French - Breakthrough level (A1) Complete beginners - My new life in French

Teacher(s)

Masuy Françoise (coordinator); Neuenschwander Valérie;

Language

French

Prerequisites

To know the French alphabet.

Main themes

Family, close relationships, work, shopping, accommodation, public places, leisure, public transport, everyday life, health, housing, food, countries, cities, weather, greetings.
 

• Grammar: nouns, adjectives,  articles,  c'est/ il y a  (there is) simple present and present progressive, positive and negative statements,  near future with aller, recent past, interrogative, hours.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Listening ' Reading Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type (menu, advertisements, prospectuses, reference lists and timetables). Speaking ' Writing Can introduce him/herself and others. Can write and talk about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Interacting Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

At the beginning of the course, students get familiar with the French pronunciation. Intonation, tone, stress, rhythm as well as the International Phonetic Alphabet are introduced and practiced in a ludic way. Students first improve their listening and speaking skills with the help of pictures and with online dialogues. The syllabus present familiar situations  (asking for  information at university, about, describing accommodation, shopping, and other everyday life issues). The writing and reading skills are developed once students are familiar with French pronunciation. The course is interactive and cooperative. Besides the syllabus, students have access to on-line exercises on the Intranet (platform Moodle).  
 

Teaching methods

This course is based on cooperative learning and project-based approach. Students are involved into several everyday tasks and acquire a better knowledge of the language as they improve their communicative skills.

Evaluation methods

Continue assessment (during the semester) = 40%

• The written productions completed during the semester count for the final evaluation (10%)
• The grammar tests count for 10% of the final evaluation.
• An oral presentation counts for 10 % of the final evaluation
• Online exercises on pronunciation count for 5% of the final evaluation
•  Involvement in the course and regularity count for 5% of the final evaluation.

Final exam = 60 %

• listening: 3 documents
• reading: 4 documents,
• writing: 2 productions
• speaking: introducing oneself, memorizing dialogues, interacting on everyday issues.

Other information

Opened to the students enrolled at UCL as well as to the members of staff.
This course corresponds to A1 level of the common European Framework of reference
 
Training staff
A group of 20 students approximately
The teacher is available during his reception hour and can be contacted by email.

Online resources

http://moodleucl.uclouvain.be/ 

Bibliography

Support du cours :

• Série d'exercices sur TV5 Monde « Première classe » : http://apprendre.tv5monde.com/fr/niveaux/a1-debutan

Teaching materials

• Syllabus LFRAN 1001 (Objectif A1). Ma nouvelle vie en français
• Plate-forme http://moodle.uclouvain.be

Faculty or entity

ILV