Breakdown of Ça fait quelques mois que nous vivons à l'étranger.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
le mois
the month
quelques
a few, some
que
that (introducing a clause)
Questions & Answers about Ça fait quelques mois que nous vivons à l'étranger.
Why does the French sentence use the present tense (nous vivons) when the English translation says "we have been living"?
In French, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present tense. Because we are still living abroad, nous vivons (we live) is the correct tense to use with ça fait... que. English uses "have been living," but French literally says "It makes a few months that we live abroad."
The lesson also mentions il y a... que. Could I use that here instead of ça fait... que?
Could I just write this sentence using depuis (since/for)?
Doesn't étranger mean "stranger" or "foreigner"? Why does it mean "abroad" here?
You're right that un étranger means a foreigner or a stranger. However, the fixed phrase à l'étranger specifically means "abroad" or "overseas." You can think of it as literally meaning "at the foreign (place)."