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OpenLearn

Get ready for beginners’ French

via OpenLearn

Overview

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When you hear people speaking French, do you wish you could join the conversation? Or do you have a passion for French culture and want to immerse yourself in it? Perhaps you have an opportunity to work in a French-speaking country?There are lots of reasons for wanting to learn French. If you have decided that now is the time for you to learn another language, why not make it le français?This free course, Get ready for beginners' French, is a gentle introduction to learning French, incorporating language, culture and intercultural communication. Practical activities and audio-visual materials will bring the language to life throughout. After studying this course, you'll be equipped with a clear understanding of what learning French is like. You will feel confident about whether French is the language for you, and what steps you'd like to take next.Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.

Syllabus

  • Introduction and guidance
  • Introduction and guidance
  • Learning outcomes
  • What is a badged course?
  • How to get a badge
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week1Week 1: Why French?
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Reasons to choose French
  • 2 The French-speaking world
  • 3 French-speaking countries
  • 4 Be inspired!
  • 5 Top tips
  • 6 Your goals
  • 7 This week’s quiz
  • 8 Summary of Week 1
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week2Week 2: Start from what you know
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 What do I know already?
  • 2 Words can travel: borrowings
  • 3 A shared language history: cognates
  • 4 False friends
  • 5 Context clues
  • 6 Trying it out
  • 6 Top tips
  • 7 This week’s quiz
  • 8 Summary of Week 2
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week3Week 3: What does learning French involve?
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 The components of language
  • 2 The dimensions of language learning
  • 3 From words to communication
  • 4 Acquiring language-related knowledge
  • 5 Have a go: learning and memorising words
  • 6 Developing language-related skills
  • 6.1 Have a go: language skills
  • 6.2 Other skills
  • 7 Top tips
  • 8 This week’s quiz
  • 9 Summary of Week 3
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week4Week 4: Introducing grammar – what does French look like?
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 The letters of the French language
  • 2 Grammar terminology
  • 3 Nouns and articles in French: introducing gender
  • 4 Memorising nouns and their gender
  • 5 Verbs in French: introducing conjugation
  • 6 Word order in French: adjectives
  • 7 Gender and adjectives: introducing agreeement
  • 8 Top tips
  • 9 This week’s quiz
  • 10 Summary of Week 4
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week5Week 5: Introducing pronunciation – what does French sound like?
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 The ‘music’ of French
  • 2 Training your ear
  • 3 From letters to sounds
  • 4 Sounds and silence
  • 5 Accent, stress and rhythm
  • 6 Developing listening skills
  • 7 Top tips
  • 8 This week’s quiz
  • 9 Summary of Week 5
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week6Week 6: Exploring cultures in the French-speaking world
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Visit Paris as a tourist
  • 2 Observe the local way of life
  • 3 French regional food cultures
  • 4 French overseas territories
  • 5 Quebec
  • 6 Francophone Africa
  • 7 La Francophonie
  • 8 Top tips
  • 9 This week’s quiz
  • 10 Summary of Week 6
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week7Week 7: Communicating across languages and cultures
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Greeting people
  • 2 Behaviour expectations at work
  • 3 Intercultural communication skills
  • 4 Translation
  • 4.1 Translating language
  • 4.2 Translating culture
  • 5 Top tips
  • 6 This week’s quiz
  • 7 Summary of Week 7
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week8Week 8: Get ready!
  • Introduction
  • Learning outcomes
  • 1 Why do I want to learn French?
  • 2 What will I enjoy the most?
  • 3 What challenges will I face?
  • 4 Finding time to learn French
  • 5 Having a go – not aiming for perfection
  • 6 Creating opportunities to practise French
  • 7 Where will my French take me?
  • 8 Get ready
  • 9 Top tips
  • 10 This week’s quiz
  • 11 Summary of Week 8
  • Next steps?
  • Tell us what you think
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

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4.3 rating at OpenLearn based on 10 ratings

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