Reading and Writing French - Advanced 1

Reading and Writing French – Advanced 1–10 courses are designed to improve the accuracy, fluency and clarity of your written French communication. These courses add sophistication and polish to your writing while enriching your understanding of Francophone cultures and their nuances.

Advanced 1–10 courses are independent from one another, and can be taken in any sequence.

Each course consists of nine weekly units that begin with a socio-cultural reading from a French publication that serve as the basis for grammar and vocabulary lessons. Some of the topics covered in Advanced 1 include:

• adverbes
• subjonctif
• prépositions
• participe présent et passé

Weekly writing assignments, activities and readings drawn from a variety of materials let you practise and master writing skills. Broaden your vocabulary and elevate your writing skills by using basic translation tools and studying the difference between French and English.

Note: An upper intermediate level of French is required. To be sure these courses are right for you, take our quick reading and writing self-assessment. You should be able to check off 80% of the boxes under Advanced (B2 in Common European Framework).

Course outline

At this level you are able to function in French and hold a conversation on a variety of topics, but still need to develop the knowledge of colloquial expressions and improve the accurate use of more complex sentence structure using all tenses appropriately.

Course structure

This course consists of nine weekly units. Each unit starts with a reading from an authentic source which then serves as the source of grammar and vocabulary lessons. A variety of activities will have your practicing and improving your writing skills.

Course schedule

• Week 1: Pourquoi je suis accro à Facebook? : la place de l’adverbe
• Week 2: Plusieurs politiciens souhaitent que les joueurs parlent français et c’est juste: subjonctif / indicatif
• Week 3: L’avenir est au Costa Rica : le genre en détails
• Week 4: Le petit prince : prépositions
• Week 5: Le stress : quelque, quel que… ; expressions idiomatiques
• Week 6: Comment sauver l’Amérique? tout, tous…
• Week 7: Sous surveillance : accord du participe passé en détails (C.O.D. avant ou après, etc.)
• Week 8: La maison du futur : participe présent / adjectif verbal
• Week 9: Marie Laberge : anglicismes et homophones

How am I assessed?

You receive individualized feedback from your instructor and are assessed on small weekly writing assignments related to each module’s topics and themes. You also complete short interactive quizzes on the grammar and vocabulary topics presented each week.

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.

Expected effort

You can expect to spend approximately five hours per week to complete the activities.

Technology requirements

You’ll need access to a laptop or desktop computer or tablet, an email account, and internet access and an up-to-date web browser. For real-time classes, you’ll also need access to a video camera and microphone.

One day before the start of your course, we’ll email you instructions for accessing your course in Canvas.

Course format

This course is 100% online and instructor supported. Course work is done independently and at your own pace within deadlines set by your instructor. Log in anytime to your course to access the lessons as they become available.

Materials will be available in Canvas for three weeks after the course ends, after which time you will no longer be able to access the course.