San Diego French American School

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by cunparis

we had to pay 1.5 million for a house that we'd be in a shobby neighborhood.

Oops.. I meant snobby!

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by runnerguy45

You should be careful in your assumptions about California, I lived their and loved many things about that great state. Your comment about being friendly made me offer you a word of caution, in California your neighbors are not likely to be your friend, many times the most you will get from a neighbor is a wave. In California people hang out with people who they do things with not who your neighbor is, very different then the south where it would be rude to stay clear of your neighbor to the point where you don't speak. There are exceptions to everything but in general do not look for your neighbors to be "nice", many in California do not want neighbors getting in their business. Just a word of caution about expectations.

This is a bit sad for me to hear. Being originally from Kentucky we knew all of our neighbors and were frequently at their house or they at ours. We'd even have neighborhood baseball games out in the street (cul-de-sac).

Then I lived in Arizona were we said hi to the neighbhors but that was about it. So I was looking forward to "southern hospitality" if we moved to Raleigh. What I really want is for my kids to be able to play with kids in the neighborhood and for me & my wife to make friends with the parents of the other kids. I think (hope) that having kids makes it a lot easier to make friends in the neighborhood.

I work at home for the most part so making friends at the office isn't possible, and I'm not sure if my wife will work right away, it may take her a while to find a job. I think in the current economic conditions it'd take anyone a while to find a job but even more difficult for French person.

Here in Paris (actually in the suburbs) it's so difficult to make friends that things could only be better in San Diego. Here we don't even know our neighbors names. Even worse since the houses touch each other (literally) neighbors are usually fighting over property lines, parking spaces, etc. There is a new building next door and when there are heavy rains their entry gets flooded (our street is on a hill and they're near the bottom). So blame our building owner, not sure why. And when they built their building they built it so close to ours that the owner of our building on the top floor cannot even open her window any more because it swings out and hits the other building!! On the other side I say "hi" to the guy but I'm lucky if I get a hi back. People here are just so unfriendly it's awful. You can probably imagine why we want to move to the US!!

From the housing prices, it sounds like we would probably have to start out in a cookie-cutter area (I love that description and it's so true for Arizona). Then if business goes well then we could afford something more coastal. That'd be ok.

[antialphabet]

Just curious, but what exactly is the purpose of a French bilingual school? I've heard them mentioned before, but have no idea what they are all about.

[Encinitan]

Let me warn against making such broad generalizations about any area, such as saying that in California, you'll be lucky to waive hello to your neighbors as they pass by in their SUV. While that may be the case for some people in some neighborhoods (who probably like it that way), that certainly isn't true of where we live. But then we don't exactly have huge holiday block parties and neighborhood movie nights, either. People are people where ever you go. Heck, it seems like most people in San Diego are from somewhere else anyway, so why wouldn't they bring their charming Southern hospitality or warm Northeastern personalities with them?

[Olivenhain]

Originally Posted by runnerguy45

Your comment about being friendly made me offer you a word of caution, in California your neighbors are not likely to be your friend, many times the most you will get from a neighbor is a wave. In California people hang out with people who they do things with not who your neighbor is, very different then the south where it would be rude to stay clear of your neighbor to the point where you don't speak.

I think it's more a factor of who you are, than where you are. In my 50 years in California, I've always known my neighbors. Always had neighbors as friends. In every home we've lived in, we have had both terrific folks, and a few grumps as neighbors. Our current neighborhood has social events frequently, at least two planned parties a year, and several more impromptu ones. It's pretty much a case of: to have a friend, be a friend.

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by antialphabet

Just curious, but what exactly is the purpose of a French bilingual school? I've heard them mentioned before, but have no idea what they are all about.

Our kids are bilingual, I speak to them only in English and my wife speaks to them only in French. In a bilingual school they teach in both French & English. Here in France I believe it's science & math in French and the rest in English, and it's pretty much the equivalent of getting both an American (or British depending on the school) and French education.

One of the goals is that we could potentially move from one country to the other and the kids wouldn't have any difficulties with school.

[antialphabet]

Originally Posted by cunparis

Our kids are bilingual, I speak to them only in English and my wife speaks to them only in French. In a bilingual school they teach in both French & English. Here in France I believe it's science & math in French and the rest in English, and it's pretty much the equivalent of getting both an American (or British depending on the school) and French education.

One of the goals is that we could potentially move from one country to the other and the kids wouldn't have any difficulties with school.

So are they mostly for kids moving from France to the United States?

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by antialphabet

So are they mostly for kids moving from France to the United States?

I think that used to be the case, but I think now people are recognizing the importance of foreign languages, which had been previously severely neglected. So now Americans are enrolling their children in bilingual schools even if the parents aren't bilingual. And the children become bilingual. The younger the better.

Here in France, US Expats will come to work for a few years and bring their families. The kids that go to a bilingual school learn French very quickly.

Being bilingual is very cool and I think it's a wonderful gift for people to enroll their kids in a bilingual school.

[antialphabet]

Originally Posted by cunparis

I think that used to be the case, but I think now people are recognizing the importance of foreign languages, which had been previously severely neglected. So now Americans are enrolling their children in bilingual schools even if the parents aren't bilingual. And the children become bilingual. The younger the better.

Here in France, US Expats will come to work for a few years and bring their families. The kids that go to a bilingual school learn French very quickly.

Being bilingual is very cool and I think it's a wonderful gift for people to enroll their kids in a bilingual school.

I think being bilingual is great as well! I admit I just found it a little odd for their to be a French School in San Diego of all places. But it's good to know one exists.

Many people are very much opposed to Spanish being learned in the United States, even though it is very relevant here.

I have a grasp on Spanish, but really need to improve it.

If I ever master Spanish, I would love to learn some French. I can understand some French in writing because of it's similarity to Spanish, but hearing it is a whole different thing!

[caprop]

The San Diego French American school has an amazing preschool