This is France — Raising Children: a few

Nr 10 – December 2007-January 2008
This is France — Raising Children: a few specificities
This is a subject about which, we, the four editors of French Accent Magazine, can speak
from experience: that of children adapting to living in a country with a different language and
culture. Roger Stevenson’s two sons, born in the US, were 11 and 7 years old when the
family moved to France. He remembers how quickly they began to fit in with French
children, playing football (soccer) with them on the grass in front of their apartment building,
and how fast they learned the language. Vincent Anthonioz was very young when he started
to love travelling. When he arrived in London, he spoke very little English. In just a few
months he learned on the spot, and was soon bilingual. His wife Céline was 12 when she
arrived in New Jersey with her parents. She had just started English lessons in France and
found herself in an American public school, far from big cities, where no one spoke a single
word of French. She said it was very hard the first few weeks, but in three months she was
totally bilingual (and spoke English with a real American accent that she still has today) and
at the end of the school year she was among the best of her class.
We can, therefore, reassure all parents who hesitate to move to France with their families:
children adapt very quickly (up to the age of 12-13), and much more easily than adults, to the
language and the culture of another country. But for them, surprisingly, and contrary to what
happens for adults, it is not always the language that is the most difficult. Kids understand
each other very quickly, and they have other means of communication, such as games, and, of
course, the younger they are, the faster they learn. But the most difficult thing is to adjust to
the little, subtle cultural differences, linked for example to physical appearance, humour,
behaviour, etc., all very important stuff for young children.
Cultural differences
This was the case for Celine, who remembers, as she explains in the short biography on the
website of French Accent, how much she felt like an alien, dressed like a typical French
school girl with a straight skirt and a plain coloured blouse, flat-soled leather shoes, straight
hair without any hair spray or gel and carrying her books in a black leather briefcase-like
schoolbag. Her classmates were wearing tight, fashionable jeans with colourful designer
blouses that revealed their girlish proportions, carrying their books in their arms and held
close to their chests and wearing make up (at the age of 12!… Of course, they all made fun of
her, at least that was the feeling she had, as she couldn’t understand much of what they were
saying. We had to rush out and buy new jeans and all the up-to-date equipment, get a
different hair style, and then Céline started looking more like a little American girl.
In this special dossier focusing on children from 6 to 12 (we’ll talk about teenagers in a later
issue), we want to give you a few details on the way French kids behave, how they talk with
their friends, and on their relationship with their school teachers and professors. And also we
want to provide you with some important information you should be aware of before
registering your son or daughter in school, if you want him/her to adapt in the best possible
way!
Elever des enfants en France: quelques particularités
Voilà un sujet sur lequel nous tous, les quatre rédacteurs de French Accent Magazine,
pouvons tous parler d’expérience : celui de l’intégration des enfants dans un pays de langue et
de culture différente. Les deux fils de Roger Stevenson, nés aux Etats-Unis, avaient 11 et 7
ans lorsque la famille est venue habiter en France. Il se souvient de la rapidité avec laquelle ils
se sont intégrés parmi les petits enfants français, jouant au foot avec eux dans l’espace vert
autour de l’immeuble, et ont vite appris la langue. Vincent Anthonioz a pris très jeune le goût
du voyage. Lorsqu’il est arrivé à Londres, il parlait très peu anglais. En quelques mois il a
appris sur le tas, et était bilingue. Sa femme Céline avait 12 ans lorsqu’elle est arrivée au New
Jersey avec ses parents. Elle avait à peine commencé les cours d’anglais en France qu’elle
s’est retrouvée dans une école publique américaine, loin des grandes villes, où personne ne
parlait un mot de français. Cela a été très dur les premières semaines, mais en trois mois elle
était totalement bilingue (et parlait anglais avec un vrai accent américain qu’elle a toujours
aujourd’hui), et à la fin de l’année scolaire elle était parmi les meilleures de la classe.
