Greetings. I’m a recently retired RN (California). I want to live in Rennes. I’m waiting to move till I have B2 French, and spending between 4-6 hours a day on the task. I haven’t much more to say, really, except that I’m grateful for the existence of such sites as this one.
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Welcome. What’s prompting you to move to Rennes?
If you can, an alternative might be to come sooner and get your French to the level you want to achieve by living surrounded by French speakers and using the language in real situations. Not least, local accents, speed of talking and slang can all have an impact on comprehension in the real world. 
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As @SuePJ asks, why Rennes? And, from me, why are you waiting to move until you get to B2? You can just as easily (I would have thought: how are you learning?) do your 6-8 hours/day of study in France, with the advantage of having native speakers to practice on.
PS Joy Division fans are always very welcome!
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Hi.
It sounds as if you aren’t planning to work? That would make life simpler.
But I agree with the others, as long as your paperwork is in order just come here and learn through immersion.
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And there I was thinking I was the only one who clocked the album cover in their avatar.
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Thanks for the welcome.
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I’ve spent months trying to resolve the question, So where should I live in France? I won’t bore you here with the perhaps obsessive-compulsive researches undertaken to answer that question.
At some point the answer came down to two cities: Angers or Rennes. Rennes has around 70,000 students, which translates to greater diversity, more bookstores, more live music venues, more film houses, more relatively inexpensive restaurants, etc., than Angers, which of course is a lovely city…I believe it’s been ranked as France’s “most livable city” several times…still, I prefer the depth, so to speak, of Rennes. Then there’s the more robust urban infrastructure of Rennes. You have TGV access to major cities. And coming from the Pacific Northwest, I prefer Rennes to Angers. -
I agree: your recommendation, or at least your suggestion, is reasonable and strong. However, I’ll be spending my first 90 days in Rennes at an Airbnb while I perform various administrative tasks, get my bearings, start scoping out the T2/T3 situation, etc., and for all of those things including banking, shopping, speaking with rental agencies and prospective landlords, typical or random day-to-day interactions, etc., I really want to be comfortable during those engagements, and for me that means having at least a solid B2 fluency when I hit the ground there. Or, resolving that straightforward-sounding reply in the solution of a little self-insight, I could simply say, “I’m afraid.” That’s another reason why I’m doing Italki–not a plug, just a detail of fact–5 hours a week in addition to my 4-6 hours of 5-days-a-week French study. By the time January, 2027, rolls around, I’m hoping to land in Rennes with a little less…fear. That’s the long and the short of it.
You’re absolutely right to emphasize the fact that “local accents, speed of talking and slang can all have an impact on comprehension in the real world.” And I’ll eventually come around to dealing with them. But first I have to know how to order a meal, ask for directions to the market and metro, and be able to tell the difference in pronunciation between 2 euros and 12. 
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Someone I knew who lived in France many years ago managed to order twelve windows for his house rather than the two he needed 
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I’m definitely planning not to work…work, I mean, at a job. I still keep my RN license current, why, I don’t know …but I won’t be doing any RN-equivalent work in France. (I was a charge nurse during the worst two years of COVID, and that felt like–it still feels like–ten years , not two.) Still, I’ve been looking into volunteer options in France. Once I’m settled, I do plan to explore those possibilities. And I have a lot of itsy-bitsy personal projects that I’ll be working on. So…no…I won’t have a job, but I’ll be working a lot. And, yeah, you’re probably right about the immersion thing, but as I mentioned to Jennifer11, I really want to feel comfortable–well, as comfortable as possible–when I arrive, and for me…just me, just for now…I want to do the B2 thing. 
Exactly, right?!?
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I follow your logic but I’d be astonished if you were competent enough just from your studies. That’s not to discourage you - you’re already doing what preparation I did - but to reassure you should you encounter difficulties with French as it is spoken. At least you’ll be competent to identify what you don’t know/understand!
Fortunately there is no particular Breton accent to complicate things (at least, not in my experience).
I did the same sort of research as you did, though we wouldn’t have wanted to live in a city. Angers is great; the times we’ve visited Rennes, it’s seemed less bustling, which may suit you.
