French Intermediate and Advanced

This course can be applied to the UBC Certificate in French Language and Culture or taken as a standalone course.

At the Intermediate and Advanced level, you should be able to understand most common and non-technical speech in French, and be able to hold a fairly fluent conversation on a variety of topics.

In this course, focus on improving your conversational fluency by acquiring more complex grammatical structures and sentence formation. Possible grammar topics, based on student needs, may include the advanced level verb tenses (conditional, future anterior, and introduction to subjunctive,) or use of relative pronouns. Increase your language spontaneity through interesting conversational exercises such as debates, presentations, cultural discussions, and small group work using French articles, poetry, websites and more.

Explore French language and culture in an enjoyable, interactive environment, guided by an experienced, native-speaking instructor. For extra practice between classes, you can access resources chosen by your instructor using our online system, Canvas.

Course outline

This is not a prescriptive list. Exact course outlines are determined by the instructor to best meet the needs of each class. This is meant to serve as a guideline and suggest what may be covered at this level. It is often necessary to repeat levels in order to become completely comfortable with the skills at each stage with a different teacher and style.

This is not a prescriptive list. Exact course outlines are determined by the instructor to best meet the needs of each class. This is meant to serve as a guideline and suggest what may be covered at this level. It is often necessary to repeat levels in order to become completely comfortable with the skills at each stage with a different teacher and style.

Objectives

• describe a person, an object (review)
• talk about past experiences (review)
• talk about the future (review)
• be aware of different language registers
• express oneself with ease and fluidity
• express oneself with more complex use of idioms
• relate two different events in the past
• express hypothetical situations
• express and justify your opinion
• read simple authentic texts and understand general meaning
• contradict or qualify a statement
• produce a descriptive text 
• express cause, consequence, opposition, concession
• give arguments to convince
• report somebody’s sayings
• refuse a request by giving a justification
• express regrets, apologies
• express different degrees of certainty
• express yourself in writing in 2-3 paragraphs with a minimum of errors
• communicate clearly and efficiently with French speakers
• make oral presentations in class

Possible linguistic objectives

• review of conjugations: present, imperfect, future
• pluperfect
• conditional
• comparatives and superlatives
• relative pronouns (qui, que, dont, etc.)
• direct and indirect object pronouns (review)
• pronouns y and en • order of pronouns
• linking words for opposition, consequence, obligation, cause, aim, etc.
• verbal expressions (venir de, être en train de, etc.)
• formation of adverbs from adjectives
• pronounciation and phonetics
• various expressions of time (pendant que, etc.)
• concordance between past tenses
• preposition and conjunctions
• subjunctive
• gerundive
• passive form
• difficult verbs: se douter, se figurer, manquer
• imperative and pronouns
• future anterior
• discours indirect
• double negatives
• variety of linking words
• pronunciation

Expected Effort

You can expect to spend about three hours per week attending live, virtual classes and completing course work on your own time. Expect double this amount during the intensive summer term.

Textbook

This course does not require the purchase of a textbook. Course materials are provided by the instructor.

Course Format

This course is offered online and/or in-person. See Available Sessions for details on the course format.

Our online conversational courses offer a virtual classroom experience where you can see and interact with your teacher and classmates over Zoom. Log in at a set time to participate in individual, pair and group work, ask questions and receive feedback from your instructor.

Outside of class time, access course materials online at your own pace for up to three weeks after the course ends.

In-person classes are offered at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver. 

Learn more about online learning at Extended Learning.

How am I assessed?

This is a non-credit course without letter or numerical grades. You receive verbal feedback on your conversation and grammar skills from your instructor during class. Written homework is typically corrected in class. Some lesson modules may include quizzes.

Record of completion

A record of completion will be emailed to students who participate and satisfy the course requirements within two weeks of the course end date. Course completion means 80% attendance and/or 80% completion of mandatory assignments.

Technology requirements

For all languages classes, you’ll need access to the internet, a personal email account and an up-to-date web browser.

For online classes, you will also need a video camera and a microphone on your device.

The day before your course starts, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the course.