Nous pouvons donc rassurer tous les parents qui hésitent à venir habiter en France avec leur
petite famille : les enfants s’adaptent très vite (jusqu’à 12-13 ans), et bien plus facilement que
les adultes, à la langue et à la culture d’un autre pays. Mais curieusement, pour eux,
contrairement à ce qui se passe pour pratiquement tous les adultes, ce n’est pas toujours la
langue qui leur pose le plus de difficultés. Les enfants se comprennent très vite entre eux, ils
ont d’autres moyens de communication, ne serait-ce que le jeu, et bien sûr plus ils sont petits
et plus ils apprennent vite. Mais le plus difficile est de se faire aux petites différences
culturelles subtiles, liées par exemple à l’apparence physique, l’humour, les comportements,
etc., qui ont pour les enfants une grande importance.
C’est ainsi que Céline se souvient, comme elle l’explique dans la petite biographie que nous
avons placée sur le site internet de French Accent, combien elle s’est sentie une étrangère,
habillée comme une petite Française avec une jupe droite, un corsage et des chaussures plates
en cuir, les cheveux raides sans laque ni gel, et son cartable traditionnel. Alors que ses
camarades de classe portaient des jeans serrés, des tops très colorés et bien moulants, étaient
maquillées (à 12 ans !...) et portaient leurs livres dans leurs bras, contre leur poitrine...
Evidemment elles se sont toutes moquées d’elle, du moins c’est l’impression qu’elle a ressenti
car elle ne comprenait pas grand-chose à ce qu’elles disaient. Il a fallu vite aller acheter des
jeans et tout l’équipement à la mode, changer de coiffure, et Céline a commencé à ressembler
à une petite Américaine.
Dans ce dossier, concernant plus particulièrement les enfants de 6 à 12 ans (nous traiterons
des adolescents dans un autre numéro), nous voulons donc vous donner quelques précisions
sur la manière dont se comportent les petits Français, dont ils parlent avec leurs copains, et sur
les relations avec leurs maîtres d’écoles et professeurs. Et aussi quelques précisions
importantes dont vous devriez être informés avant d’inscrire votre fils ou votre fille à l’école,
si vous voulez qu’il/elle s’intègre dans les meilleures conditions !
Annick Stevenson
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A few expressions used by French kids
A plus ! = See you later!
Bof, pas terrible = Well, it’s not that great.
Ça va pas la tête ? = You must be kidding! (literally, Is your head all right?)
C’est trop top/trop bien/trop génial/trop cool/trop chouette ! = It is really good/great!
Note: trop is very often used by kids, without any specific reason, to mean something really
great.
C’est cool = This is nice, cool.
C’est fun = This is fun.
C’est la galère = to be in a difficult situation.
C’est méga top ! = It is wonderful!
Tu me casses les oreilles ! = You’re giving me a headache!
Je te cause plus = I’m not going to talk to you anymore.
Je m’en fiche = I don’t care, don’t give a damn.
T’es grave toi = You’re stupid, or useless.
T’inquiète ! = Don’t worry!
T’es nul ! = You’re useless.
T’es ouf ou quoi ?/T’es malade ou quoi ? = Are you crazy or what ? Note: ouf is the verlan*
form of fou (crazy). Malade (sick) is sometimes used to express the same thing.
Yes (pronounced yesssss) = Great!
* Verlan is a language created by teenagers, more than 20 years ago, and consists at reversing
the syllables in a word, and usually transforming them slightly. Even the word verlan is the
reversed syllables of à l’envers = backwards. For example: meuf, instead of femme (woman),
or keuf instead of flic (cop). The most commonly used verlan word is beur, the verlan form
of arabe, which designates all teenagers whose parents are of Arab origin. And, in fact, it is
still the beurs who use verlan the most, and who passed this habit on to other youngsters. We
will examine verlan more in depth in our forthcoming articles on teenagers, in a later issue, as
younger kids use it less.
