Intermediate French: B1.3 Course

Continue developing your intermediate French fluency and confidence with our Intermediate French: B1.3 Course, suitable for learners who have completed our Intermediate French: B1.2 Course or have approximately 280 hours of prior study. This course helps you strengthen your communication skills for everyday situations while deepening your understanding of intermediate French grammar and vocabulary, making it ideal for learners looking to use French for travel, work, or personal enrichment in a supportive, interactive learning environment.

You will learn to understand and interpret written texts, talk about memories, present clear sequences of events, defend a cause, formulate critiques with solutions, and confidently ask for and express opinions. Grammar and vocabulary are taught in context including the use of passé composé, imparfait, and plus-que-parfait to narrate past events, structures to locate actions in time, connectors for cause and consequence, prepositions with adjectives, and expressions such as de plus en plus and de moins en moins to describe developments. Phonetics is integrated throughout, with focused practice on the sounds [u], [o], [k], [g], [ʒ], and expressive intonation for exclamatory sentences to support clearer, more natural communication in French.

DELIVERY MODE

Delivery mode for individual classes will vary from term to term, but will be listed as the following:

• Face-to-Face: WEA Sydney
• Online: Microsoft Teams

TEXTBOOK

• Cosmopolite 2 A2 Livre d'Eleve Book (Hachette: 2017), ISBN: 9782014015997

Supplier: Abbey's Language Book Centre
Please note that textbook cost is not included in the course fee. In the event of a course being cancelled, WEA Sydney cannot be held responsible for the purchase of any textbooks. Language courses will be confirmed or cancelled at least 7 days prior to their starting date.

COURSE OUTLINE

Communication

• Understanding a text
• Talking about a memory
• Presenting a sequence of events
• Defending a cause
• Formulating a critique and proposing solutions
• Asking for an opinion and giving one

Grammar

• Using passé composé, imparfait, and plus-que-parfait for narrating events of the past.
• Structures for indicating a specific moment (à partir du moment où, le jour où, etc.) and their duration in time (pendant, jusqu’à présent).
• Prepositions and time markers for situating events in time [synthesis]
• The cause and the consequence for justifying a commitment [grâce à, c'est pour ça que, comme, alors, donc, c’est pourquoi…)
• Prepositions (à, de) for joining and adjective to its complement.
• De plus en plus / de moins en moins for speaking about the development of events

Phonetics

• The sounds [u] and [o]
• The sounds [k], [g] et [ʒ]
• The expressive intonation in the exclamatory sentence

Vocabulary

• Speaking about your relationship with the language.
• Introducing a French-speaking writer.
• Words related to the labour world.
• Words related to memories and remembrance.
• Words related to community life and civic engagement.
• Words related to the protection of nature.
• Exclamation to express one’s opinion
• Words related to associations and life in community

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Communicate effectively about past experiences, opinions, and social topics, including understanding written texts, describing memories, presenting coherent sequences of events, defending causes, critiquing situations and proposing solutions, and confidently giving and requesting opinions.
2. Use key grammatical structures to narrate, justify, and organise ideas, including passé composé, imparfait, plus-que-parfait, time markers and prepositions for situating events, cause-and-consequence structures (grâce à, c’est pour ça que, comme, donc, c’est pourquoi), adjective–complement links with à and de, and expressions like de plus en plus / de moins en moins to express development.
3. Improve pronunciation and expand thematic vocabulary, developing clear pronunciation of the sounds [u], [o], [k], [g], [ʒ], expressive intonation for exclamations, and vocabulary connected to memories, labour and work life, civic engagement, the protection of nature, French-speaking writers, community associations, and expressing personal opinions.