French courses

Introduction to French:

This is an introduction to the language. Students are initially taught the alphabet, as well as basic vocabulary, useful for the student’s subsequent development. At the end of this 1-year course, students will have been exposed to native language input, written and oral, developing in this way their reading, listening and speaking skills. Special weight is placed at the phonological system of the language. An introduction to basic grammar is also incorporated in the syllabus. Finally, students are encouraged to exploit the knowledge they have gained (e.g. grammar, vocabulary) and further develop their writing skills by developing short essays.

(Pre)intermediate level French:

At this point, students will have mastered the basic tenses and developed substantial skills in every aspect of the language. On the basis of these abilities, students are further introduced to sentences with a different type of force (e.g. interrogatives, imperatives), negation, and all the remaining tenses. Building on prior knowledge, students are further exposed to a relatively more advanced written and oral input, characterised by more abstract vocabulary and complex syntax, whilst also producing linguistic output, spoken and written. Special weight is given to the development of essay writing skills. At the end of each academic year of this 2-year course, students are assessed by internationally recognised exams (i.e. DELF).

IGCSE French:

This 1-year course is designed to prepare students for the internationally recognised exam of IGCSE (Edexcel or Cambridge). Throughout the course, students are guided towards perfecting all four skills of the language via intense training and frequent mock tests under exam-like conditions.