What you will study
Have you always loved the sound of French but never been able to grasp what’s being said? Perhaps you’ve taken holidays frequently in France and felt frustrated that you couldn’t start or join in a conversation? Or maybe there’s a chance you could work in France or another French-speaking country? There are many reasons for learning French, but it can be difficult to know where to start.
This 16 week course offers you an excellent start to your learning journey. Starting from simple greetings and saying your name, you’ll progress week by week towards being able to hold longer conversations and to understand more language in different situations.
In this course, you'll learn how to:
- say your nationality
- give your age
- explain where you come from and where you live
- talk about jobs and occupations
- ask for and give information about other people
- talk about family members
- say what people look like and describe their personality
- talk about clothes.
Learning a language is also learning about culture, so you will discover information about how the French behave when meeting and greeting people, the evolution of the family in France, and French attitudes to clothes.
Throughout the course you will improve your ability to understand spoken and written French and to communicate your own information and ideas. You will acquire a knowledge of the basic structures of French along with key vocabulary. Each week comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, exercises, explanations and tips about language-learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either in a notebook or on your preferred digital device. There are regular revision weeks and, at the end of each week, there is a quiz for you to practise what you’ve been learning.
You will learn
The course is designed to help you achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level A1 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).
Learner support
The course is taught entirely online, with the aid of a learning adviser to offer support where needed. You will have access to an online forum that you are strongly encouraged to participate in, as it is an excellent source of support and information. These forums combine self-help from fellow students with input from the language specialist learning advisers. Other support is available via the StudentHome website and computing helpdesk.
Course length
You'll study 3–4 hours per week, for 16 weeks. In total this course will require around 64 hours to complete.