Retiring abroad and language issues

[rifling]

Dh and I have always had a sort of vague idea to retire to France, at least for part of the year. I don't know if it will actually ever happen but it's nice to dream! We both speak French but not very well tbh and I am beginning to think that I won't actually ever be fluent enough to really integrate. So, I wa just wondering about others' experiences of retiring to a country where you have to learn the language- can it ever work out??

Not personal experience, but my parents have done this. They moved about 15 years ago now. Dad is essentially fluent; mum isn't fluent - she's not super-confident on the phone, for example - but she has French friends, and speaks it well enough to have passed the citizenship test recently.
When they went, they'd been taking language classes here for a bit, and mum still has French lessons with a small group of English expats every week (it's partly a social thing). My dad had A level French, and is quite a gifted linguist; mum was starting from a pretty basic level and much less confident about it.
Their closest friends there are English expats, but they are well-integrated into their local community and also have close French friends. They are very happy with the decision they made.

I lived there for a short time and found dealing with officialdom/paperwork and people on the phone challenging but doable. I don't know why the French have a reputation for rudeness though as I found the opposite!

Avoid using SFR as a telecoms/internet provider as they are a right pain - difficult to deal with, rip you off if you go pay as you go or direct debit, and make it complicated to leave them.

Watching with interest. DH and I are both 31 so a fair bit off retiring but we want to retire in Turkey, if possible. I speak a decent bit of French and DH has okay Spanish so the language skills are there and I’ve heard Turkish isn’t too difficult to learn.

My friend’s son moved to France and has French lessons 4 days a week.
Could you work on your French now?

Could you work on your French now?
That's what I'm doing but I also feel that my language learning skills are getting worse with age! It's nice to hear of some positive experiences.

I know several people who have done this. Your language skills improve tremendously once you are living there and are surrounded by it all the time.

In regard to my holiday French the attitude of the locals seems to hinge on whether you make the effort or not. They love hearing you speak French and are happy to make allowances for mistakes, and I have often been congratulated on my French even though I am competent rather than fluent.

I don't think you should ever imagine that unless you sound like a native you haven't succeeded. I have French friends who have lived in the U.K. for over 40 years - they still sound unmistakably French and, although fluent, still make occasional errors, but who cares?

I actually already live in another EU country and speak the language there fluently. I think though that this has really made me realise how hard it is to completely "get" another language - I am fluent but not flawless and still feel frustrated in a lot of situations. Maybe I am just getting old but the thought of moving somewhere and not being completely fluent scares me somewhat although it used to excite me! I guess I am just thinking that maybe retirement is not the right time to be doing this!