I am a retired accountant & my wife is a teacher.

Like many we are looking to relocate to SW France in the near future.

I am learning conversational french & my wife speaks French and is qualified TEFL.

Any help/advice will be appreciated.

David Shaw

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

The main consideration is "where are you coming from?" If you and your family are EU nationals, there's no real problem. You won't need visas or even a "carte du séjour" once you get here.

The French constantly grumble about the Brits living here who "refuse" to learn the language - so making every effort to speak French, no matter how hesitant or halting, is a good plan. They also accuse the Brits of driving up housing prices by overpaying for their homes and thereby preventing young French couples from buying houses (though most young French prefer to just inherit Mom and Dad's house when the old folks die ).

If you're from outside the EU, things get a bit stickier. There is obviously the whole issue of getting a visa and whether or not you can get working privileges.

Since the beginning of 2007 there is a new law that requires foreigners to sign a "contract of integration" when they receive their first carte du séjour (basically, a residence permit). The first card is only good for one year, and the contract is supposed to outline several conditions you have to meet in order to renew the card at the end of one year. Basically, you have to demonstrate a basic level of spoken and written French (if you haven't already done so), and you have to attend a couple of classes/lectures on French life and "civics."

If you haven't passed the French language test, you must attend a (free!) series of classes for up to 400 hours - usually 3 or 4 days a week - in order to get up to speed.
Cheers,
Bev

Welcome to the forum!
Always best to learn the lingo.

Diane aka Mamacats
Ragdoll Breeder
Portugal