What is different in France? Personal Stories
and Observations
The following insightful comments are from expatriate parents and children on their
experiences in a French school and particularly in reference to French children’s
behaviour and attitudes.
Two boys, two different ways of adjusting
A couple with 2 children who live in a small village in the Dordogne area settled in France
when their sons were 7 and 11. Both boys barely spoke any French when they started school.
The younger one felt alienated from his new classmates for about 2 weeks, before a young
Dutch girl as well as a cantine assistant took pity on him. Their thoughtfulness and help went
a long way in helping him feel comfortable at school. It took about 3 months for him to feel
that he really fit in.
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As for his older brother, he had expected the worst when he first started school and ended up
being pleasantly surprised. It took him only 2 months to settle in. He adapted immediately to
his classmate’s behaviour, even though he had first said to his parents that he thought the
French kids have a strange sense of humour and are in general different from the English kids
(difficult to pinpoint exactly the difference though). His adaptation skills worked well and he
is today very popular among his classmates, even to the extent of playing somewhat the role
of ‘boss’ since the others follow him and look up to him!
Both still have a hard time giving that bonjour kiss when they meet adults, but seem
comfortable doing so with their friends. The father of the 2 boys revealed a few differences
he noticed between the behaviours and attitudes of the French and the English children. The
French seem to him to be more polite when they encounter adults and have been taught by
their parents to automatically say bonjour and au revoir to adults. He also noticed that they
seem to spend more time with their family and they don’t hang out on the streets as much as
kids do in England.
He feels that the French kids are less concerned about material possessions but he feels that is
changing. Finally, he commented that the children in France have more homework in
elementary school.
The mother finds there is more pressure in France to do well at school because there doesn’t
seem to be the same leeway as in the UK to have another go if you don’t do well in school the
first time round. The education system itself is also very different. She noticed that there is
much more copying off the board and rote memorization for tests instead of doing original
work. Neither of her boys has done an individual project since they have been here. There
are also no sets or streaming so people can learn at different, individualized levels. Everyone
in a class will do the same work regardless of how clever or not they are. This can lead to
boredom for the brighter children and a constant struggle for some of the others. This is
addressed by repeating a year or moving up a year.
Also, there are no extra curricular activities in primary school in France, whereas there were
lots in the UK. The mother thinks that is because they have Wednesdays off in France, the
usual time for such activities. There are more extracurricular activities at the jr. high (collège)
level at lunch times but not after school as people usually travel a long way by bus.
Outside school, despite living in a village, there are lots of opportunities with sports
teams/clubs, art classes, African drumming, archery, dancing etc. Her older son found
football daunting when he first arrived here as, aged 11, he was in the under 15 team with
boys at various stages of development.
Basic French Lessons
Her advice for the families who wish to move to France is to have some French lessons before
they come. Her boys covered basic language but also things like the terms for use in
punctuation and maths. To reassure the newcomers in France, she says that the parents should
not be afraid to let their child repeat a year when they first arrive. Her older son had finished
primary school in England and then repeated the final year to get his French going before
starting secondary school the following year. The knock on effect has been that his self
esteem has really improved by being one of the older children in the class. Parents should be
prepared for the first year to be tough unless their children’s French is very good. Her
younger son and herself were regularly in tears over the homework during the first year (she
is talking about the homework of a 7 year old!). She thinks that some of the differences
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between French and English children may be a reflection of rural versus urban differences.
Stricter education in France
A couple who lives in a small village in the Aude area has small grandchildren who come
regularly to France and they have noticed some obvious behavioural differences between the
English and the French. They especially feel that the French kids have a stricter upbringing at
home as they notice the children act very formal with adults. They greet adults with a hand
shake or a kiss and will wave hello when one passes them in the street. In restaurants, usually
the children remain quiet and calm at the table. To them, it seems that showing respect to
adults and teachers is taught seriously both at school and at home. They also feel that the
school teachers are not paranoid in France about the risk of a child or a parent filing charges
for sexual harassment. A teacher can still give a friendly pat of the child’s back or receive a
hello kiss from a child without fear of being accused of improper actions.
