The Expat Insider 2019 survey by Internations reveals the reasons why living in France as a foreigner can be tough, the main reasons being the difficulties of speaking the local language and making friends among the French.
20,259 individuals participated in the survey mentioned above, ranking 64 countries from best to worst to live in based on various criteria namely personal finance, ease of settling in, quality of life and work and family life.
Placed 42nd out of 64, France meets low scores on the “ease of settling in”. The language aspect seemed to be judged as the most important one, the foreign citizens continuing to struggle with it. Not being fluent in French appears to be a big obstacle. Consequently, the low score made it so that France ranked 61 out of 64 worldwide in the language category.
The survey also had to state that:
“Not only does French — the language — impact the expats, but the French — the people — aren’t always remarkably helpful. A Danish expat says that “the French culture is highly different, and the French can be often not very welcoming”.The Expat Insider 2019 survey by Internations reveals the reasons why living in France as a foreigner can be tough, the main reasons being the difficulties of speaking the local language and making friends among the French.
