French A1: Things, Time and Place
Learners who can introduce themselves in French and now need the other half of A1: naming things, saying where they are, and handling a clock and a calendar. If you have ever stood in front of a timetable in French and understood none of it, this is the course for that. The twelve hours are taught hours — the modules and the phrases — and fluency comes from use on top of 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
- Use le, la and les with the gender the word actually has, and know where to look it up.
- Choose between un, une, des and no article at all.
- Form plurals that are visible in writing and often silent in speech.
- Use the whole of avoir, not only the form for your age.
- Tell the time and read a 24-hour timetable without converting it in your head.
- Say and write a date the way French writes it.
- Describe where something is, using the prepositions people actually use.
- Say what there is in a place, and ask what there is.
How this is assessed
A place and a week — a description and a timetable in FrenchWrite two short pieces in French. First, a description of a real place you can see — your room, your kitchen, the street outside — using il y a for what is in it and prepositions for where things are, including at least one thing that is not there. Second, a timetable of one real week: at least five entries with a day, a time and what happens, written as a French timetable writes them. Then record yourself reading both aloud, once through, and submit a link to the recording alongside 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 | Articles are present and mostly correct, il y a and the prepositions are used as the checklist asks, the dates and times are written the French way, and a French speaker could picture the place and follow the week. |
| Merit | Genders are right rather than guessed, the de contractions are correct, the two pieces hold together as writing rather than as exercises, and the times are read fluently rather than spelled out. |
| Distinction | The learner reaches for structures the course did not script — a comparison, a reason, a negative that is not on the checklist — and the articles, contractions and dates still hold across the whole piece. |
Before you submit
- Every noun in the description carries its article, and the articles match the gender the words actually have.
- The description uses il y a at least twice, and il n'y a pas de at least once.
- At least three different prepositions of place appear, including one of the ones built on de.
- The timetable has at least five entries, each with a day, a time and an activity.
- Days and months are lower case, and dates are written day before month.
- At least two times are written on the 24-hour clock, and at least one is said in conversation form in the recording.
- The recording is one continuous take of both pieces.
- For merit: the description reads as one paragraph about a place rather than a list of objects.
- For distinction: the timetable and the description refer to each other — the place is where part of the week happens.
Handing it in
Marked by a French teacher, or a fluent speaker with teaching experience, who marks for gender agreement, correct use of il y a and prepositions, and whether a reader could act on the dates and times. 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.
- 1Le, la, les — the gender you cannot avoidEvery noun has one, almost nothing predicts it, and you learn it with the word.
- 2Un, une, des — and the article French dropsA, an, some — and the one place French uses no article at all.
- 3Plurals you can see and plurals you can hearThe -s is usually silent, so the article does the work.
- 4Avoir, in fullThe verb behind having, age, and half the questions you will be asked.
- 5Telling the timeIl est, the quarters, and the 24-hour clock every timetable uses.
- 6Days, months and datesNo capital letters, and the number comes before the month.
- 7Where things areEight prepositions that answer almost every où question.
- 8Il y a — what there isThree words that describe any room, any town, any timetable.
- 9The weather, and small talk that costs nothingIl fait, and the four or five lines that fill a lift ride.
- 10Putting it togetherA room, a street and a week, described in French.
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.