CoPC - French Advanced Summer 2025
- Andrew Starr
- Jun 19
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 25
The shortened link for this class is rebrand.ly/cfra25s
This post is for the French Advanced Improvers Class at the City of Portsmouth College.
(Highbury Campus) on Wednesday evenings from January to March 2025.
The classes are due to run on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 pm on:
April 30th, May 7th, 14th, 21st, June 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th.
There is no class on 28th May, as it is half-term.
Outside of class
To improve your listening and speaking skills in a social setting, why not come to the evening or afternoon events I organise in the city?
We have a twin city in Caen. I am the Chair of the Twinning Association for France and Germany. To find out more about our twin cities, visit this website.
We have an exchange visit to Caen in June. There are still a few spaces available, but the deadline to secure a space is fast approaching (Friday, May 2nd).
Tips for tuning your ear to French
Listen to French Music.
Watch French TV series and films (or at least videos/news in French)
There is a lot of stuff online for learning the French language (not all of it, correct!)
You can find some resources online to help you study French by yourselves here
Here is the direct link to France 2 Journal - it should be linked to the most recent 20:00 Journal!
France Info - Live Stream
France 24 - français
Find some Francophone music you like - there's an extraordinary amount out there, and all can be seen on YouTube whenever you like. I have written much more about French music here.
Sometimes, we will make use of the course Entre Nous 4
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This Advanced Improvers class runs from 7:00 to 9 pm again in September on Wednesdays for 10 weeks. (The provisional dates are listed on the link above.)
(provided the minimum number of attendees is reached).
Some grammar will likely be covered again; however, the themes and topics will differ.
You can register your interest in classes in September by emailing Jennifer Parr, the Adult Ed courses administrator. Alternatively, use the link above to register via the college website.
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April 30th, May 7th, 14th, 21st, June 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th.
There is no class on 28th May, as it is half-term.
mercredi, 25 juin
If you're looking for a 'penpal' in Caen, here are some interested parties - mainly in their early 20s, studying at the University of Caen... One is a business and Economics teacher at the Lycée Malherbe in Caen. One lives in Belgium and is 77.
Please let me know if any are of interest, and I will provide you with their email addresses.
Visite à Caen 2025 Visite de Caen 2024
Visite à Caen 2023 Visite de Caen 2022
La révolution française
Tonight, we will be examining the French Revolution and the French National Anthem, which was composed just a few years later during the Austro-French War in the 1790s.
Mots clés
Instrumental (Often played - people sing to the instrumental version)
mercredi, 18 juin
Grammar Lawless French
Verbs using à or de or both? WS
In French, some verbs are consistently followed by the preposition "à", some by "de", and some can be followed by either, depending on the context. Verbs using "à" often indicate direction, location, or purpose, while those using "de" frequently express origin, possession, or cause. Some verbs can take either preposition, changing meaning with the change in preposition.
Verbs followed by "à":
"Penser à": to think about
"Donner quelque chose à quelqu'un": to give something to someone
"Expliquer quelque chose à quelqu'un": to explain something to someone
"Dire quelque chose à quelqu'un": to tell something to someone
"Assister à un événement": to attend an event
"Proposer quelque chose à quelqu'un": to propose something to someone
"Répéter quelque chose à quelqu'un": to repeat something to someone
"Téléphoner à quelqu'un": to phone someone
"Commencer à faire": to start doing
"Réussir à faire": to succeed in doing
"Apprendre à faire": to learn to do
"Aider à faire": to help to do
"S'habituer à faire": to get used to doing
"S'attendre à": to expect
"Facile à faire": easy to do
"Prêt à faire": ready to do
"Seul à faire": alone in doing
Verbs followed by "de":
"Parler de": to talk about
"Avoir besoin de": to need
"Rêver de": to dream of
"Essayer de": to try to
"Décider de": to decide to
"Finir de": to finish
"Se souvenir de": to remember
"Arrêter de": to stop
"Changer de": to change
"Manquer de": to lack
"Partir de": to leave
"Profiter de": to take advantage of
"Rire de": to laugh at
"Se méfier de": to beware of
"Se moquer de": to make fun of
"Se plaindre de": to complain about
"Se tromper de": to make a mistake about
Verbs followed by either "à" or "de", with a change in meaning:
"Obliger à": to oblige, to force, to compel
"Être obligé de": to be obligated to
Verbs where "à" indicates who is to do something, and "de" precedes the infinitive of what is to be done:
"Commander à quelqu'un de faire": to order someone to do
"Conseiller à quelqu'un de faire": to advise someone to do
"Demander à quelqu'un de faire": to ask someone to do
"Dire à quelqu'un de faire": to tell someone to do
"Interdire à quelqu'un de faire": to forbid someone to do
"Ordonner à quelqu'un de faire": to order someone to do
"Permettre à quelqu'un de faire": to allow someone to do
Note: Some verbs can take either "à" or "de" depending on whether they are followed by a noun or an infinitive.
We have a paper about gender and how gender changes the meaning of words that are spelt the same.
The tips start about 2' 50" into this video
Chanson pour l'été
mercredi, 11 juin
The summer solstice and la fête de la musique is coming up, tonight we will look at the summer solstice and some of the more unusual festivals in France.