A very positive experience
Another couple with one daughter in the Nord pas de Calais area has so far had a very
positive experience with adapting to a French school. Their child is 10 years old and just
started this September at the local village school, which has just 19 students. The school has
merged with the next village so her school has just the CE2, CM1 & CM2 grades (9, 10 & 11
year olds) whereas the younger ones are in the other school. It’s just one combined class with
one teacher, although different exercises are used. Their daughter is in CM2. She has only
had 8-9 weeks of schooling here so far and says she doesn’t understand everything being said
by the teacher. However, by the end of the first week she was comfortable with the routines
and the rules. When her teacher has the time to prepare, she does special French lessons for
their daughter– otherwise if the lesson is too difficult for her, and the teacher hasn’t prepared
anything, she has a big stack of papers that their daughter can work through – exercises such
as matching words and pictures, write the word under the picture, word searches etc. The
teacher spoke very little English but got herself a dictionary. This term, the children also
started learning English (for the first time) – they have a special English teacher who comes
in. Their daughter feels confident in maths – and does geography, but at the moment she
doesn’t take part in the history lessons. Because their daughter is just 10, the parents are
hoping that she will repeat CM2 and thus really grasp the reading and writing before moving
on to collège. She was made very welcome – the children were all delightful and she was
playing ball with all the girls at her very first break time. She has a desk partner who is the
same size and grade (she is very tall compared to the local kids!) and she has made a special
‘best friend’ as well. She thinks the French children are just the same as in England. The
mother is not aware of her having any problems with any of the children (which makes her
think that they seem happier and more balanced than kids in English schools!). She does feel
lucky though because her teacher is calm and very experienced – nothing seems to stress her.
The outcome today is that her daughter absolutely LOVES her school in France – and her
mother has never seen her so happy. She had heard that the French system is more academic
whereas in England, even in the State schools, they have more classes in music, sports, art,
cooking etc – the mother thinks that these skills tend to be taught more outside the French
school. Her daughter goes to a sports club on Tuesday nights.
The mother commented that the French children are more polite to the adults and she loves to
see the way they all come out and greet their parents at the end of the day, even the boys rush
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up to their moms. In England, her daughter and her friends would ignore her!
Interviews by Céline Anthonioz
The French School System
In France school is compulsory and free (in public schools) for all children from 6 to 16 years
of age.
It is divided between:
- L’école primaire (elementary school), for children from 6 to 11 years old. Elementary
school is also compulsory for foreign children living in France. It starts with CP (cours
préparatoire) the first year, the following years are called CE1, CE2 (cours élémentaires 1 et
2), and CM1, CM2 (cours moyens 1 et 2).
- Le collège (junior high school), for 11 to 15 year-old youngsters. It goes in reverse order
from the classe de 6ème (usually simply called la 6ème) to the classe de 3ème (la 3ème).
- Le lycée (high school), for 15 to 18 year-old teenagers. It continues the numeric countdown
and goes from the classe de seconde (la seconde – which is another word for 2ème), la
première, and the final year, which is known as la terminale, the year at the end of which the
students sit for the baccalauréat examinations, at least for general and technical education.
Teens who have opted for professional and trade school education usually leave the
mainstream school system earlier and earn different types of diplomas for specific trades and
professions (we will come back to this topic in our special dossier on teenagers).
The pupils have 36 hours of classroom instruction per week. The teacher has some flexibility
in deciding the subjects to spend time on out of these hours per week, but the overall
curriculum is dictated by the national Ministry of Education and is, in theory, at least, the
same for every school in France.
The subjects taught are divided into three main categories:
- French, history, geography and civic studies.
- Mathematics, science and technology.
- Physical education and sports, arts and crafts, and music.
What about English lessons?
