english so i make my best speaking english everytime with her. I understand the difficulty to speak french for foreigners, it's a hard language to learn. Congrats to all of your family. Stéphanie and Syrëlis (mother & daughter)

[@BaguetteBound]

Merci!

[@undraftedplayer]

Bonjour, as a french i just discovered your channel. Bienvenue en France ! It must to be very hard and challenging to go to school the firsts months and trying to learn a new language ! French is a difficult language to learn. Congratulations to your daughter , she looks already to speak and understand french very well. She has a great sense of humour. I would have thought/expected you know "the Rock" or Taylor Swift...😁. I am totaly agree about the more easy way to learn a forein language is to read, speak, and watch some videos/listen radio about yours hobbies in this foreign language. Je vous souhaite le meilleur.

[@jambonpuree]

Le peu de mots que dit votre fille sont parfaitement prononcés, quel bel accent ! Bienvenue à votre famille ici mais tout n'est pas rose (bon visiblement vous êtes pas dans la pire région de France, le Périgord est très beau), take care !

[@PeterJames143]

I really identify with this girl because I was plopped into a French school when I was in 4th grade. Never got good at miming. Certainly read a lot. But that was way before modern cell phones. I wish I had studied harder when I was in that school. Had a bit too much drama in my life. I really like how she is so respectful and engaging with her mother. My advice. Do as well as you can in school, and it would be ideal if you studied there for a few years. Even if you do horribly in school you are going to be the best French speaker among your American friends probably for the rest of your life. I regret not having studied harder, I was in a French school for about 2 years. I use French in my professional life now, 40 years later, although I barely studied French at all when I returned to the USA, and I honestly was a horrible student in the French school. Best of luck to your whole family. :) God bless. My mom got me French lessons before we went. We didn't do a whole lot, but being able to say "Hello, my name is ____", and being able to count a little, was very important. Even having a few words, you can start to build a foundation. I still remember the first time I asked my French teacher what an English word meant in French and she shrugged her shoulders to say she had no idea. This is in like 1977? You ain't in Kansas anymore. :) anyway. Really I wish you the best. Oh also, yes you're great to include French books... I didn't read a lot in French, but at least I read a lot of Asterix books. It's totally unnecessary to speak French at home, but a good tutor is important... a *good* tutor... just to help with your school work mostly. Yeah... don't sign your kid up for anything they don't want to do. This ain't the usa anymore. If they want to do judo or soccer and you're in a country that is really great at it, then okay. Or if they love some other thing that you can do where you are, then great. But don't go out of your way to be a soccer mom in a country where there is (to my knowledge) no such thing--bad for mom, bad for kid. Being in a totally foreign environment is entirely enough of a strain. My mom got me horseback and tennis lessons, which I of course appreciate however it would have been better to follow her child's lead on what he was interested in, and honestly no lessons at all would have been fine. I dreaded the horseback riding lessons and I don't believe the teacher liked me very much.

[@zorglub20770]

perfect parenting

[@ulfr5347]

with "sixième" i heard her accent it seems that going in a french speaking shcool realy help. Great accent. I know some persons going to french highschool comming from non french middle school. I don't think it's a huge prblm ( but they came from french speaking countries)

[@marygee3981]

😊 your daughter has the accent solid.

[@etiennebrun8760]

So amazed of your daughter's "R" when she's saying "Brevet" ! :D

[@sebastien-zf5cc]

I am French and came to english part of Canada. My kids caught english in less than 3 months

[@olof8100]

Great accent Juliana!

[@Hrng270]

Well, it would be great for you, as a statenitan family resident in France, to learn Interlingua, which connects English to French and other Romance languages, Julianna is intelligent 🧠 good luck to everyone in France.

[@mustard7627]

J'aimerai bien t'entendre un peu parler en français dans une vidéo, voir le niveau qu'on peut avoir après quelques mois. Ca nous interesse aussi les français que tu nous racontes tes impressions et ton vécu. I'd love to hear you speak a little French in a video, to see how good you can get after a few months. We French are also interested in hearing about your impressions and experiences.

[@antoinebeaulieu2017]

... I feel like I've juste watched an interview of a young woman deepfaked into a teenager !!! The maturity of Juliana is astounding ! I'm not worried for her : with that kind of mind, mindset and smartness she'll do well anywhere she chose to go/be/work !

[@francoisdelestre1728]

Tu parles déjà français presque sans accent ! Bravo Juliana !

[@flaviakaiser9204]

This is SUPER nice, ladies. Thank you so much for sharing. We're moving next year with two teens (who will be 13 and 16 when they start school in France Sept/2025). I have been teaching them very basic French. But their native language is Danish. So let's see.

[@BaguetteBound]

Good luck with everything!

