Located in the center of Rennes 2 University’s Villejean campus, the CIREFE is the largest institution in higher education for the study of French as a Foreign Language in all of Brittany.
After more than a year of reduced face-to-face activities, Rennes 2’s premier French language center, the Cirefe, was happy to hold its annual meet and greet for new students enrolled in its summer courses. Read on to find out what some of the students had to say about their experiences so far.
texteI arrived in Rennes in January. It has been a nice experience, even if a bit complicated at times with the national Covid restrictions. Still, I’ve enjoyed it anyway. I was struck by how many students there are in Rennes! I wanted to do my Master's degree and I was looking for a city that wasn't too big or too small, and where I could feel comfortable. And, while here, it makes sense that I take advantage of the opportunity to learn French as much as possible - the Cirefe seemed like a great starting point!
Auteur de la citationBianca
Fonction de l'auteurCurrent Cirefe student (originally from Mexico)
texteI’ve been at the Cirefe for 2 semesters now. I started in September. Like for everybody, last year wasn’t exactly simple given the pandemic. At the beginning of the year, we had face-to-face classes, and then everything was done remotely. But it went well overall and I’m really happy with how I improved in French. Before I came to the Cirefe, my French was terrible. I’ve now found a job in Paris so I’ll be continuing classes this summer in order to feel confident when I begin working.
Auteur de la citationAlexander
Fonction de l'auteurCurrent Cirefe student (from the University of Bath, United Kingdom)
texte"I arrived in January and I’ll be here through December. Last semester, there were some moments that weren't exactly easy (with the health context), but we nevertheless managed to continue our learning online. It was still a good experience for me and my French improved a lot. What I missed most was the informal discussions with classmates or with the teachers, but I’m hopeful that it will be different this summer, with more opportunities to meet up with others.”
Auteur de la citationYuki
Fonction de l'auteurStudent at the Cirefe (from Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan)
The Cirefe offer
The CIREFE allows international students to take French classes either in conjunction with their classes in other subject matters at Rennes 2 or as a stand alone full-time subject. In addition to learning the language, students will also have the opportunity to interact with other students from all over the world and participate in a number of cultural activities around the city and in the region.
Each year, the CIREFE receives each year more than 2,000 students of nearly 80 different nationalities. The Centre also belongs to CampusFLE, an organization that brings together nearly 40 French university centres for international students, and whose quality approach it follows.
