This is a course designed for students who completed French Intermediate 1 & 2 or who have studied French up to AS or equivalent. This course aims to provide you with the necessary linguistic tools you need to be able to get by and understand topics such as family, hobbies and interests, work, travel and current events. You will also further develop your understanding of the culture of French speaking countries.

This course is the first part of the preparation for CEFR A2/B1.

-        Understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.

-        Deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.

-        Produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest.

-        Describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

All courses on the Languages for All programme are delivered on a hybrid mode, mixing face-to-face and virtual teaching. You will be expected to actively participate in role-plays, interactive activities and group discussions. Course material is accessible on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learning Central, and should be cross-platform compatible.

18 contact hours – 2 hours per week of interactive language workshops.

Intellectual Skills:

-        Enhanced cognitive skills leading to innovation, creativity and problem solving.

-        Critical analysis applied to discourse, texts, images and events.

-        Advanced listening and reading skills: the ability to scan complex texts (including audio) for gist, to synthesise information and focus on salient points.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

-        Understand the main points of clear, standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered; understand the main points of many radio and TV programmes on current affairs or topics of personal or professional interests then the delivery is relatively slow and clear.

-        Understand texts that consist mainly of high frequency everyday or job-related language.

-        Deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken; enter unprepared into conversations on topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to everyday life.

-        Write simple and connected texts on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.

Transferable Skills:

-        Ability to learn additional languages for personal/employment reasons.

-        Awareness of and sensitivity to diversity based on culture.

-        Ability to navigate and mediate between more than one culture to interpret meaning and intent beyond the purely linguistic.

-        Heightened literacy, textual analysis and oracy in mother tongue.

-        Presentation skills.

-        Ability to work cooperatively, as a member of a team or with a partner.

-        Problem solving and the ability to look at things from multiple perspectives.

Written class test (30%) and course work (30%).  

Oral and aural continuous assessment (40%).  

• Making and understanding arrangements, describing plans;

• Talking about hypothetical situations;

• taking part in an interview

Foundations French 2 (Palgrave Foundation Series Languages), 2008, 2^nd edition; K. Beeching and A. Fontaine Lewis; Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (Units 7-8).

Grammaire Progressive du Français, Niveau intermédiaire, 2013, 3rd Edition; M. Grégoire and O. Thievenaz; CLE International.

Preparation for DELF A2:

Réussir le DELF A2, 2010; M. Dupuy and M. Launay; Didier.