The very informative French Entrée website*, in its “Primary schools” section, explains that
English is taught as an optional foreign language in the CM1 and CM2 years, however the
quality of this teaching may vary considerably according to the availability and skill of the
teacher, and it should not be relied upon as a substitute for teaching your children to speak
their native tongue better!
In fact, it has been noted on many occasions that English speaking children attending French
primary schools may quickly become fluent and articulate in French but may not progress
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much in English unless their parents make an effort to help them, perhaps by using some of
the curriculum materials from schools in their home country.
Extra activities after school
In France, less attention is given to activities such as arts and sports than in the UK or the US.
This is why many French parents, on Wednesdays or Saturdays, send their kids to participate
in such activities organized by different local services.
In most cities, one can find a Maison des jeunes et de la culture (MJC) that offers many such
activities at a very reasonable price (which can be adjusted according to the family’s income
level). See the article we devoted to them in the Nr 8 issue of French Accent (AugustSeptember 2006).
And if you are not sure that such a structure exists in your city, the best way to be informed
about extra-curricular activities is to ask at the mairie.
www.frenchentree.com
Scénario : dialogue dans la cour d’école
Laura: You’re coming to my place for the
afternoon snack?
Marie: Oh yes, we can play!
Laura: Yes, but you know that we’ll have to
do the homework, otherwise we’ll get
scolded!
Marie: Well, after homework we can play
teacher?
Laura: Then I’ll prepare the exercise sheets.
Laura : Tu viens chez moi pour le goûter ?
Marie : Ah oui, on pourra jouer !
Laura : Oui, mais tu sais on est obligées de
faire les devoirs sinon on va se faire
gronder !
Marie : Bon, ben après les devoirs on pourra
jouer à la maîtresse ?
Laura : Alors je vais préparer des feuilles
d’exercice.
Marie : Quoi comme feuilles ? ?
Laura : De maths et d’écriture.
Marie : C’est pas tellement rigolo, ton
histoire !
Laura : Si, tu verras. Et puis j’ai un nouveau
jeu !
Marie : C’est quoi ?
Laura : C’est un super jeu de mime.
Marie : Ah super, ça va être trop chouette !
Laura : Bon, je crois qu’il faut retourner en
classe, la récré est finie.
Marie : Déjà !... C’est trop court, la récré.
Marie: What kind of sheets?
Laura: Maths and writing.
Marie: That’s not very funny, your story!
Laura: Yes, you’ll see. And I have another
game!
Marie: What is it?
Laura: It’s a great mime game.
Marie: Great, that will be so nice!
Laura: Well, I think we have to go back to
the class, the break is over.
Marie: Already!... It’s too short, the break.
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Le vocabulaire de base de l’école
Apprendre = both to learn and to teach
Le cahier = note book
Les camarades de classe = school mates
La cantine = the cafeteria
Le carnet de notes = report card/grades
Le cartable ou sac à dos = school bag for carrying books to school
La classe = either the school room or the level of education (la classe de CE1…)
Un classeur = a folder
La cour de récréation = the recess/break grounds
Le cours = lesson (le cours de français…)
Les couvre-livres = protective book covers
Les devoirs = homework
La discipline = discipline
Un écolier/une écolière = a school boy/girl
Un/une élève = a student in primary & secondary school
L’éducation = education
Enseigner = to teach
Etre dissipé = to be undisciplined
Etre sage = to be disciplined/well behaved
Etudier = to study/learn
Les fournitures scolaires = school supplies
Le goûter = afternoon snack
Gronder = to scold
Un instituteur/une institutrice = a school teacher
Le maître/la maîtresse = school teacher
Une punition = a punishment
Le pupitre/le bureau = desk
Une récompense = a reward
La récréation/la récré = recess/break
Redoubler = to repeat a year
La rentrée des classes = the start up
of the new school year
Une sortie d’école = a field trip
Le tableau (noir) = blackboard
Un travail ludique = an entertaining task
La trousse = small cloth or leather pen and pencil holder w/zipper
Les vacances scolaires = school holidays
Les grandes vacances = summer vacation
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