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Objective

You carry on getting acquainted with the basics of French language and the culture in French speaking countries. By the end of the course, you are familiar with French culture and you know how to conduct yourself accordingly. You are able to assess the possibilities offered by the French-speaking world from the perspective of your own field. You can cope with various communication situations in French. You are able to use simple French in phrases and sentences in spoken and written production also in the past tense. You expand your vocabulary and knowledge of language structures needed in everyday situations.

The course prepares and equips you to act and work in an international and multicultural environment.

Content

French speaking and writing skills needed in common everyday situations. The topics deal with daily routines, leisure and accommodation, for instance.

Pronunciation

Communication: Telling about yourself, travelling, shopping, clothes, studies and work, housing, communication devices (telephone, e-mail, etc.)

Grammar: Central grammar includes the past tense (le passé composé) of regular and irregular verbs, future tense, pronouns, comparison of adjectives and adverbs, word order.

Cultural knowledge: cultural features of French speaking countries.

Qualifications

French for beginners 1 (5 ECTS) at JAMK or CEFR level A1 (https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/sites/default/files/cefr-en.pdf) or successfully completed French courses 1–2 in a Finnish high school as a B3-language.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

1 You can understand familiar words in simple texts and very basic phrases concerning yourself, your family and immediate surroundings when standard French is spoken slowly and clearly. You can interact in French in simple writing and speaking situations although there are often errors in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammatical structures.

2 You can understand clear and slow speech about familiar topics. You can understand simple, brief texts and find the main points in texts handling familiar themes. You are able to write short texts about familiar topics. You can manage satisfactorily in routine speaking situations. There are errors in the use of grammatical structures and vocabulary.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

3 Standard speech spoken in normal tempo may cause some difficulties in case the speech is long. You understand texts about familiar themes. You are able to write simple and short messages. The deficiencies in structures or vocabulary do not interfere with understanding the message.

4 You can understand face-to-face speech about simple and familiar topics spoken in normal tempo, but fast spoken language may cause difficulties. You understand texts well about familiar topics. You can speak French using short sentences without long pauses. You are able to write brief texts using the learnt vocabulary and structures, and the errors do not interfere with delivering the message.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

5  You can understand speech about simple and familiar topics spoken in normal tempo. You can assess spoken situations correctly and know how to act in them. You can speak short sentences with a degree of fluency and write clearly about familiar themes. You can apply the learnt vocabulary and grammar structures in your language production with very few errors.

Further information

The course is well suited for anyone with some basic knowledge in French (level A1.1 of The Common European Reference for Languages) and who would like to continue their French studies.