Hi! We are Jalen and Maria. We make videos about life in France, learning French, the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), master’s degree studies in France, working in France, our travels, and more! You can also find us on our blog, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Welcome to the world of a French-loving American couple.
Hi! We recommend you check out this article we wrote that lays out criteria we recommend you check for before enrolling in a program in France: thefrancofile.net/how-to-ensure-your-french-degree-isnt-a-scam-in-disguise/
@@the_francofile can you please tell is it a renowned school or not.have you ever heard of it. I am from India .my friend planned to study there.i just want to ensure it is not a scam school. And thanks for replying
In English, Reims is pronounced riːmz and in French it is pronounced ʀɛ̃s. Kind of like how Paris is pronounced ˈpærɪs in English and paʁi in French. There’s no “verdict” to get. We hope this clears things up for you.
Hey guys! Very informative video. One question please.. What are my options if i want to do a second stage, plese? My first one (6months) ends next week and i have an interview coming up for an internship in an international organisation. I have just passed my master's diploma now and the school year ends this August. I already have a visa and work permit for next year through passeporte talente familiale. So, what are my options to get a convention du stage or are there other ways please? TIA
Thanks for watching! We are glad it was informative for you. There are quite a few rules and regulations surrounding internships in France. This website from the French government explains everything in detail quite well: www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F16734. Check it out to see what options you may have. Good luck!
Hey great video. Fun fact, this cinema is also the most visited in the world: "The UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles in the center of Paris drew more moviegoers in 2022 than any theater in the world, according to a new report from Comscore. With its 27 theaters, the UGC des Halles is the largest in Europe. It sold 2.2 million tickets last year, vaulting it ahead of the Burbank in Los Angeles and Showcase Bluewater in south-east London." (source: Forbes)
Love your unique content.@Jalen, your hair looks great. Where do you go? How difficult has it been finding a place to get your hair cut and/or braided? Did you encounter any pushback at work for wearing your hair that way?
Thanks for watching! I appreciate the compliment. Finding a place to get my hair done/cut hasn’t been difficult in the places I’ve lived so far in France (Troyes, Reims, Palaiseau). Currently, I go to salons specializing in afro hair types/styles that have both barbers and hairstylists working in them. That way I can get my hair cut then braided right after or vice versa. At my particular places of work in France, it hasn’t appeared to be an issue from the outward reactions of colleagues, management, etc. I also interviewed with my hair braided for my current role. I’d say 95% percent of “reactions” are actually non-reactions. The 5% of people who say anything at all have given compliments and asked questions. Concerning my braids, I have been asked where I go to get them, how much it costs, how they do it, how long it takes, and if it hurts. Concerning my twist out style while my hair isn’t in braids, I have been asked who does it, how it’s done, and if they can touch the curls (note that what’s normalized or deemed appropriate when it comes to workplace commentary, banter, and conversation topics differ between the USA and France). Hope that helps answer your questions!
Will you guys show if you ever go to the dentist? Random I know but I would like to get braces but I am not sure if it would be better to hold off just in case the dental appointments in France are tricky for foreigners.
They are indeed our new glasses! Thanks for noticing. 😎 We’ll note down the idea for taking you with us to the dentist, but we have already been for our annual check up this year. It’s not tricky in our experience, though we’ve never had any complex dental work done here. 🙂 Thanks for watching!
Looking good guys. And I've also decided, I'll just look like a sloppy American. At least that first year, until I gradually switch out the clothes... But what'll really take some getting used to; I expected to see "sel" but I saw "salé," which I thought meant "dirty." So yeah, that''ll be an adjustment! Do they just sprinkle on the dirt? 😄Especially since my first choice would be butter. And fountain coke with ICE. But it is what it is, rather be there than here!
We are proponents of dressing the way that makes you happiest, and you’ll find that not all French people dress the same way, so don’t feel too pressured to change your whole wardrobe! « Sale » means dirty while « salé » means salted or savory. Definitely miss a good fountain drink full of ice! 😣 Thank you for watching! 🙂
We’ve never been to a particularly dirty movie theater here in France, but we are far from having visited all of the theaters in the country! In our experience though, they’re generally pretty nice. 🙂
Hello guys! Thank you for such a detailed story. What would you advice to do in this case: I finished my master's studies in june 2024, but my student visa is valid until june 2025. Do I need to switch to RECE immediately or is it better to search for a job having student visa and switch to RECE when a job found/ student visa comes to be expired?
Hello! You’re welcome and thanks for watching. Could you give us the details on why you have a student residence permit that goes a full year past the end of your studies?
I've had this tab in my browser for a week and finally got to watch it today. Another fun and informative video. And oh, it breaks my heart seeing how beautiful you both look. Youth and health, I hope you guys keep that footage! And what's up with youtube? They now have these "translate" buttons in the comments? It used to be where I would practice my weak French, but at least you guys had a look a the Ecole de Garcons and I got to read the menu. But reading a comment WITH the translate, I just learned that "glass" and apparently "glasses" are kinda the same word... So what you're calling Top up is what they call "mutuelle," right? I'm still shopping around in prepartion, but WOW, I thought it just kicked in a little bit, but this video showed the full force! And why I see so many expats lamenting they wasted years not knowing about it.
Thanks for this sweet comment and for watching our video! Definitely planning to keep the footage, we have created quite the vault of memories over the years! Not sure if RU-vid’s interface has maybe changed recently. On our end we haven’t done anything differently. Glasses = Lunettes and Verres = Lenses 🤓 Yes, top-up insurance = mutuelle 🙂
@@the_francofile Hey thanks for the follow-up. Definitely the translate is youtube. I watch a lot of cute animal vids and TONS of Russian and Spanish speakers do too. So that's where I first noticed it. Somehow I didn't think it would be across the board--like on yours, but it is. Might be 1, maybe 2, weeks they've been doing what they've had the tech to do for YEARS. Literally years ago they could have turned this on. But it's convenient, I'll admit that.