A song for la fête de la musique
Grammar
The position of pronouns in sentences.
In French, object pronouns (direct and indirect) typically precede the verb in most tenses and moods, with a few exceptions. Subject pronouns also precede the verb. For example, "Je le vois" (I see him) and "Il lui parle" (He talks to him) demonstrate this pronoun-verb order.
Detailed Explanation:
Subject Pronouns:
French subject pronouns (je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles) are generally placed before the verb.
Object Pronouns:
Direct Object Pronouns: These (me, te, se, nous, vous, le, la, les) precede the verb in simple tenses and moods.
Indirect Object Pronouns: These (me, te, se, nous, vous, lui, leur) also precede the verb in most cases.
Word Order:
Subject - Pronoun - Verb: The basic structure is subject pronoun followed by the object pronoun and then the verb.
Compound Tenses: In compound tenses (like passé composé), the object pronoun is placed before the auxiliary verb (avoir or être). E.g. "Je lui ai donné"
"Aller" + Infinitive: In the immediate future tense ("aller" + infinitive) and with modal verbs, the object pronoun goes between the conjugated verb and the infinitive.
Exceptions:
Affirmative Imperative: In affirmative imperative sentences, the object pronoun is attached to the verb with a hyphen and comes after it (e.g., "Lis-le!" - Read it!).
Negative Imperative: In negative imperative sentences, the object pronoun follows its normal position before the verb.
Multiple Pronouns:
When multiple object pronouns are used, the order is generally: me, te, nous, vous, se; le, la, les; lui, leur; y, en.
Double Pronoun Order:
When both direct and indirect object pronouns are used, the indirect object pronoun (lui, leur) comes before the direct object pronoun (le, la, les).
"En" and "Y":
"En" (from/of it) and "y" (there, to it) follow the same general rules as other object pronouns.
Negation:
In negative sentences, the "ne" and "pas" structure surrounds the pronoun and the conjugated verb.
Infinitives:
When a verb is followed by an infinitive, the object pronoun generally goes between the conjugated verb and the infinitive.
See here for more information and diagrams.
mercredi, 4 juin
Cinéma
If you're looking for a 'penpal' in Caen, here are some interested parties - mainly in their early 20s, studying at the University of Caen... One is a business and Economics teacher at the Lycée Malherbe in Caen. One lives in Belgium and is 77.
At the Southsea Cinema and Arts Centre tomorrow at 7 pm.
The French Film Vingt Dieux for some reason called... Holy Cow
Can you talk about une journée désastrueuse?
Histoire
Culture
Newspaper articles about la fête de la musique
Karambolage is a programme for young people ...
This is not a nursery rhyme in origin, but an ancient song from Acadia. It contains many different French tenses - can you identify which ones?
mercredi, 28 mai - pas de classe - mi-trimestre
mercredi 21 mai
Let's look at a few disasters, beginning with a former GCSE coursework task example - Une journée désastreuse
Then, we can use this article for further vocabulary on disasters. I originally printed it for the first class of the term.
Le thème « accidents de la route »
Est-ce que vous aves jamais été témoin d'un accident de la route?
Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?
I've also got an article from Ouest France about wolf sightings, I will give it to you for some over half-term reading...
France's performance was not as disastrous as that of the UK (we came 19th); she came 7th.
Louane -Maman (Original song 2015)
Renewed idea of the song for Eurovision 2025.
mercredi, 14 mai
Hier c'était l'intronisation du Lord Mayor of Portsmouth.
J'avais de la visite de Caen et de Duisburg.
Pour ce soir
Y-a-t-il quelqu'un que vous admirez?
C'est qui?
Pourquoi admirez-vous cette personnel?
Chanson pour ce soir
mercredi, 7 mai
Ce soir quelque part d'insolite et original « Mille et une cornes ».
Ce texte fait partie des contrôles pour la Masters en traduction à l'université.
Y-a-t-il quelque part d'insolite dans le monde que vous avez visité?
C'était où?
C'était comment?
Chanson à étudier ce soir...
De quoi chante-t-il?
un peu d'humour
mercredi, 30 avril
This evening, we shall discuss our motivations for learning French, particularly if we have any new joiners.
Here are some questions to get you started...
Qui êtes vous?
Pourquoi voulez-vous améliorer votre français?
Parlez-nous d'une visite en France ou dans un pays francophone...
Que faites-vous dans la vie?
Parlez nous de votre famille... Vous avez des animaux?
Parlez nous de votre ville...
... et vos passe-temps qu'est-ce que vous aimez faire dans votre temps libre?
Notre ville jumelle - voulez vous venir avec nous pour une visite entre le 20 et 23 juin?
Les actualités
Ce soir, nous allons étudier un peu le thème « accidents de la route »
Est-ce que vous aves jamais été témoin d'un accident de la route?
Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?
French Culture
Jeudi sera la fête du travail et la fête du muguet.
For us, we have May Day, which was once celebrated on May 1st, but is now observed on the first Monday of May. However, in France and other European countries that celebrate it, this day remains on May 1st.
This year, it is a Thursday, so what is likely that many French people will do on Friday of this week? What is the term for it? It is rather a common thing.
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