Advanced French

Tuesday

Advanced French

Course Description

Advanced French: This course will suit people who have recently completed Level 8 or who can describe themselves as confident, able to function in a variety of environments and able to read challenging pieces of writing, but who still lack some nuance and precision when expressing themselves. It is aimed at people who are eager to acquire a much deeper understanding of the French-speaking world through a variety of authentic documents and wish to communicate and exchange their ideas, thoughts, and beliefs in a structured and effective way. Communicative themes and grammatical points covered will work at the B2/C1 levels of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages*). Note that the contents of this class change every term, so you can take it several times.

Term duration: 

Advanced French Group A: 10 weekly 2-hour classes, Tuesday evenings, 6:15pm - 8:15pm. 

Advanced French Group B: 10 weekly 2-hour classes, Wednesday evenings, 6:15pm - 8:15pm. 

Note that the class is driven by the interests of the group. The communicative themes covered in this class will change each semester but may include: 

·        Reading, analysing and discussing a francophone novel.

·        Discussing international relations and current affairs and translating related articles.

·        Expressing and sustaining one’s opinion on various social debates such as healthcare systems, social and gender inequalities …

·        Understanding various documents about French language diversity.

·        Analysing various art forms and cultural items (music, paintings, films…).

Key grammatical points covered include:

·        Simple translation techniques. E.g. quite clever è c’est pas bête (modulation).  When he came back è à son retour (nominalisation)

·        Emphases. E.g. Ce qui me choque le plus est que…

·        Expressing concession. Malgré ses efforts, il n’arrive pas à régler le problème. 

·        Reported speech. E.g. Il a indiqué qu’elle était arrivée la veille.

·        Reporting/commenting on data. E.g. La quasi-totalité a répondu oui.  

·        Past subjunctive. E.g. Je doute qu’elle ait fini. 

*The CEFR levels indicated on our level descriptors are not a guarantee that you can take the associated DELF (Diplôme en Language Française)/DALF (Diplôme Avancé en Language Française) for this level. If you would like to take the DELF or DALF (there is an exam centre in Cambridge), please speak to your tutor to discuss what they think would be most appropriate.