Moving to a new place where you may not know many people is never easy, even less so when you don’t speak the language and the city is a big as Paris. And the truth is, the city can sometimes feel like an isolating place. 

But there’s no need to sit at home alone feeling lonely! Last week I told you about the Pastas parties, but there are a whole host of things you can do to get out and meet people!

Kunveno Exchange

For the culturally and globally minded amongst you, Kunveno helps expats to feel at home in Europe and loves to share events that its members suggest.

http://www.kunveno.com

Angloinfo

One of the largest directories of information for English-speaking expats around the world, Angloinfo has a host of links to organisations, clubs, and associations in the Paris area. There’s sure to be something for you!

http://paris.angloinfo.com/af/4/paris-&-ile-de-france-community-life-paris-and-ile-de-france.html

Meetups

Meetup.com has loads of groups that meet up on a regular basis around all sorts of themes and interests.

http://www.meetup.com/fr/cities/fr/paris/groups/

Language Exchanges

If you need to practice you’re French, a language exchange is a perfect way to brush up on your language skills while helping others to learn English or another language. Try the two links below!

http://parlerparlor.com/

http://letthemtalk.com/parler-in-the-park.html

Are you looking to meet people in Paris? Are you organising an event? Let us know below!

Like this article?

Paris is a great city to live in, there’s no doubt about it. However the fact that it draws so many people to it leads to its major drawbacks.

Housing in Paris is expensive

Paris is an expensive place to live. Apartments don’t come cheap, and the few houses that exist (yes there are some!) are even more expensive. Paris, even more so than the rest of France, suffers from a lack of housing. This has two repercussions: a) rents are expensive and b) landlords are picky.

In Paris you can expect to pay at least 20€ per square meter per month in rent, and the smallest studios are 9 square meters large, the minimum space for housing by law. So in your head, you calculate 180€ per month for such a studio. In fact, the rents are much higher than this. The lowest you’ll probably find is around 350€, and don’t expect the studio to be of high quality.

Studios are the most sought-after type of housing in Paris. Counting the number of people that come to study here, plus the number of young professionals just starting their career, and the demand for studios is very high while the offer is pretty low. So if you’re thinking in terms of value for money in your housing, a studio isn’t necessarily the best deal, but it may be all you can afford. Larger studios can go for up to around 700€ depending on the size and neighborhood, but if you can scrap together even 800€, you may be able to find yourself a one bedroom apartment.

Life in Paris is busy

In France we have a saying for a typical Parisian lifestyle: métro-boulot-dodo, which translates as subway-work-sleep. If you’re living in the Paris area, it’s not uncommon to spend an hour getting to work in the morning, and the same to get home. Urban planning in the region has been centred around major pools of housing being to the east and north, while the work is to the west and south of the city. This has led to some long commutes, although it is possible to find work near your flat, or vice-versa.

With this kind of commuter lifestyle, it’s no wonder that people can be frazzled, particularly on days when the metro and/or trains have problems. In addition to this, Paris has a large number of young single professionals who like to go out after work. Depending on your social network, you could find yourself juggling a lot of invitations. Which kind of leads me to my next point.

Paris can be isolating

Parisians are busy. Like New Yorker and Londoners, Parisians have a lot on their plates – staying late at work, movies, theatres, visits to art galleries, seeing friends, etc. If you only see your Parisian friend once a month, it’s not that they don’t like you. They do, it’s just that they have so much going on.

OK this is a huge generalisation, but it can be true of some people. There is so much going on in Paris and that you may have friends in the same city that you only see once every month or two. This can lead to a feeling of social isolation in a way, but if you want to get to know someone, take the initiative, call them up and ask when you can get together. It may not be right away, but if they’re your friend, you will get an appointment.

What are your gripes about living in Paris? Tell us in the comments!

Like this article?

Pastas Party organises Sunday night dinners in major cities across France. The conditions: you must be single, love pasta, and be ready to meet people! It’s the perfect antidote to the Sunday night blues that hit when you realise that you’ve got to go to work the next day.

If you’re looking to meet French people (and maybe even your future significant other), there’s no better way to get to know one than over a big plate of pasta. OK, it could be any dish, but in this case it’s pasta. It’s also a great way to practice your French!

Pastas parties are held most Sundays in Paris, and once a month in Aix-en-Provence, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg and Lille, and from September the concept is heading south to Nice, Toulouse, and Montpellier. The exact location of the dinner is kept secret until your presence is confirmed a few days before the event. For more information, see the Pastas Party website (in French) or join the Pastas Party group on Facebook.

Like this article?

In order to become completely fluent, you need to start thinking in French and using common expressions that the French use every day. So what did I do?