[@alexwyler4570]

future video? compare school academics between America and France

[@synkaan2167]

Well you didn't speak much French but it feels like you already got the accent, good job =)

[@veroniquelauzon2801]

FYI: The brevet is not mandatory for the lycée though.

[@MikeS29]

Wow! You are raising her right 🙂 We "free-range Americans" can appreciate the challenges and benefits of plunging right in.

[@bobbyquinting3918]

OUI -That's all the French I know. I learned it from the title of a magazine! ;)

[@onclecouisti]

Moi aussi j'aime le fromage😅 vous possedez déjà les bases..bienvenue en France!

[@bellaossona7587]

As french person i laughed about the way you belive brevet so important (it will be, next years, amazingly) : it's not at all required. But you think bac is not important : it's really the most important of all !

[@hellohjbgjh]

of course getting the Brevet is important. It is the first and most basic diploma. If you get it it means a lot on your way to adulthood

[@OlivierDALET]

Honestly, it's not. If you have grades good enough, you don't even need to pass it and you'll still go to highschool; at least it was the case. The important diploma is the baccalauréat

[@hellohjbgjh]

@@OlivierDALET not at all because some professions require the brevet to be part of them , like working in the French gendarmerie, the police, many others , to take the "concours" examinations, but many it's different now but in my mind it was like this not long ago still

[@OlivierDALET]

@@hellohjbgjh Right, I get what you mean. Theoretically, with this you can attempt C category exams. However, if your level is only this, I highly doubt you'll pass because other applicants will have gone further in their academics. Even the bac - unless it is a professional one - won't land you a job; however it will allow you to enter college/university/other kind of schools. I don't want to look like an elitist, but I really think th Brevet is nearly useless.

[@sonyasever7625]

may i ask you what was the reason you didn't study basic French before going to school? ( hope that doesn't sound rude 😭😭 love ya!)

[@BaguetteBound]

This is a great and totally fair question. The answer is we did (all of us) start studying French with a teacher as soon as we knew we were moving. But the time from when we decided to move to when we landed in France was so short, there wasn't enough time to make meaningful progress. Thanks for watching!

[@jeanyves5380]

Yes! It's very tiring to speak a foreign language, all the time.

[@NoahArk-xy2nb]

The name "bagauette bound" is the cutest funniest thing I have read.

[@scarletdvore1459]

Nice…

[@erinfield1943]

I was the office manager of a French immersion elementary school in Canada and we'd get international students registering all the time for french (at which point they would be learning their third language), and I told them to prepare over the summer by watching french on tv and KZbin, but also just be aware that they're going to get tired faster than usual because they're thinking so hard all day, but it will get better. If you think about your first few days at a new job, it's like that- mentally exhausting. But they learn so fast, it's a testament to the marvel of young brains. (Also, good thing Juliana got in at grade 6 because we cap our age of entry into french immersion at grade 3 I think now, just due to lack of resources [cough cough politics/ underfunding])

[@dinkster1729]

Some schools cap the enrolment at Junior Kindergarten--Guelph area. Our Kingston Early French Immersion entry points are jk, k & grade 1, but we also have a grade 7 & 8 extended French entry point. Then, the kids are thrown together at the grade 9 level. My kids went to the French first language high school here at that point. My son, the weaker student, but more social than my daughter, learned French at the high school even though his marks were lousy. One French-Canadian kid in Quebec City told him he wasn't an Anglophone because he didn't speak French like an Anglophone. You're in New Brunswick. How open are the French first language schools in New Brunswick to people who don't speak French at home now? In Newfoundland and Labrador they are very welcoming and in Eastern Ontario, they are as well.

[@jeanyves5380]

Hooo i think she's very proud even if she didn't have any choice! 🤣 "Le brevet des écoles" mais il n'a plus trop de valeur! nowadays. I would struggle hard if i needed to learn in a foreing country.

[@jean-paulpotet1988]

I read that, in the US, newly arrived Mexican kids who are forced to speak English from the very first day never speak English well. Conversely those left alone and to their own devices start speaking fluent English about 9 months later. So the brain of a young person can digest the influx of linguistic foreign data into a language that the youngster can use as their own provided you do not interfere in the process and let time do its work.

[@Gert-DK]

Funny, you should say "find something of interest". Years ago, I got new Neighbors. An African woman with a girl on the same age as you. Her mother had a hard time to get her to concentrate on the Danish language. I realized the problem, so to help, I bought the girl a subscription to a magazine for youth, with the latest youth gossip. Each time when the magazine was coming, I could hear her walking to the mailbox several times a day. That made her read the Danish language. Any way, the children, and kids ain't a concern. The parents are way worse. Dear parents, learn how your kids are doing it. What do they do? You may ask. They are just doing it, not that afraid if it is correct or not. Find something of interest, it is a very good suggestion. It works. Also for parents, especially for parents.

