French Year 1 (Beginners)

Topics covered

Alphabet/ sound system, yourself and your family, jobs, nationalities, daily activities; tastes and plans

Grammatical structures

Basic verbs: 'être and avoir' (to be and to have) and the verb endings in the present tense. Frequent verbs such as 'manger, marcher, regarder, téléphoner, écouter , travailler and the conjugation in the present tense; Definite and indefinite articles 'le, la, les' ( the) 'un, une, des';. Partitive article 'du, de la, des'; Possessive adjectives 'mon, ma, mes'; Masculine and feminine nouns; Plural of nouns; Interrogative and negative forms. Key words to ask questions:'Qui, où,, quand, comment'; Comparatives; 'Plus grand, que / moins riche que'; Opposites and frequencies; 'Toujours, jamais, souvent '; Irregular verbs in the present tense 'prendre, aller, venir'

Learning objectives

o Greeting people

o Introducing yourself, your family and others

o Talking about nationalities and jobs

o Describing your house and your neighbourhood

o Selecting food and wine in a shop

o Dressing up for the four seasons

o Talking about your daily routine including days and hours

o Talking about your interests and making plans.

Topics covered

Weekly activities and duties; Food and drink, Objects and situations; Parts of the body and ailments, Making appointments; Making plans for the weekend; Travel; Shopping, Past events

Grammatical structures

Modal verbs: 'vouloir, pouvoir, devoir; savoir' with conjugations in the present tense. Present tense of verbs ending in 'ir' and 're'. Pronouns for direct and indirect object such as 'lui' and 'leur'. More key questions words: 'pourquoi, parce que, avec qui, depuis quand'; Introduction to passé composé (Past tense). Regular, irregular and motions verbs (aller, venir, monter, arriver) in the past tense. Adjectives and their agreement; More comparatives: Meilleur que / mieux que; More opposites and frequencies: autant que (as well as), quelquefois. Past tense of modal verbs; Immediate future: 'Je vais prendre'

Learning objectives

• Asking for help
• Inviting, arranging to meet and replying to an invitation
• Leaving and receiving phone messages;
• Saying what you want to do, can do or must do
• Describing people, clothes and buying habits
• Visiting the doctor
• Ordering meals and making travel reservations
• Describing a sequence of events in the past
• Handling short social exchanges mixing present, past and immediate future tenses
• Obtaining information on prices and quantities

Topics covered

Directions; Travel; Describing places and journeys; Past, present and future events; email writing

Grammatical structures

Revision of the present and introduction of the past tense for the reflexive verbs; Relative clauses: 'Une ville qui est en Alsace / Une ville que j'aime'; Complete review of the past tense; More indirect pronouns such as 'eux' (them); Introduction of ' en', 'J'en ai' and 'y', j'y vais. Practice of all pronouns mixed up with past tense; 'Ne…plus' ; Introduction to the future tense. Practise of regular future tense.

Learning objectives

• Understanding/giving directions
• Giving advice and expressing opinions
• Agreeing and disagreeing
• Summarising a piece of written information
• Talking about past actions
• Giving small presentations
• Expressing obligation and interdiction
• Making complaints
• Making plans for the future
• Expressing nuances