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The Open University

Intermediate French: Leisure and Culture

The Open University via FutureLearn

Overview

Explore culture and leisure activities in France and Belgium

On this four-week course, you’ll review structures for talking about leisure time, likes and dislikes, and extend your ability to express your ideas with reasons and reactions.

Improve your French pronunciation and grammar

Listening to authentic French speakers share more about their favourite leisure pursuits, you’ll develop your speaking and pronunciation, practising intonation so you can add feeling and emotion to what you say.

You’ll learn to use conditional verb forms and the present participle to talk about what you would do if you had more free time, and work on the pronunciation of nasal vowels.

Discover French literature, architecture, comic books, and film

You’ll learn about the role of literature in French life and take a virtual trip to Brussels to discover the importance of architecture, taking in some of the buildings that make up the fabric of the city. You’ll also examine the comic book culture, bande dessinée, and explore how this has created a community.

Finally, you’ll learn about the importance of film to French cultural life. You’ll write your own film synopsis based on four contemporary French films that you’ll have the opportunity to examine.

With opportunities to develop your speaking and writing skills alongside your co-learners, you’ll finish this course having developed your language skills to understand authentic French, being able to talk about leisure and culture, and explaining your preferences.

This course is designed for those who are at Level A2, working towards Level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Learners should feel confident to use the language in most situations likely to arise while travelling in French-speaking countries.

The OU’s language ExpertTracks are designed to help you progress with each one you study.

Learners would benefit from having completed Intermediate French: La Francophonie (People, Places and Events) before taking this ExpertTrack.

Syllabus

  • Découvrir les loisirs
    • Bonjour et bienvenue
    • Activités diverses
    • Justifier ses préférences et ses choix
    • Peggy et la musique
    • L’intonation des émotions
    • Faites de la musique, Fête de la musique
    • Révision
  • Si j’avais plus de temps libre
    • Si j’avais plus de temps libre…
    • S’entraîner à l’oral et à l’écrit
    • La place de la littérature dans la société française
    • Le gérondif
    • S’entraîner à l’oral : / ɔ̃ / and / ɑ̃ /
    • Révision
  • Promenade culturelle à Bruxelles
    • Bienvenue à la semaine 3
    • Manon : promenade à Bruxelles
    • Décrire un bâtiment
    • La bande dessinée
    • Révision
  • Explorer les loisirs, la culture et le cinéma
    • Bienvenue à la semaine 4
    • Prononcer la lettre ‘x’
    • Le cinéma français
    • Rédiger un synopsis
    • Révision

Taught by

Bill Alder

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