[@sengs.4838]

i like her frenchise😄😝

[@JezaGaia]

Very good advice about the brevet, in fact I would say that you downplayed it saying that if you redo the 8th grade (4émé in French) the academics part will be easy, it's true for things like science and maths but if we're talking history I doubt many foreigners know the level of French history that's taught in French school. I would say that it goes also for geography , you might know as much of the global geography but not about the local one.

[@PatriciaBrooksCarefreeExpat]

Do you find the French teachers you have stricter or less forgiving than the ones you had in the US?

[@calise8783]

I don’t live in France but Germany with bilingual children. I can say we had amazing English teachers ( all having lived and/or studied in an English speaking country for at least a year or two) who graded them equally to other students. If the test was on the past tense, they were specifically graded on that aspect. The most difficult was knowing more and wanting to use other tenses to make a text more pleasing but having to stick to that one tense for that exam. We did have one teacher who did grade them a bit tougher, or holding them up to a higher standard. He was also dual citizen with an US-American mother. But he was mostly still fair and very encouraging. He was actually a favorite teacher. Oh in third grade my youngest did have an English teacher who ignored my son and tried to exclude him. I simply told her that he felt very excluded/punished and she quickly changed her ways. She was a relatively new teacher.

[@jeanyves5380]

I think this video could make a good english lesson!!! Then you could laugth to see your mates struggling.

[@dariuskokoszko4245]

english class in france is more british class more than american english example favourite colours british and favorite colors american english cheers

[@xAceTiiKz]

The kind of immigration we need, welcome to our country

[@dariuskokoszko4245]

Juliana you need to read victor hugo

[@terryro761]

If you have questions for the teacher will they speak to you in English?

[@BaguetteBound]

Every situation and teacher is different of course, but Juliana said in her experience when you first start if your teacher realizes you're struggling with something, if they know English, they will usually try to help in English. But not every teacher knows English, so it's not always possible, and they try to stay in French as much as possible. Just go in prepared that you'll be lost a lot at first, and that's OK. It will get better with time!

[@magnusbrzenk447]

No discussion of how proficient she now is, and how long it took her?!

[@nox8730]

She has very little accent. In only 2 years, she reached a pretty good level with good pronunciation. She still has margin to progress though, that wouldn't be fun otherwise. And she seems to be smart. We welcome smart people. It help compensate for the increasing number of idiots roaming our streets.

[@brezhoneg9159]

She speaks French very well; I don't really hear the English accent. She will have dual nationality.

[@berlingowiesloch6546]

Too old moving to France is 16 as you won’t be allowed to drive your own car to high school and friends until 18… 🚲🚶‍♀️😀

[@yoch5383]

French school system is really bad imo (i'm half french half belgian) The level isn't really high compare to the level in the past, and brevet + bacaloréat isn't effective anymore it's an old system from napoleon and now they simplified so much that it isn't really great Belgian school system is much effective we have tests every years 2 time per years in every in every subjects

[@chucku00]

The funny thing is your daughter can brag about being in _collège_ to her friends and family in the US when she's talking to them.

[@OlivierDALET]

Very nice accent Juliana! Your French r's (eg in troisième or quatrième) are better than your mother's. Sorry mum ;). What gives you as non native are mispronunciations rather than the accent. For example, the first 'e' in brevet should sound like 'eu' in ''peu' (closed e) and not like 'eu' in 'peur' (an open one). Hope this helps

[@isabellwallace3888]

Le brevet is not the only test. Le baccalauréat at the end of high school is the other one.

[@Profitocracy-]

Dans 2 mois elle dit "wesh"

[@doswheelsouges359]

She doesn't like passé simple. No big deal, it's barely used.

[@jmbig]

Elle parle comme une française ... Pratiquement aucun accent !! 😳😳

[@user-th7gd7ge4p]

you need to learn arabic before moving to france

[@anothervinnie7413]

Wrong

[@user-th7gd7ge4p]

@@anothervinnie7413 yes it is very wrong but the french can only blame themselves for importing so many troublemakers. now they are paying the price.

[@LH-zv2zq]

Lol

[@AdaL0906]

Wherever you go. It is really wealthy in culture to learn a local language. And since France and the USA share a common History. It helps a lot to be integrated. Being in France, I did not want to lose my friends. But the French are as so super as every year I changed my friend group and I was not feeling any lonely. Every year I was so happy and I prefer my current friends than before back then. 💙🤍❤️

[@AdaL0906]

Moreover. French is really easy to learn when you are English speaker. Actually English lexicon is half made of french words and the conjugation of the sentences are the same way. If you want an advice, don’t really mind about the good words’ spelling, you will anyway know them. Work more on the speaking. Because anyway, french people are themselves confused with it. French is so simple to learn, the writing isn’t even transparent with the speaking. (I have a French native friend who once had -10 out of 20 in writing at a great school exam 😂)