Integrating into France: OFII Formation Civique, Days 1 Through 3

You can't escape it, it's not that bad

Part of immigrating to France is integrating into the culture. OFII wants to make that easy for all us newly arrived folk, so it offers (haha, I mean requires) that certain visa holders complete a formation civique, or civics training program, within one year of our arrival. 

I was lucky in that my first three civics classes were scheduled pretty quickly after I got to France, so I didn't have to wait to find out how valuable (or not) they'd prove to be. Another way to put it would be that I'd get to get them over and done with.

The formation civique (as of summer 2024, things are always changing) consists of four day-long classes during which you learn all about the rules and regs of France in areas that will more likely touch your life, such as getting healthcare, finding a job, raising kids, and finding housing. It also covers French culture, and just a bit, French history. 

Just a bit of French history

In my experience, the first three courses all took place pretty much back to back, with about a week between each. As for the fourth, well. I was told I'd receive a convocation for that at the end of the third, but then when I started the training, the instructors explained that due to the budget they wouldn't have any of the fourth classes until almost the end of 2024.

Anyway, this was my experience with the first three-quarters of the formation. As with all things French bureaucracy, your mileage may vary. 

Civics Training Day 1

It was a rainy August day when I boarded the L8 bus at Jean Jaures to take me over to the training center in Toulouse. It was chilly, so I wore a jacket, even though I knew the day would end up being sweltering and I'd have to drag it back home under the blazing sun. 

A few people were milling around outside when I got there, but the skies were threatening, so I tried the door and it opened. A few more people were sitting inside the lobby. I said bonjour, they said bonjour. More people arrived, we said bonjour, we waited. 

A little after 9 am, the instructor came down and asked us to get out our convocations and our IDs. She then, in random order, checked our documents and compared our names to what was on her list. We milled around a bit more, then she led us up to the classroom. 

There were maybe 16 or so people in the class and we filed into a room with tables set up in a U formation, with a desk at the front for the instructor. A PowerPoint was projected onto a screen and an easel with a whiteboard stood next to it. So far, so promising. 

The civics training classes are conducted in French, but OFII provides interpreters for non-Francophones. Lucky me, I got classed as Francophone during my initial interview, so no translator for me. No one else in my class was an English speaker, so I had no back up in case I got lost. 

The instructor tried to group us by our language, so that people who were using an interpreter were seated near their translator. Somehow, I got wedged on the end of the russophone group, far away from the other French speakers. 

I was hoping I'd just be able to sit in the class, listen, and not actively participate. I wanted to be a sponge. But no such luck. We had to introduce ourselves to the person sitting near us. Since I couldn't exactly communicate with the Russian speakers, I talked to a woman on my other side, who was from Algeria and spoke French. 

My partner and I covered the bare minimum, not knowing that we'd have to then introduce our companion to the rest of the class. Yikes. We then scrambled to get more details. 

Things went downhill from there. It was hot, there were almost 20 people crammed into the room, but when the fans and portable A/C were running, they were loud and it was hard to hear. So it was either not hear the instructor or be hot. 

For some reason, we ended up choosing the second option. 

It didn't really matter to me anyway, as I couldn't hear the instructor over the guy next to me who was yelling about the EU (in Russian) and the volume of the Russian interpreter. 

The day started with an overview of France's structure (departments, regions, communes) and its involvement in the EU. This was apparently controversial stuff, and the instructor had to spend a lot of time explaining France’s role in the EU.

We then covered the basics of healthcare, raising kids in France, lodging, and employment. The instructor encouraged people to ask questions, and they did. I guess people were more engaged than I was. Or just annoying, particularly the guy who took issue with the following:

• That it's illegal to hit your kids in France

• That you can't marry more than one person at the same time in France

To be fair, the instructor's response to why polygamy isn't allowed in France left something to be desired. She said you can just get divorced and marry someone else. But that doesn't really answer the question, does it?

