CoPC - Spring 2026 - Beginners' French
- Andrew Starr
- 14 hours ago
- 6 min read
This is the blog post for the 2026 French Beginners' Class at the City of Portsmouth College from January to March 2026.
A shortened link to this blog page is ajstarr.short.gy/cfb26 QR Code
If the above link returns an error, ajstarr.short.gy/blog will direct you to the blog index, where you can locate your page by scrolling down.
Classes are timetabled from 6 to 7:30 pm on:
Tuesday, January 13th, 20th & 27th, February 3rd, 10th and 24th, March 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th. February 17th is during 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.
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 yourself on a Padlet here
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.
I will use some materials from the course book Entre Nous 1, aimed at the European Language Standards A1 (beginners). You may find it helpful to get a copy for home use and self-study.
This blog page will help you learn how to get all those accents on your various devices.
Friends in France - Some people mainly from Caen looking for 'correspondants'
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.
We have an exchange visit from Caen in June.
Could you host someone from France this year with a view to going there next year?
Also some from France and Germany will no doubt be arriving in May for the city's Mayor Making Ceremony.
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On this link are beginners' videos from the 1990s BBC—Quinze Minutes Plus First 4—covering much of what we have and will cover in this 10-week course.
mardi, 10 février
Today: The house and where you live/jobs Le mobilier - Où j'habite
PPT (fichier principal Semaine 5)
Fiches imprimées - La maison - Où j'habite - Les descriptions etc...
Culture:
la Saint Valentin - le 14 février
le mardi gras - le 17 février (cette année)
Homework:
You should now be able to follow much (not all) of the words and phrases in this model piece of writing.
You could begin to adapt this model to be about yourselves and your situation.
For hints on how you might get the French accents to show on your devices see here...
This blog page will help you learn how to get all those accents on your various devices.
Dicton de la semaine
« Poser un lapin à quelqu'un » - to place a rabbit upon someone
Chanson de la semaine
Céline Dion - Pour que tu m'aimes encore... 1995 UK number 7.
mardi, 3 février
Culture:
Le chandeleur - le 2 février - Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Thème principal pour aujourd'hui:
Today, we will look at family in French first of all. Then a bit more about where we live such as rooms and furniture. I imagine that we will not get much further today...
Dicton de la semaine - Voir fichier principal semaine 4
Faire la grasse matinée - (To make/do the fat/oily/greasy morning)...
Chanson de la semaine - This song is an original by a then very famous Belgian singer from the 1960s. It was covered in 1975 by the Canadian singer Terry Jacks...
Le Moribond - Jacques Brel.
Extra:
Personality: This link lists the most commonly used positive and negative personality trait adjectives and the noun associated with the adjective (often in English, this is ~ness).
Following today's class, you should be able to understand much of what is contained in these rather old videos, from BBC Schools and Colleges Collection.
mardi, 27 janvier
Today, we will start with everyone introducing themselves, spelling their name and stating their date of birth.
For today's theme we will:
Look at what there is to see and do in a town...
Building on the last weeks' introduction to the city of Caen and what there is to see in a town (housing and locations), we will look at what the course book Entre Nous this week and the theme of town therein.
For homework,
Imagine you are introducing French people to your local area, what would you point out to them? Write a little presentation script pointing out these things.
E.g. Voici la rue principale, à gauche, là-bas, il y a l'église et ici à droite, il y a la supérette.
Voici le jardin public et voilà le pub...
If you wish, you send in a PowerPoint or bring in a photo or two...
Have a look at the videos (Mr Innes) at the bottom of last week's resources for help with buildings in a town.
La Gastronomie de Caen
They are using the city of Nantes in the West of France, south of Brittany, which was once in Brittany before France annexed it.
You can see the course book here online.
We will then examine why people are learning French, some personal details and how to form the present tense of regular '-er' verbs... (the joy, the bliss!) and mention the reflexives (more joy!!).
Lille is also used in the course book.
Pour rire
mardi, 20 janvier
Today, by the end of this lesson you should be ready to introduce yourself in French, giving your name, saying where you're from and when your birthday is (including the year).
For homework today, I will give you some worksheets with some key vocabulary on them that you can use to help you learn them.
Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire? Quelle est la date de votre anniversaire?
Revisions l'alphabet et épeler vos noms, les noms de vos villes et lieux de naissance.
Revisons les chiffres entre 1 et 20. Rajoutons comment fonctionne les autres chiffres. (Voir les clips vidéos ci-dessous).
Travel to France - Portsmouth is twinned with Caen, so we will look at what can be seen in Caen (basic vocabulary initially based on the course book Voilà).
The course book uses Nantes as an example, but Caen is linked by ferry to Portsmouth, and it is our twin city, for which I am the committee chair...
This very young French Teacher made these vlogs for his French beginners during the Coronavirus lockdown. However, he covers many of the things we covered in class today and last week, which can serve as a reminder!
In teacher training, they say if you do something at least 6 times, you might remember them!
He certainly seems to use that method... Here is his video for the places you might find in a town - if you need it...
Un peu d'humour français... Une réponse à la question brûlante...
mardi, 13 janvier
Today, we will begin learning to speak, read and write in French and listen to French being spoken.
In the first class, we will introduce ourselves and find our reasons for learning French, as we do not all know each other yet.
- Comment vous appelez vous?
- Quel âge avez vous?
- Où habitez vous? / Vous êtes d'où?
Je m'appelle... (Je suis...)
J'ai ... ans
J'habite à .... en Angleterre/ en Grande Bretagne/ au Royaume Uni
Je suis de...
Tonight, we will answer the French questions for:
Who are you? Why are you learning French? What does France mean for you?
Qui êtes vous? Pourquoi apprenez-vous le français? Que signifie la France pour vous?
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Introduce yourselves and spell your name (possibly the name of your street, city, or place of birth).
Can you give me your age? Your nationality? What about your occupation (i.e. student)?
What else?
What can you tell someone a little about French Grammar?
Gender, adjectives...?
Feuilles à télécharger
An earworm which will teach you the alphabet.
Another earworm for the months of the year... Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?
This guy does a lot of beginner's videos... Now there's enthusiasm, and then there's ~Thomas!
He can, at least, serve as a reminder of the correct pronunciation, should you need one...
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