And one more Question how long Marie give appointment for submitting file of marriage mean within a week or can get appointment or take long time and other thing is if we choose a date for marriage suppose i would have submit my file 20 may 2024 so i give my marriage ceremony date 25 june so is that possible fo get married same date or still take long time or Town Hall decid to give ceremony date please explain thank you
Hi again! This will depend on your town hall and whether they have a lot of time slots available or not. On May 11th, we asked to be married on July 9th, but there were availabilities before that as well. You’ll have to check with your town hall about this!
Hello sir my Question is that a about witnesses so i am living in France have residence permit and my girlfriend will come by visit visa so i have tow witness they are from France but my girlfriend have two witnesses from Germany one of her sister and second one her brother in law so is that allows them for segniture?
Hello, thanks for watching! Different town halls will have different rules. We were required to have at least two, but no more than four, francophone witnesses. You will have to check with your town hall to see if those witnesses will be accepted or not.
There’s no free stuff. Someone paid for that. It was either you through insurance and someone else’s taxes. There’s nothing quite as expensive as free stuff.
Of course. The glasses were free at the point of use. The price breakdowns included in the video show the portion of the real costs covered by the social security system that we pay into and the insurance that we have because of our jobs.
Considering they are tax-paying residents of France, their own taxes paid for that too. French society as a whole, paid for it and that’s a beautiful thing.
EXCELLENT video, Jalen and Maria! Love both your new glasses! What is your monthly mutuelle? Does it cover eye checks and new glasses, once a year? Thank you so much.
Our mutuelle costs us 0 euros per month because my employer takes on 100% of the cost for both of us. It covers glasses once every two years for adults. We have noticed that with eye and dental care, medical professionals in France have always recommended that we have appointments about half as often as what we were accustomed to in the United States. That means a dentist appointment once a year and an eye appointment every other year for us these days. Thanks for watching!
When you two order stuff online for delivery, are you able to get it directly to your apartment? Or do you have to pick it up elsewhere around town? Any tips or tricks for outfitting an apartment with the bigger stuff (couches, beds, etc.) without the luxury of having a car?
Yes, we have it delivered straight to our apartment. You can also pay extra to have it delivered to your door and not just to the front of your building if you live in an apartment. We don’t have a car and that’s how we’ve handled getting bigger items, but our apartment is furnished, so we haven’t needed to add much. There is always the option to rent a vehicle if you are able to drive in France as well!
There are several universities in France offering degrees in psychology. You can find them on this website: www.monmaster.gouv.fr/recherche?q=psychologie
Love the video. It is always great to explore France through your perspective. I just saw that there is a Costco in France, would ever consider going to check it out? I know french apartments are not very big in terms of storage and the fridges aren't big enough either for a large amount of groceries 😅 but I am really intrigued to know what you would think of it in comparison to the ones in the US/Canada 😊
Hi, thank you for watching! We don’t buy our food in bulk, and we think doing a Costco trip when it’s just the two of us might result in some food waste! If we ever end up going, we’ll be sure to document the experience somehow.
Thanks for the new adventure. Wow! You guys are looking great, I don't recall so much self-expression the last few years. Actually, I feel like I'm recalling a lot of rings on Jalen. You've definitely gone from "people living in France" to "people living in Paris." I could be tripping, I've missed the last few videos. Been busy on my end trying to assemble all the stuff for a 4-year talent. The 19th kinda looks a little on the out-skirty side, maybe not so heavy on international tourism. Although as a guy who had the nickname "The Hamburger Kid" that's gonna have to be a "jamais" on the tartare!
Thanks for watching! 🫶🏻🫶🏾 Ever since moving to Palaiseau last year, we’ve loved being in close proximity to Paris for our weekend outings. Best of luck with your residence permit!
@@the_francofile I'll never not be impressed with all you've accomplished as individuals and as a couple. It's really a unique journey. You sharing your lives will no doubt will help people you'll never hear from, but I want to (maybe repeatedly) let you never you've specifically shown me things that altered my path. And I'll be cool, it seems like they deadlined student visas (weird!) Jan 1 for the ENTIRE year this year, but I convinced them to reactivate the one I was supposed to use a few months ago. My research indicates you're not supposed to be self employed on that one, so if worse comes to worse I'll go that way--but if I can get one, I'll do talent instead.
@Taldanmus Honestly, not really! If the opportunity to visit Reims came up we wouldn’t say no, but we aren’t exactly planning a trip there any time soon.
I havee a question, how will be reaching to URCA from Orly Airport?? It's so lameee, but I know just a basic french and will be coming here in August. It feels strange since I'm a foreign student.
The OrlyVal shuttle connects the Orly airport with the RER B, which you can take to the Gare du Nord in Paris. You can then switch to the neighboring Gare de l’Est and take a train to Reims.
First of all, congratulations on landing jobs to both of you and to be frank, very impressive background. That being said, amazing PR of what you guys have achieved yet I do not find this helpful since it’s not about how to land a job but what you need to land a job. But once again, congratulations and all my best:)
Hey guys! Thank you for this video. I would like to know, once you are under a RECE visa and find a job, what do you do? Does the company have to do anything for your next visa, or do you do everything on your own (bring the offer/contract to the prefecture, etc.)?