The class was scheduled to end at 4 pm, and by the time it rolled around, I was excited to head home. But the instructor, who started late, kept going. Ok, she held us only a few extra minutes, but after sitting in that hot room for six hours, I was more than ready to leave.

Civics Training Day 2

After the experience of Day 1, I was dreading the second class. In the days leading up to it, I kept reminding myself that it was really just four 1.5 hour blocks, with little breaks in between, that was all. I could do it. 

There's a thing about expecting the worst, often reality ends up being a lot better. We had a new instructor for day 2, who was a little more orderly. He, at least, started the day on time. 

It was pretty much the same people on Day 2 as on Day 1. Originally, I thought I'd change my seat, but everyone sat where they sat during the previous class, so I was, once again, on the Russian speaking side. 

We covered a lot of ground on Day 2, going into detail about healthcare, parental rights and requirements, jobs, finding a house, etc. I think this was probably the most valuable day in terms of sheer information.

Maybe also the most PowerPoint heavy day, too.

Then came the tablets. After each section, the instructor had us answer quiz questions on these iPads. I don't think the answers were graded or anything, it just seemed like something to do to fill time. Maybe they look at them after the fact to evaluate the quality of the instruction? 

This instructor also reiterated that there were budget problems and we'd have to wait to schedule our fourth session. Okay then. 

Everyone was a lot calmer on this day, and it wasn't hot, so the experience as a whole was more enjoyable.

Civics Training Day 3

I've heard that the formation civique used to be two days, but at some point, they extended it to four.

Based on the content of day 3's class, I have no idea why.

We had yet another instructor, who had a different style than the other two. Instead of checking our IDs and convocations, he told us to just go up to the classroom. He eventually got around to checking them. 

We then had to introduce ourselves. He seemed a little surprised that I spoke French and was like, why don't you have an interpreter? 

Because I don't need one. 

The educational part of the day started with a quiz, some sort of online game where everyone gets an avatar and you have to answer the questions in real time. I won. 

After that, we watched a bunch of videos. Yup. This is France's taxpayer money at work, paying so that we can watch YouTube videos. 

I mean, okay, the videos were about France. So there was that. But did we actually learn anything from watching a tourism video about Martinique? Aside from the fact that France includes some very pretty locations? 

We then talked about music. I'm not sure if this is part of the official curriculum, but the instructor asked us to name a musical artist from our country. He then looked up YouTube videos of each. I couldn't really think of anyone, most of the bands I listen to are from the UK, so I just said Beyonce and we got to watch one of her music videos.

The instructor then asked me to translate the words and I was like, uh, she's telling her ex to take his stuff, not hers. I guess I could have just said "a la gauche, a la gauche." That would have been funnier, at least.

Another quiz. I won again. 

While Day 2 focused on the administrative stuff we all have to do as immigrants, the theme of Day 3 was more "Meet France."

Along with telling us the names of famous authors, musicians, and filmmakers, and showing us pictures of French foods, the day covered more things you can't do in France, such as FGM and child abuse. This portion of the day was accompanied by somewhat questionable imagery which suggested (rather than depicted) the forbidden things. 

The end of the day arrived, and the moment I had long been waiting for: We got to leave early!

Thoughts on the Formation Civique

As I mentioned, the civics training is "one size fits all." A few of the people in my class had already been in France for several years while many of us had arrived just a few months ago.

The content of the course is the same whether you know nothing about France or you've married into a French family and already have some familiarity with the bureaucratic process. You have to take the course whether you have a job or not, have gotten your carte vitale or not, etc. 

If I came to France knowing nothing of French culture, administration, and so on, I'd probably find it more useful than I did. 

But, as someone who married a French person, has done most of the administrative steps described, and is pretty familiar with French culture, I found it less useful. I appreciate that OFII is making the effort to provide this information. I also appreciate that a component of the training focused on reminding us that we can still keep elements of our own culture (as long as they don't break French law), and that it wasn't all "you're in French, you must be French-like!"

One thing I did like about the training was that they gave us a "billet visite" which allows us and a guest to visit a national monument for free. 

Stay tuned to hear how Day 4 went.