As promised (a little while ago now!), I’m dedicating a whole shiny post to writing about freelancing in France. Or, more precisely, what the French think about freelancers. I’ve officially been a freelancer for about six months now. Not yet a veteran, no longer a newbie. And, since starting out, I’ve encountered a whole range…
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English copywriter in Paris: Paris freelancing hotspots

Having recently analysed French attitudes to freelancing (shock, horror and downright envy!), now it’s time to get down to details and sift out the best places for freelancing the days away. Cafés and websites dedicated to freelancing are springing up all over Paris. I haven’t tested all of them. I’m kind of slow off the…
English Copywriter in Paris: becoming a star

So, it’s been a long time since I’ve written here. I could come up with a whole host of plausible (and implausible) excuses including a bunch of new projects, Christmas festivities and having my laptop stolen by a passing computer-hacking badger! Yet, the absence of articles remains very, well, absent. As I’m waiting for the…
English Copywriter in Paris: the write way to run

The Paris marathon is looming. For non-runners who may not be in the know, it’s this Sunday 6 April. I’m officially taking part – my name is firmly on the list of competitors and there’s no going back. It’s the first time I’ve set my sights on the big 42 despite being a seasoned runner…
English Copywriter in Paris: getting the right accent

Accents may at first seem unimportant, even superficial. After all, it’s what you say that matters and not the way you say it. Umm…there may be more to it than that, certainly if Eliza’s experience is anything to go by. For me, one of the refreshing things about speaking another language is escaping the usual…
English Copywriter in Paris: accent-uating class difference

In my last post I talked about accents when speaking foreign languages. Now my musings have moved on to accents in English. I keep coming back to the question of how far we judge people by their accents. A memory from my Cambridge uni days suddenly springs to mind. Still dominated by middle class southerners,…
English copywriter in Paris: arrondissements apart

A year ago I moved from my beloved 11ème, which I’d adopted when arriving in Paris some four years earlier, and into the deep depths of the 20ème. On a map this may represent a tiny hop of no more than 2km (a 25 minute walk), but physiologically and socially this was a big leap.…
English Copywriter in Paris: one sunny bobo afternoon

The sun is shining. Hooray! With very hardworking intentions, I headed over to the picnicker-lined Canal St Martin in the east of Paris. I wanted to check out the new freelancing haven Café Craft, before setting down to a spot of work al fresco. It was tough, but I finally got pen to paper. Yes,…
English Copywriter in Paris: living in limbo

© Giulia Agostinelli, Flickr Living in foreign country is a fabulous and enriching experience. As a Brit who’s been living in Paris for the last 5 years, I can safely say that you learn a lot about yourself, another culture and also (more surprisingly) about your own country. As I toppled off the train at…
English Copywriter in Paris: how to become a freelance copywriter

There are endless articles and books on “how to become a freelance writer”. The topic has been done, done and done again. In this article, I’m not claiming to provide revolutionary ideas or shed a whole new light on freelancing. I’m not that ambitious. Yet, every now and then I get emails from would-be copywriters…