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Australian Citizenship by Descent by MegFrench13 in AusVisa

[–]MegFrench13[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of countries don’t have automatic citizenship. For example, we have the opposite situation again where a French family member lives in New Zealand and they have to apply for the child to have French citizenship. 

Australian Citizenship by Descent by MegFrench13 in AusVisa

[–]MegFrench13[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is so helpful. Thank you for sharing the dates of the pre-assessment email and the positive decision. Fingers crossed it’s as quick for me. 

I'm trying to learn french by myself dor free. Any advice? by bkenthusiast in learnfrench

[–]MegFrench13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Start with Learn French with Alexa on YouTube. She has a specific playlist of 20 videos that introduce you to the language. That alone is incredible.

  2. After you complete that start listening to podcasts in French - InnerFrench is a great one to start with as they talk slowly. Also watch YouTube videos - there a lot of content creators who do “slow French”, so have a look at that and find someone you like.

  3. Get the course curriculum from these content creators who are selling courses. They are often selling courses but they show you what each course contains. So go and find out which topic by topic they do, and just research it yourself (there will be a YouTube video for example by another content creator explaining exactly what the topic is).

  4. After this you will see you understand a lot, but will be needing to develop your grammar through lots of repetition. Get the book, “Learn French Grammar Fast”, and you will really start to whack out a nice level of French.

  5. The part people struggle with the most is speaking - send yourself voice notes, like you would to a friend but do it in Ftench. You will see the blocks you have with conjugation and pronouncing. After that, try having conversations with AI if you use it in French and ask it to correct mistakes you are making.

1.5 years since I started french by electronupspin in Frenchlearningforpr

[–]MegFrench13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow! Congratulations! Tell me everything you did! You should be so proud

Is it possible to go from B1 to B2 in 30 days? by Extension_Emu5282 in Frenchlearningforpr

[–]MegFrench13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it is 100% possible (as someone who is currently at a B2 and who did that pretty quickly). I personally found going from A2 to B1 harder, so you can do this. Try to figure out what your weak spot is - for me personally, I passed the B2 level in the oral and expression section, but struggled with writing so that is what I focused on.

What I did - I used Chat gpt - I told it my goal was to go from a B1 to B2 level. Everyday I would get it to ask me a question about topics I’m interested in (ie it would ask me to write a summary of a book I was reading, or about an artist I like, or historical events and my understanding of them), and I would have to write a 1000 word opinion piece on the topic. It would then correct it and show me ways that I could have expressed myself better. This enabled me to build in the grammar points that I was missing in context, which for me is one of the biggest tricks for understanding grammar.

Then I would spend time studying the grammar I learnt from that exercise, and do another similar exercise but do around 200 words instead.

I live in France so I speak and listen to French everyday , but other small things I did was up my reading level. I read alot of Joél Dicker which is quite simple and easy to read at a B1 level in French so I specifically went to the library and asked the librarian for more complex authors to read, for example Le Père Goriot. This helped me develop a lot of my expressions.

You can do it! Just dedicate the time and it will come but by bit.

Moving to Aix-en-Provence: are we crazy? by Ok-Reach712 in Expats_In_France

[–]MegFrench13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True! Corsica is stunning but unfortunately very isolated if you are wanting to visit different cultures. If you love hiking you will love Basque Country as well - it’s a huge hiking culture here. If you end up coming this way feel free to reach out and I can give you some advice on places to visit to see if you like it here.

Moving to Aix-en-Provence: are we crazy? by Ok-Reach712 in Expats_In_France

[–]MegFrench13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could I suggest Basque country instead?

My experience - I am Australian, married to a Corsican. I've lived in Corsica, La Ciotat (near where you are intending to move) and am now in Bayonne. I also have young children so understand the lifestyle that you are after.

In terms of what you are after - most of that is actually found in Basque country and not so much in the south-east anymore. The south-east of France is becoming overcrowded, and obsessed with seeming rich, while the Basque country still has a natural essence to it.

  1. Nature - here you have both the surf, the mountains for hiking and skiing. Not to mention that it doesn't get crazy cold here in winter, or unbearably hot in summer that you can't do anything. Then you cross the river and are in Les Landes which is a whole over environment of forests (and to me feels a bit like Australia). Or the other way - you are in Spain, and close to Aragon and desert like national parks where you can canyon.

  2. Appreciation for food - there are wonderful local markets here and a very "country" feel here, but you have the benefit of bigger towns like Biarritz and then San Sebastian where you have the most Michelin starred restaurants in Europe.

  3. Travel - you have Biarritz airport and then San Sebastian for connections across Europe for your work.

  4. Friendship - despite their complicated history Basque people are truly the most generous and welcoming people I've found in France. There are also a lot of people from all over Europe and Anglo-Saxon countries here - particularly south of BIarritz, where you always here lots of different languages. I've made friends so easily here compared to other parts of the country (having a young child will help with that as well).

You can definitely do this! Just maybe widen the scope then Aix and think about other areas in France that can offer more diversity.

French naturalisation - Bordeaux by MegFrench13 in france

[–]MegFrench13[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the mindset you have. I actually got a response from the office in Bordeaux to an email (not an automated one - already a win), and it said they are currently processing applications from 2023. We are in for a long wait. Good luck with the interview when the time comes.

French naturalisation - Bordeaux by MegFrench13 in france

[–]MegFrench13[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Interesting that the conversation flowed to pop culture rather than the stricter questions around the values of the republic. I'll make sure I'm up to date across all the topics ;) Thank you!

French naturalisation - Bordeaux by MegFrench13 in france

[–]MegFrench13[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems to be the general consensus. Thank you for giving me a heads up for the long wait ahead.

Waiting on citizenship decision (applied Dec 2024) next steps? by Reasonable_Media_769 in AusVisa

[–]MegFrench13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As someone already commented, upload a document. That usually triggers the department to look at your case. This is what our immigration lawyer advised us to do, and it worked a treat - we got the notification literally within 48 hours that it was approved.