I was hoping for some life experience commentry from anyone who has moved to another country for a job, where they speak an entirely different language.

The back story is that I've been offered a job in France, by a rather large tech-related company, but I'm not sure if I want to take the job. There are a couple of problems;
1. It's in Paris - I don't speak French at all (although in the office environment the language is predominately English)
2. It's not brilliant in terms of salary
3. It's a ****ing dream job in terms of the cool geek factor - although its a slight step back in terms of responsibility from what I currently do
4. I'd feel guilty leaving my little sister behind as I'm the only close family she's got at present
5. I actually really love the job I do anyway, mostly because of the people I work for (its basically the same job in affect, just looking after different OS' and larger systems)

Before the job offer I was sure that I wasn't going to take it, because of the location - I don't like large cities much and the negatives outweighed the positives. But now it's come down to it, I'm not sure if I could allow myself to pass up the opportunity.

So, moving to a "foreign" country - has anyone actually done it? What is worth it? What problems did you hit?

I moved from Scotland to England, does that count?

TBH these days, the language barrier isn't that much of a factor. I learned almost enough Italian to survive a 3-day weekend in just 2 weeks. It was rare that my girlfriend and I spoke English to anyone while we were there. Most Euros speak English anyway, although they still appreciate the effort if you at least try to speak their native.

With the new 186mph trains, it wouldn't take your sister long to get to you (or you to her) if either of you had a problem. I know Bath isn't exactly a transport hub, but it's not that far off the beaten track Either that or get her to go with you. Even temporarily.

So basically I'd say it's more about the cash and how much you want the new job.

Well Paris isn't very far away, I'd of thought with the Eurostar it would actually be far easier to get to from Bath than Glasgow or Edinburgh. So it's not really like going to the other side of the world to work and the cultural differences aren't that radical either.

I've been thinking about doing this too (I work for myself, from home, so I could live anywhere really), and the main reason I haven't yet is because I've got a sister with a little boy and my mum's getting old now, so I'm thinking I should probably stick around for their sakes. It's a difficult decision, for sure.

I wouldn't let the language thing stop you if you think you could dig the French culture - you'll pick up the language quickly enough when you're forced to speak it every day.

If the new job lets you have second thoughts, it's not worth it...

I moved to France and lived/worked there for ten years.
I had a basic (VERY BASIC!) knowledge of French before I left, and because I was literally thrown in at the deep end, soon managed to progress from 'just getting by' to ' arguing full toss about football'.
Even though I was cr@p at French at school, got 3 failed GCE's to prove it...I now consider myself to be as near bi-lingual as makes no difference.
Contrary to popular misguided British beleif, the average Frenchman _WILL_ go out of his way to help you IF you make a real effort to learn.
One thing I will warn you about though, Paris is as far removed from France as New York is from the USA, and London is from England.
It is too bloody cosmopolitan, another way of saying a complete sh*thole (apologies to any Parisians..but thats my opinion!).
If you want to discover the REAL France, go about 600 miles further south! Chances are that you will never want to come back here afterwards, and if you ever do move back here, I promise you will regret it! (I certainly did!)

Quote from squidhead :

If the new job lets you have second thoughts, it's not worth it...

I agree to a point there...

We have enough Polish people coming over here and making it very well for themselves, why should it be any different with you going over to France

Quote from The General Lee :

We have enough Polish people coming over here and making it very well for themselves, why should it be any different with you going over to France

DEY TEK URR JUURBS!!!

Thanks for the thoughts, words and experiences guys - I really appreciate it :up:

Gives me something to think about at least

Thank you, once again.

I Had this when i moved from hungary to usa.I didnt know any english,i didnt know nobody,i started working with poeple who dont even spoke english(try to understand what they want..)But i came up nicely on my way,and im proude of where i am now.

For your case:First the family than the job,nothing is more important than your family.I wouldnt go if i were you,but its not my life you do what you gotta do.

I'm Australian and I lived and worked in Malaysia for 3 years (not quite the same as France as alot of people can speak some English, most speak 3 langauges)

Living and breathing another culture certainly opens your eyes to different ways of viewing life, so from that point of view it is priceless and I would recommend it, even if it meant a slight pay cut. I personally took a drastic pay cut initially, earnt less in a month than I earnt in a week in Australia

Back in Australia now both my wife and myself are doing quite well in life and I'd put quite abit of that down to the experiences we had as expats.

Do it, if only for the experiance, do it, you can always come back.

I worked for a French company for a while, which meant spells of a few weeks in France, every now and then, it's a LOVELY country, and the women..........phew.....

The men are all pretty much arrogant, but I would say go for it none-the-less

Quote from danowat :

Do it, if only for the experiance, do it, you can always come back.

+1

I had to decide once either to attend a university here in germany or to work in Dubai. I pretty much regret the decision not to go to Dubai because i changed my course of studies after only one year and had to start all over again.

If your sister/family would be fine with your decision, do it. You will hate the "what if" moments you have when you don't go.