Oradour-sur-Glane – the French Village Frozen in Time
When my dad first told me about Oradour-sur-Glane, I knew at once it was a place I would like to visit. My dad and I share a passion for history, particularly anything involving the Second World War. This made the French village, located in the…
How to Apply for French Nationality Part Five – I’m French but What Now?
For 18 long months I waited. Waited to see my name up in lights. Then, at 1am on the morning of the 15th of November my friend Gemma called me to tell me my name was in the JO. I finally got my French nationality.…
5 French Films to Watch During the Second Lockdown
Thanks to the Frenchman’s father, I have always been encouraged to watch French films and listen to French music. Over the years, he has very kindly taught me the who’s who of French actors and musicians. My beau-père is a fountain of knowledge when it…
The French You Don’t Learn at School – The Verlan Episode
Do you remember when you were a child and you used to make up your own language that your parents couldn’t understand? Maybe you used words in the wrong context, or deliberately reversed the order of words to confuse any eavesdropping adults. Whatever you did,…
How to Apply for French Nationality – Part Three: The Prefecture
And so it begins… After it took me roughly two months of resending the same email again and again, over and over just to get an appointment, I had mentally prepared myself for a really difficult time at the prefecture. They weren’t going to make…
How to Apply for French Nationality Part Two – The French Test
As some of you may know, and if you’ve already read my first article How to Apply for French Nationality – Part One, I am currently in the process of applying to become a French citizen through naturalisation. After you’ve followed the steps in my…
7 Things I wish I’d Known Before I Moved Abroad
It’s ironic really, my blog’s name is My Life Living Abroad but I’ve never actually written a post about how I moved abroad and more specifically, how on earth I managed to get all my stuff over here! It was a bit of a logistical…
How to apply for French Nationality Part One – The Paperwork
Find out if you’re eligible to apply for Nationality First things first, if you want to apply for French nationality you need to find out if you are eligible. This information can be found on the servicepublic.fr website but, it’s only in French, so here’s…
French Films You Need to Watch
Before I moved to France the only French film I had ever seen was Amélie. I didn’t know of other French films, nor the names of any famous French actors and I’m ashamed to say that it stayed this way for a very long time!…
The French You Don’t Learn at School – Part Five
The French you Don’t Learn at School is back and I can’t wait to share some new expressions with you! The goal of these posts is to help anyone learning French understand some well known and popular phrases that you definitely won’t learn at school…
