French Beginners Plus (Year 1)

Term 1

Topics covered

Travel; Describing places and journeys; Food and France overseas; Past, present and future events.

Basic pronunciation

Word endings; French vowels; Difficult sounds (‘u’, ‘tion’,’r’…), diphtongs (‘eu’, ‘on’, ‘ai’, ‘in’…); Nasal sounds (‘on’ ‘un’, ‘an’…); ‘s’ and ‘ss’ and ‘z’.

Grammatical structures

Consolidation of the present, Complete revision the past tense (Perfect) and future tense; Relative clauses: 'Une ville qui est en Alsace / Une ville que j'aime'; Complete review of all partitives and prepositions (du, de la, des; au, à la, aux…); introduction to direct and indirect pronouns (him, her, them; to his, to her, to them); Introduction to 'y', ‘j'y retrournerai’.

Learning objectives

* Perfecting pronunciation of basic French sounds * Recognising sounds in short French clips * Expressing opinions * Agreeing and disagreeing * Talking about past actions * Giving small presentations * Making complaints and compliments * Making plans for the future * Expressing nuances

Term 2

Topics covered

Tastes; Food; Appearance; Likes and dislikes; La vie citadine.

More complex pronunciation

Difficult sounds (‘j’, ‘ge/gu’,’ç’, ‘p +consonant’…); Stem-changing verbs; Clusters with ‘L’; ‘La liaison’; Silent ‘h’; Differentiating ‘é’ and ‘è’, ‘ou’ and ‘u’.

Grammatical structures

Consolidation of adjectives, superlatives and comparatives; Adverbs; Relative clauses (ce que, ce qui); Revision of the Imperative; Consolidation of negatives (ne…plus/jamais/rien…); pronouns 'y' and ‘en’ ‘j’en voudrais deux, merci’, j’y vais demain’; Interrogative sentences.

Learning objectives

* Perfecting pronunciation of more complex sounds French sounds * Listening and understanding more complex French clips * Expressing wishes and preferences * Ordering and asking for details * Talking about events * Participating to a small debate * Making plans and organising * Giving instructions

Term 3

Topics covered

Country living; Heritage and traditions; Rules and regulations in the public sphere and at home; Internet language and texting.

Further 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 …); Recent past and near future (venir de +infinitif / aller +inf.); Expressions of time (pour, pendant, depuis, il y a…); Consolidation of pronouns; use of the infinitives.

Learning objectives

* Perfecting intonation and accent * Listening and understanding some news (radio or tv) * Expressing emotions and desires * Presenting a topic of your choice * Talking about social media * Understanding and giving instructions * Expressing personal aspirations and goals