[KimMii]

Once we've bought a property and have all the relevant visas etc sorted, I'd like to enroll in University. I was thinking first I'd do a year of studying French at one of the schools in Montpellier...then I'd enroll in University to either study Art History, Photography or Literature (I'm an amateur photographer/writer...Art History was my first preference when I was younger but it wouldn't have given me many job opportunities)

I'd just like some 'tips' on how I go about these things.

 

[Bevdeforges]

Remind me again what sort of visas you're coming on. It may or may not have any influence on your plans.

Studying French shouldn't be a problem once you're here on long-stay visas. Enrolling in university will be a bit trickier. Unless you have a French bac, you'll be considered a "foreign student" (no matter how long you've lived in France). They will have to check your academic background to see if they consider it suitable for admission to a French university, and of course, you'll have to demonstrate your ability in French because all the work will be in French. They sometimes require foreign students to attend a preliminary French course - if for nothing else than to learn how to write reports and essays in French. (There is a particular style that is expected - drilled into students in lycée - and it is considerably more formal than what we anglophones learned in school.)

You may want to take a look at the Campus France website, even if you don't have the visa issues. They seem to have considerable information there on admission to French university and possibly about some of the required French classes before you can start.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[KimMii]

Currently, we have Italian "permit to stay" visas...my husband (although we've never legally married) is in the process of getting his British by Descent citizenship/passport...

 

[Bevdeforges]

If you're not married, you may well still need a visa to move to France. France only tends to extend "partner" privileges to those with some form of recognized civil partnership agreement.

I don't know anything about Italy's resident permit system, but if you've been there at least 5 years, you want to make sure that the resident permit you have is the type issued to "long-time residents". There is an EU regulation that, once you've become a "long-term" resident of an EU state, you should be granted the same status in another EU state. This is the page from the Service Public that talks about it: Carte de "résident de longue durée - CE" - Service-public.fr but you'll notice that the page is being updated, probably for some recent change in the regulations.

If would be easier if you were married (once your partner gets his UK passport), but it's up to you how you want to work it.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Murielsa]

Hi,

as far as studying French, I came across the site which gives you the choice between several schools (too bad, I cannot post URL link, so put regular url begining instead of *, and . instead of %) *//fr%languagebookings%com/cours-francais/france/montpellier/

What you may do is phone them and explain precisely what you are looking for : being able to attend french-speaking classes at university, starting from a beginner/average/advanced level.

Then, before you can enroll a university, you will have to fill in that form (. instead of % and usual secured beginning instead of *) : *%formulaires%modernisation%gouv%fr/gf/cerfa_11126-do, pass a french test and prove by any means that you have at least a high school degree that enables you to keep up with a university course level.

As far as Montpellier is concerned, you'll find literature under the name of "lettres modernes" or "littérature comparée" (depends on what you are looking for) and History of Art within the Archeology degree at Montpellier 3 university (usual regular beginning instead of *): *formations%univ-montp3%fr/fr/_modules/m_search/catalog1-html

However, taking an isolated course is seldom possible, it is usually part of a more complete degree that would include extra topics.

Hope that was helpfull. Welcome in south of France