French A1: Doing Things, Every Day
The last of the three A1 courses, for learners who can say who they are and describe what is around them, and now need verbs — what they do, what they like, where they are going, and how to ask for something and understand the answer. By the end of it you can hold an ordinary transaction in French. The twelve hours are taught hours; the fluency comes from using them. It is preparation and not a qualification: nothing here is examined by an awarding body, and no course on this shelf awards DELF or any other recognised French certificate.
What you will be able to do
- Conjugate any regular -ER verb in the present without looking it up.
- Use aller, faire and the contractions that come with them.
- Describe your day in order, including the verbs that need a me, te or se.
- Say what you like and dislike, and give a reason.
- Talk about what you are going to do, without learning a future tense.
- Order food and drink, ask what something costs, and understand the answer.
- Ask the way and follow the directions you are given.
How this is assessed
An ordinary day, and one real request — transcript and recordingWrite an account of one ordinary day of yours in French, in order, from getting up to going to bed, including one opinion with a reason and one thing you are going to do later. Then write and record a short transaction — ordering in a café, buying something, or asking the way — in which you ask for something to be repeated. Record yourself reading the day aloud and speaking your side of the transaction, once through, and submit a link to the recording with the written text. A practitioner reads and listens against the rubric below, and returns a written mark. If it does not pass you get the reasons, and one resubmission.
| Grade | What earns it |
|---|---|
| Pass | The day is in order and intelligible, the verb endings are right in writing, the required structures are present, and a French speaker could follow the recording without reading the transcript first. |
| Merit | The account reads as a day rather than a list: the ordering words do real work, the opinion has a reason that fits it, and the transaction runs at something close to conversational speed. |
| Distinction | The learner handles something unplanned in the transaction and recovers in French, and the writing reaches past the course — a second reason, a comparison, a structure they went and found — without losing the agreement and the articles from the earlier courses. |
Before you submit
- The day is yours and it runs in order, using at least four of the ordering words and at least six different verbs.
- At least one verb that needs a me, te or se appears, with the right small word for the person.
- There is one opinion with parce que and a reason behind it.
- There is one sentence about what you are going to do, built with aller and a plain verb.
- At least two times are given, and at least one price or number is spoken in the recording.
- The transaction opens with Bonjour, uses je voudrais or an equivalent, and contains a request for repetition.
- The recording is one continuous take of both halves.
- For merit: the request for repetition is at a point where you genuinely lost the thread, not inserted to satisfy this list.
- For distinction: the transaction goes somewhere the course did not script, and the French still holds.
Handing it in
Marked by a French teacher, or a fluent speaker with teaching experience, who marks for verb formation, whether an ordinary transaction would work, and whether the learner recovers when the reply is unexpected. You will need an account to submit, so that the mark has somewhere to land. Sign in or create one. The modules are open either way.
Modules
10 modules, self-paced. Nothing is timed and nothing is scored.
- 1-ER verbs: one pattern, a thousand verbsLearn six endings once and you have the majority of French verbs.
- 2Aller, and the places you goAn irregular verb and the contraction that catches everyone.
- 3Faire — the verb that covers half of daily lifeDoing, making, the weather, sport, shopping and homework.
- 4Your day, in orderThe verbs that need a little word in front, and why.
- 5What you like and what you do notFour verbs, a strength order, and the reason that follows.
- 6What you are going to doA future tense you already know, because it is aller plus a verb.
- 7Ordering food and drinkJe voudrais, and the half-dozen lines a café runs on.
- 8Shopping and pricesAsking what something costs, and understanding the number that comes back.
- 9Asking the way, and understanding the answerThe easy half is asking. This module is about the other half.
- 10Putting it togetherAn ordinary day, and one real request made out loud.
This course stacks
Says who they are, describes what is around them and gets through an ordinary transaction in French — the taught core of A1, with the practice still to come. It is preparation, not a DELF certificate, and no awarding body examines it.
A credential is issued when all of its artifacts have passed. It records the courses, the bands and the dates, nothing else, and no score.