Author Topic: Wanted-teach yourself French cds/books (Read 2247 times)

Pedwardine · « **on:** December 24, 2012, 08:59:48 am »

Hi, aiming to put smallholding on market next year and move to France. Want to be fairly fluent in the language by the time we start looking at property. Has anyone got any cds and books with which I could make a start? Can't afford to pay you much (part of the reason we're moving-fed up with being skint!) but obviously I'll cover any P&P costs. I'm based in South Lincolnshire.

Bionic · « **Reply #1 on:** December 24, 2012, 09:05:54 am »

Pedwardine, Have you tried freecycle?
Sally

Pedwardine · « **Reply #2 on:** December 24, 2012, 02:12:39 pm »

Good point. Will do Sally, ta muchly x

Templelands · « **Reply #3 on:** December 24, 2012, 04:30:45 pm »

Hey Pedwardine, PM me your address, I've got a Michell Thomas French course you are more than welcome to have.

MAK · « **Reply #4 on:** December 24, 2012, 06:53:34 pm »

Hi from La Creuse in the Limosin. Smallholding is great here. We bought books and CDs but I would suggest that you budget for a teacher ( 15 euro an hour per week). In some areas there will be an anglo-french club but we avoided these and are happy to learn on the hoof with neighbours and people in town. The problem is that if you will not be working but just smallholding then it is like living in the UK - you won't see many people and supermarket shopping is not great for conversation. Bon courrage !
Happy to chat if you think we can offer any tips by a PM. Cheers Martin

the great composto · « **Reply #5 on:** December 24, 2012, 06:58:47 pm »

I have an old readers digest set of french tapes but the first 2 are missing ( having been lent & not returned).

It made me think of smallholding words i can remember from school and I got to cochon / cheveaux / oeuf and that was it.

Dont remember anything like that on the tapes

Pedwardine · « **Reply #6 on:** December 24, 2012, 11:00:16 pm »

Cheers guys, and I may well PM you somewhere along the line Martin. I'm fairly quick at picking up languages so fingers crossed I'll be able communicate adequately to some degree. Don't want to be one of these arrogant Brits who can't be arsed. You know the ones, just speak English but S-L-O-W-E-R and LOUDER . Make me ashamed to be English, they do.
Smallholding over here is never going to be much but an uphill struggle. Our house is too big (bought to accomodate OH's Mum who has died) and the land is largely rented therefore limiting and one of the landowners is very likely to sell up in next few years so we'd be left high and dry (ooh HIGH and DRY, wish I was that today-got soggy through to my underwear TWICE today-not nice) We've been very lucky with landowners as two are really good friends and all incredibly decent people ( 7 acres costs us £90 per annum, a 3.5 costs £75 and another 3 carries no charges but a request that it is left livestock free from Dec to April inclusive). We want to call the shots before they are called for us on the largest rented patch. and the £75 patch has access which is dubious in it's availability being through someone else's land who has withdrawn the grazing of it. It all gets very complicated when it's not your own doesn't it? Ideally just want a small manageable house with lots of outbuildings (again something limited here) and surrounded by it's own good grazing land.
Anyone out there know regs for transporting sheep to France? Want to take most of our babies with us. Got 5 dogs to come too though I imagine that will be alot more straightforward.

MAK · « **Reply #7 on:** December 24, 2012, 11:24:42 pm »

Property details posted by estate agents in France are in general poor. We viewed several properties and discovered unexpected outbuildings on some. On one visit we learnt of a second house thrown in with what had been described by the estate agent. It is not uncommon to be sold buildings with scattered parcels of land.
We also found the estate agents did not know some properties becuase the property had been on the market some time ( years) with no views.
I hope you get some nice surprises with unexpected outbuildings.

Pedwardine · « **Reply #8 on:** December 24, 2012, 11:51:06 pm »

Thanks for the advice Martin. Been looking at the Prestige Property website predominantly. Any experience of that?

MAK · « **Reply #9 on:** December 25, 2012, 07:14:33 am »

Sorry we did not use them:
Two more sites for you.
We researched transport links (airports) first to ensure longterm easy trips to the UK so family can visit etc.

http://www.housesoninternet.com/?gclid=CL2D_u7_tLQCFe_MtAodrXYAag

http://www.green-acres.com/?utm_source=adwordsBrand&utm_campaign=brandEN&utm_term=greenacres&gclid=CMzZ4qGAtbQCFczHtAodrGoAqw

Cheers Martin

MAK · « **Reply #10 on:** December 25, 2012, 07:47:33 am »

140,000 Euro for this one !!!!!!!!!
Just down the road from me so not far from Limoges airport and the main A20.
http://www.housesoninternet.com/LIM-330/EN.html

Plenty of outbuildings for you

Pedwardine · « **Reply #11 on:** December 25, 2012, 09:18:09 am »

Very pretty. Not enough land I'm afraid. Passionate about our sheepies and need a very minimum of 30,000 sq ms. Otherwise that was lovely. Thanks for the links. Have checked out Greenacres but not other one.