You’ll have a lot to learn when you move to France. You’ll need French language lessons, pick up the cultural references, and understand the history of Europe to truly appreciate your experience.

But how do you find the time to do all of this studying? Fortunately, we spend many hours each week riding the metro and your trusty Apple iPod or iPhone makes this job much easier.

Note: you cannot go directly to the podcasts or iTunesU material on the internet. The following links will prompt your computer to open your computer’s iTunes program. This is really annoying, but blame Apple, not me.

Podcasts and iTunesU

Podcasts are audio productions that are published on a regular basis. You can subscribe to them via iTunes and they will automatically appear on your iPod every time you synchronize. They are free and you’ll find a

huge variety of topics to choose from.

Here are some useful podcasts for the new Parisian.

• The French Pod Class – also visit their web site FrenchPodClass.com.
• Learn French by Podcast
• Discovering Paris along its famous monuments
• Advanced French
• French Podcast - Improving your French language skills by listening to conversations

ITunesU – it’s like going to college without the dorm

ITunesU is a collaboration between Apple and the top Universities and educational organizations around the world. They typically record and publish the symposiums and extended study programs, rather than the normal courses. This gives you access to concentrated information by leading lecturers. I have found UC Berkeley and Stanford University presentations to be of the highest quality. Here are some of the iTunesU courses that I have found particularly interesting.

• UC Berkeley History 5 (entire course) – European Civilization from the Renaissance to the Present
• UC Berkeley Global Affairs – Burn Baby Burn, French Style? Roots of the Riots in Urban France
• Stanford University – Ben Franklin and the World of the Enlightenment
• Stanford University – Hanibal
• Open University – Intermediate French

These are just a sampling of the information you can get on iTunes and iTunesU. The content is free and you’ll find your commutes much more productive as you learn history, language, and culture as you travel to work, school, or the museums. Take some time to explore iTunes, there are a lot of hidden gems.

Related articles

• UK university puts lectures on iTunes [via Zemanta]
• Fête de la Francophonie: Celebrating the francophone world [via Zemanta]

I’ve gotten pretty good at converting temperatures, money, and lengths in my mind, but squaring those measurements just causes a headache. Luckily, I found this simple web page with an easy to use grid for comparing areas. Metric Conversions has several other useful tools as well. Add this bookmark and you’ll find it much easier determining what you need in an apartment.

Metric Conversion Charts

• Square Meters to Square Feet
• Celsius to Fahrenheit
• Inches to Centimeters
• Kilograms to Pounds

Freedomlist is a web site that features free internet providers around the world. You may want to check out the free French internet providers to satisfy your connection needs while setting up your permanent accounts.

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Now playing: Billie Holiday – Trav’lin’ Light
via FoxyTunes