I started talking to myself

If you don’t have a French friend with whom to practice what you’ve learned in your lessons, do what a five-year-old would do: invent one! No, you don’t have to start blathering to yourself in French while you’re on the subway or in the park, but if you’re at home alone, who’s going to notice?

I imagined there was a five-year-old French kid following me around, asking me questions. What are you doing? Why are you doing it? What colour is it? Where are you going? Ask yourself these questions out loud or in your head, and respond to yourself. Do this every day for fifteen minutes or so, and you’ll start to see that your French becomes more naturally.

I read the news online

France has many famous newspapers, both local and national. I’m a big news junkie, so chances are I already knew the story. This helped me to recognise words that are similar to English or figure out phrases that I may not have been able to make out if I didn’t already have a context.

Start with newspapers like Le Monde or Le Figaro, or for a more local flavour try Le Parisian or Ouest-France.

I joined forums and chatrooms

Back in the days before Facebook and Myspace I’d spend some time writing in forums or chatting online on MSN with native French people. It’s important to find one that’s related to something you’re interested in. Do a quick search on Google for “forum” followed by the French word for one of your interests, and have a look. After a while, start replying and starting threads. You’ll be surprised by the new words and expressions you’ll learn!

I listened to the radio and podcasts

France has plenty of radio stations that stream online – and you can listen to it live by going to their website. For intermediate learners, try the ‘Journal en français facile’ from RFI.

I also subscribed to several podcasts so I could listen to them on my iPod. You can do a quick search on iTunes for French lessons you can download, or if your French is more advanced, change your iTunes from your home country to France, and have a look through the podcast directory.

I joined a club

Once I was at university, I joined the university French club. It gave me the opportunity to explore French cinema and culture, and luckily we had many French students at the uni who were very active in the club, which gave me the opportunity to practice with native speakers. Check with your uni to see if there’s a French club you can join. If you’ve already graduated, try asking at your local Alliance Française to see if they have social events that you can attend to meet French speakers.

What do you do to practice your French? Share your tips in the comments!

Like this article?

In French, the informal is represented by ‘tu’ and the formal and plural by ‘vous’. However, it is difficult to know when to use which one.

The general rule is that you use ‘tu’ with those you know well, and ‘vous’ with those you don’t. However, the rules aren’t always clear cut. There are some people, particularly amongst younger people, who switch to ‘tu’ at the first possible opportunity, oftentimes without ever passing through ‘vous’. This is particularly the case if you have friends in common.

‘Vous’ is used for people that you don’t know well, or you know only in a professional setting. If you walk into a café to have a coffee, you use ‘vous’ when you order. If you talk to a director or associate of a company, you will almost always use ‘vous’.

Even this isn’t clear cut though. In my company, pretty much everyone uses ‘tu’. Our company is made up of young people (the average age is around 30) and the founders made a point of it being a comfortable place to work. When I first started, I consistently used ‘vous’, but was quickly told ‘Non, on tutoie ici‘. You have to go with the flow.

If you’re unsure which pronoun to use with someone, start with ‘vous’. If the other person starts to use ‘tu’, you can assume you can follow. If you try to use ‘tu’ before the other person, you can end up looking like an over-eager puppy!

Like this article?

Tonight at the ‘Arts et Métiers‘ museum Via Diffusio is organising a special nighttime exhibition that will be sure to take your breath away!

The museum will be opening its doors to the public at 9 PM for a guided visit of the latest works from John Hamon, the Collectif 1980, and Alice Mulliez. The focus is on how different light installations can affect our view of the same artwork.

Once the exhibition is finished, the museum, housed in a 12th century chapel and convent, will be transformed into two massive dancefloors with sets from no less than 7 DJs. The party will rock until 5 AM, and you won’t want to miss a minute!

Musée des Arts et Métiers, 60 rue Réaumur, 75003 Paris. Métro line 3, Arts et Métiers station. From 9 PM to 3 AM. Entry: 8€.

Like this article?

The Longest Conga Line in the World

If you’re going to be in Paris on 21st June, you won’t want to miss the latest event organised by Improvisons!, one of Paris’s largest flashmob organisers.

At 3 PM, join them at an as-of-yet undisclosed location to spontaneously (well, that’s what everyone else will think) conga your way through the streets of Paris before heading off to the annual street music festival, the Fête de la Musique. Kit yourself out in lively colours and bring your friends to what will promises to be a lot of fun!

For more information, see http://www.improvisons.com/chenille-geante/#more-561 or see their event on Facebook.

Have a hot tip on a future event in France? Drop me a line!

Like this article?