Daily life
Titre de séjour
TEE-truh duh say-ZHOOR
Your French residence permit. It authorises you to live and work in France — and, importantly here, not in Belgium.
ANEF
a-NEF
The national online platform for immigration procedures. Slow, occasionally broken, and unavoidable.
Carte Vitale
kart vee-TAL
The green health insurance card. It takes months; until then you pay and claim on paper, so keep every form.
Encadrement des loyers
on-kadr-MON deh lwa-YAY
Rent control. Lille, Hellemmes and Lomme cap rents by area, size and vintage — the reference rates are public and the cap is enforceable.
Drache
drash
The northern word for a sudden heavy downpour. You will learn it in your first fortnight and use it for the rest of your life here.
Le Mongy
luh mon-JEE
The old interurban tramway running out to Roubaix and Tourcoing, named after the engineer who built it in 1909 and still in daily service.
Work
Frontalier
fron-ta-LYAY
A cross-border worker. The word carries a specific tax meaning here, and the special regime it refers to has been closed to new entrants since 2012.
Social
Ch'ti
shtee
The regional speech and, by extension, the people of the north. Used affectionately and constantly, including about themselves.
Culture
La braderie
la bra-DREE
The city-wide flea market on the first weekend of September — Europe's largest, and the weekend everything else in Lille stops for.
Estaminet
es-ta-mee-NAY
A traditional Flemish tavern — beer, carbonnade, wooden tables and games. The regional equivalent of a bouchon or a bistrot.
Emergency
15 / 17 / 18 / 112
—
15 for medical emergencies (SAMU), 17 for police, 18 for fire. 112 works for all of them, has English-speaking operators, and works identically across the border in Belgium.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.