Finding French community: My church in Rennes

While studying abroad, it can be hard to step out of your American circle and meet locals. That's why my host family has been so amazing, but it's also the reason I've been so thankful for the welcoming community here in Rennes. For me, my local church has been just the opportunity I needed to meet French people and shift from just studying in Rennes to actually living here. 

My first Sunday here, I slipped timidly through the church doors, terrified of yet another place full of people I didn't know. I said "Bonjour" to the man at the door and lost courage as I entered the crowd of French people enthralled in their own conversations. However, I had only been gawking for 15 seconds before I was accosted by people excited to meet me. Coming from America, I held a stereotype about French people being standoffish and mean. This is not true. Sure, if you pass someone on the sidewalk in France, they will not say hi to you. But in a real community, the French people are perhaps even more welcoming than Americans. 

After the church service, several more people greeted me, and one family even invited me to their house for lunch. In France, Sunday lunch is no small invitation. I was sitting at their table drinking tea and playing games until 6:00 p.m. 

After just one week in France, I was in four new WhatsApp groups, had been at two French dinner tables, and had introduced myself in French to more people than I can count. While I was desperate to join a community, I was thrilled at the amount of French I was immersed in. Do not let it scare you (many people are happy to switch to English if you're unconfident), but my community has eagerly accepted me as a fellow francophone, even when my attempts at French are reduced to hand gestures. 

Although my courses at the host institution are helpful to focus on my grammar, I have learned so much more by just living with my church community. During one event, I spent twelve hours fully immersed in French. After a whole day of French sermons, songs, and dinner conversations, my brain was mush, and I was bemoaning my feeble French. However, the more I push myself into challenging environments, the more I feel comfortable in simpler situations. Give yourself grace; you're learning in all of it, even if you feel like you're drowning. 

Joining a French community also gave me the opportunity to meet other anglophones. At a church picnic, I turned to the girl next to me and started speaking in French, only to have her stare back at me blankly. 

"Elle est américaine," the girl next to us explained. 

"Oh!" I grinned. "So am I!"

Although I was reluctant to step out of full French immersion, I have to admit that making a friend in English was a breath of fresh air. She told me she loved planning trips, and I begged her to drag me along. After zero planning on my part, we spent a lovely weekend in London, exploring the city and exchanging thoughts about our experience in France. While it's important to take advantage of the immersion opportunities abroad, I am also learning the value of developing deeper relationships, even if that means switching to English from time to time.

Whether your home community is church, sports, music, or volunteer work, I would encourage you to find a similar community abroad. Not only am I learning French far more deeply than I would in the classroom, but I am also learning new vocabulary and ways of speaking specific to church—things that would never appear in a textbook. Additionally, I am making new friends in a familiar environment, where the only unfamiliar variable is the new language. 

Finding a community here in Rennes has transformed my study abroad experience, and made me realize that I am already capable of truly living life in French. 

Aria Carter

Furman University

CIEE-Rennes Liberal Arts Fall 2026