How much time have you spent in each (if any)? What time(s) of year?
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Greetings. You’re right to question the reasonableness of someone trying to learn French from “book learnin’” alone. That’s why–I mentioned it in another reply, but failed to mention it elsewhere–I supplement my studies with 5 weekly 1-hour sessions with a credentialed, native French-speaking tutor on Italki. Otherwise, as you correctly point out, I’d be in a world of hurt if I were hoping to learn French simply from my studies.
My French isn’t perfect but I’m possibly considered fluent. I may or may not be at level B2 but I think that’s way beyond what’s needed ordering a meal or asking for directions.
OH studied French until he was 18 but had forgotten most of it when we bought our first house here. He started speaking French much more easily when he stopped caring about making mistakes and just went for it.
I wonder if the fear that you mention is making you over-prepare.
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Couldn’t agree more! I promise you, however much you prepare, there will be moments of panic/fear but also, I promise you, the sooner you go for it, the more joy you will have.
Firstly (and most importantly) you will find such a positive response when you start to speak to someone in French (rather than shout at them in English).
Secondly, for years, I started every conversation by apologising for my poor French - and having useful phrases like “please speak more slowly”. That helps.
Thirdly, it sounds to me like you are already at a level above most Brits in France.
Fourthly don’t be surprised if the person you are talking to wants to practise their English, especially in a city full of students.
Whatever you decide, bon courage. You’ll find lots of help here.
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Oops…didn’t answer your last two questions, both of which I can more or less answer in a single word: never. I do the best I can with what I have. Never having visited France could be a problem. It could be a huge, crowded raft of desperate problems. Could be. But I hope to be prepared to deal with such problems, including the “unknown unknowns,” when I’m there, and have long since made my peace with the fact that, as seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, Sr. once said, “You win some, lose some, and wreck some.” I’m just hoping to be as well prepared as I can be, win more than I lose, and in any case not wreck anything.
It will be. (I left out the “desperate” There are plenty of people here who will offer useful advice. You’ll learn who to rely on.)
We found that our immobilière was very willing to help (she should be, the commission they charge!). I think she was a bit unusual in the extent she was prepared to go (and we already knew people here, had contacts and sources of advice), but if you find you get on with and trust your immo, then it’s a relationship that has practical benefits.
Some of us will have had a sharp intake of breath on hearing you’ve never visited France. Honestly, that’s not great. It’s very different to the UK, and - from what people here say - even more different to the US. Not saying it won’t work, but be prepared for intense frustration, and approach every interaction with the knowledge that they want to help, let them know you know they want to help, and it’s up to you and them to find a solution
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Does your budget allow you to come over for a shortish visit to see if you actually like France? You could spend a week each in Rennes and Angers and see what you think then.
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You really should visit France and especially as you’d like to live there.
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There’s a lot to be said, generally, for the attitude of not caring whether one makes mistakes and just going for it. I’ve been a nurse for a long time. I’ve worked ICU, ED, and was a graveyard House Resource nurse before I retired. “Start low, go slow,” we tell new nurses when we’re talking about medications. The point is, there are times when you have to be quick in the moment, and times when you have to slow down, take your time, and think about things, really think about things. It’s probably precisely because I’ve never been to Rennes or even to France that I’m taking things slow, taking my time, making sure my “assessments” and “interventions” are as accurate and effective and as safe as possible. There’s no emergency, no one’s crashing, so to speak, no one’s “not looking right.” I don’t have to be quick here. There’s nothing urgent or emergent going on. I have time; therefore, I can take my time. You’re probably right about everything. It’s probably just me and meekness and overcautious timidity all rolled into one old man. 
Rennes appealed to us until we visited. It was kind of a shock after other small cities we’re familiar with in France.
If your only research has been online or on paper, I think a visit to France is in order before you make a decision. And don’t just go to Rennes and Angers, widen your scope.
You have a lot of fun research ahead of you.
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I don’t mean to be perverse but how can you make an accurate assessment of somewhere you’ve never been to?
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