cheers Jane… they live too far away for me to visit enough to encourage them to battle on with their French and they have surrounded themselves with other Brits… so they all talk English! aaargh.
At least I can stop worrying 
I mix with one group that has mainly British members and it’s interesting to see that there is a complete cross section when it comes to those who can speak French and those who don’t. At one end there are those who are fluent and have gained French nationality and there are those at the other end who know no more than the very basics, possibly below the knowledge of most tourists. Another stark division is between those who are prepared to speak French and those who are not. A lot of the people who are prepared to speak French are far from being competent French speakers but are enthusiastic and willing. It’s obvious that the French people they engage with are appreciative of their efforts and prepared to accept their shortcomings. The group has been praised by the local Maire for doing so much to improve integration and a lot of it is to do with this enthusiastic group.
The group have events quite regularly and once a month they meet in a small bar in a small town. Until recently the bar was owned and run by a local who spoke good English but he sold up and it was taken over by a slightly younger couple who spoke no English. This made me smile because I thought that it would be a wake up call to the non French speaking members of the group who would have to learn enough to order their beer or their coffee. A small step in the right direction. The new owners wanting to make a success of their business and realising that they had a good British customer base have themselves worked hard to improve their English so life in the bar has continued as before. I applaud them for their effort while wishing that they had not.
The fact is that in many areas throughout France it’s not difficult to survive without knowing the language. As has been pointed out elsewhere Google translate and the like has made that position even easier. A lot of people I’ve met seem more than happy to live in that world.
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Sadly, our friends don’t seem to be that happy… I was alarmed to see them the other day… they have changed so much.
They were particularly upset that the only French couple they were great friends with (bi-lingual neighbours) have downsized and moved out of the area. They’d known them for around 10 years, so it’s a real loss.
Is that true? I thought that, at least for the nationality aspect of things, all exemptions had been removed apart from, as @JaneJones says, recognised dyslexia and the like but perhaps residency is different?
I understand, and agree with, the concept that you need a certain level of French to have any chance of integrating and not forming an ex-pat “pocket”. However, having done, and passed, the B1 exam, I was horrified at how formal it was. Neither my partner (who has significant dyslexia but not recognised by the authorities) nor I (I am starting to lose what marbles I had) would have a hope of passing a B2 exam, even though we had no problem with the level of French required for the interview.
Our ability to learn in the way required for a formal exam is seriously impaired by age…
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Thank you for that Jane, a great relief for me as, although my spoken French is fairly fluent I don’t think in French and the rapidity of comprehension is much lower than it was 20 years ago. I am sure this is age related as when I was working I had no problem keeping up with telephone instructions. Now it is a very different story, even though I have so few English speaking friends these days, with 90% I have to use French.
Yes. Not for nationality of course, but for these specific long term cards
Si vous demandez à bénéficier d’une carte de résident, de résident longue durée UE ou de résident permanent et que vous avez moins de 65 ans , vous devez pouvoir attester de votre niveau de maîtrise du français.
But the level is only A2
Cela signifie que vous avez les capacités suivantes :
- Comprendre des phrases isolées et des expressions fréquemment utilisées en relation avec des domaines de l’environnement quotidien (par exemple, informations personnelles et familiales simples, achats, travail)
- Pouvoir communiquer lors de tâches simples et habituelles ne demandant qu’un échange d’informations simple et direct sur des sujets familiers et habituels
- Savoir décrire avec des moyens simples sa formation, son environnement immédiat et évoquer des sujets qui correspondent à des besoins immédiats
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heartily agree… I can talk the hind legs off a French donkey… ( maybe not gramatically correctly) in all situations (serious and friendly) I have no problem understanding French and making myself understood…
but taking an exam… no way!
Just like that during my school days… Exams were a non-starter… my brain goes on the blink 
I passed my French O level by waffling so well to the teacher during the Oral that I think she must have given me a “golden buzzer” which cancelled out the written mistakes
I thought the same so reread the Guardian article and think that’s concerned with residency not nationality. Introducing a high language threshold for British preople hoping to retire in France would be a huge barrier.
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They can continue with 1 year visas without problem. (Look at post 20!)
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Seems to be in legislation put forward for a new requirement level. The Guardian article says “The date the decree comes into effect has yet to be decided. Most retirees over the age of 65 are expected to be exempt as are those who apply for or renew annual visitor cards.”
To be a bit clearer here, exempting the 65+ applicants, to obtain a 2 to 4 year residence permit, you will need to validate a middle school level, for a 10 year card, a high school level and for French nationality, a university level. Middle school level is higher than the old A2 with promise to improve. B1 with wiggle room.
This makes it clearer which groups are more directly concerned
So, “Do not fret”!
This has been on the cards since 2023, and the legislation was passed in ‘24. So nothing new at all apart from bring forward the implementation days. The legislation says “before July 2026”.
There are previous posts on this.
I must admit this is increasingly my own concern - I’m in my early 60’s so a few years off retirement and having the time to dedicate to really polishing my French, fairly academic but I never had a brain which was able to follow all the niggly detail for learning grammar and it’s not getting better.
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As you say. And, WACdS holders do not need to worry because 5 year cards will evolve into 10 year cards without a language test.
Given the general level of some French students in that age group, that sets a pretty large possible range, de “zéro à héro” to quote the French version of the PS1 Disney Hercules video game !
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Many people are a bit dim when it comes to understanding even fairly simple texts, especially if they are asked about what is implicit.
If I have understood you correctly, that (for me) would mean you can’t really read quite well - reading isn’t just the ability to see eg ¿Donde está señor Muñoz? and say ‘don day ess ta sen yor moon yoth’ but actually understand you are being asked about the whereabouts of Mr Muñoz.
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An important part of language exams is the aural test and I think that is also an important consideration, not just face to face communication. There is an absolute requirement, e-mail isn’t always an option, to be able to speak, understand and be understood on the telephone. I thought I was reasonable at French until there was a fire at the house!!
yep, phone calls to any emergency services, during an actual Emergency, really are nerve-wracking.
First time for us was to the Pompiers when OH had his first heart attack… many years ago. My French was very basic then and I had to force myself not to panic.
thankfully, the person on the other end of the phone was calm, spoke slowly and used short French sentences which I could easily understand and answer.
Phew…
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The problem is we were talking about reading ages and the testing thereof. Most of the reading tests giving a reading age in British schools do/did just that. The ages relate to decoding the text not understanding it. To get a reading level for SATS tests comprehension is what is being tested.
Rant coming up!
I have mentioned I am dyslexic and my reading comprehension is good but slow. My reading out aloud is sh*t; it was at school and it still is at 64 and very nearly…mumble mumble. At school in the UK according to my engerlisch teachers I was an absolute dunce and was slippered a number of times for just that, but the exact opposite by the science teachers. I failed my 11+ but what I did not do too bad like, maybe it is I am just so bloody minded. In my day reading age was assessed by just reading aloud. I am pleased that comprehension is now included, which is by far the most important factor.
Likewise I am much better in German, but it is a transparent language. French and English…. well thank goodness for spell check.