French Beyond Beginners (part 3)

In part 3, you’ll learn to express emotions and desires and talk about social media. You will also learn about French heritage and traditions.

More complicated grammar and pronunciation is also introduced – including rhythmic groups, interrogative intonation and regional accents. There is also time given to learn more about French culture, geography and current affairs.

With an emphasis on the practical communication, you’ll build confidence by giving short presentations on topics in French and discuss them with the group.

This is the last of three Beyond Beginners modules, designed to advance your basic knowledge of French and reach CEFR A1/2 level of the Common European Framework for language learning. On completion of the 10 weeks you’ll be ready to join our lower intermediate classes.

Who is it for?

You should have completed part 2 of our Beyond Beginners course or a similar course elsewhere (100 hours of formal study). Alternatively, you may have a ‘rusty’ GCSE. See the eligibility section.

Timetable

This course takes place one evening a week at 18:30 for 10 weeks.

Benefits

• Taught in the April/May term, it is an ideal way to brush up your French before a summer holiday
• Complete the course and speak confidently at CEFR A1/2 level
• High quality teaching equipment, with audio-visual facilities and e-learning platforms.

By the end of this course, you will be able to

• feel confident with your accent and intonation
• express emotions, aspirations and desires
• talk about social media
• listen and understand some news broadcasts
• present a topic of your choice and discuss it.
• More complex pronunciation
• rhythmic groups
• difficult sounds (ouille, several r in a word, ui…)
• interrogative intonation
• regional accents.

Grammatical structures

• introduction to the imperfect tense
• modal verbs “can”, “want to”, “must”, “need to”
• expressions of time (pour, pendant, depuis, il y a…)
• consolidation of pronouns; use of the infinitives
• introduction to further relative clauses (ce que, ce qui).

You will be awarded an official City, University of London certificate on completion of the course. You must attend over 70 per cent of the classes to be eligible for the certificate.

There is no formal assessment, but you will be set weekly homework of comprehensive grammar exercises and reading texts, to reinforce what you learn in class.

Your tutor will be assessing your progress throughout the term, via your performance during the lesson and the homework you submit.

Teaching

All our language courses are designed to develop your skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Classroom activities include working in small groups and role-playing scenarios, listening to radio broadcasts and watching video clips. We also use digital learning tools to support your learning.

You’ll receive lesson content in advance, giving you the chance to practice your pronunciation.

You’ll need a good level of basic French knowledge to enrol on this course.

It is the right level if you:

• have completed our full French Beginners course, or equivalent course elsewhere
• have a ‘rusty’ GCSE level qualification
• can communicate at A1 level, according to the Common European Framework of languages
• have studied French formally for 90-100 hours.

You should already know how to:

• make purchases, buy tickets and book hotel rooms
• be confident ordering, giving instructions and asking for details
• talk about events in the present, past and future
• use reflexive verbs and prepositions.

English requirements

You will need a good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.