Course description

Know some French but feel stuck at the basics? This course takes you from about A2 towards a confident B1: telling stories about the past, using pronouns like y and en naturally, talking about plans, making polite requests, using the subjunctive and keeping real conversations going.

It's a full course, not a phrase list. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with clear grammar, plenty of natural example sentences in everyday French and a practical task you do out loud. You follow a joiner from Brecon through a year of weekly conversation exchanges, ending with a fortnight volunteering on a barn restoration in the Dordogne and a thank-you speech in French, including the mistakes along the way. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and ready-to-use verb tables, decision cards and phrase banks.

What you'll learn

• Past tenses with confidence: the passé composé with avoir and être, the imparfait, choosing between them, the plus-que-parfait and telling stories.
• Time expressions: depuis, il y a, pendant, venir de and être en train de.
• Pronouns: le, lui, y, en, two pronouns together and past participle agreement.
• Plans and the future: aller with an infinitive, the simple future, the conditional, si sentences and polite requests.
• Tricky choices: c'est or il est, savoir or connaître, prepositions with places, negatives and false friends.
• Commands and the subjunctive: giving instructions, necessity, wishes, feelings and doubts.
• Linking ideas: relative pronouns including dont, connectors, opinions, comparisons and longer emails with the right tu or vous.
• Real conversations: keeping a chat going, natural speech, phone calls, numbers from 70 to 99, social occasions and explaining how something works.

The final project

You'll make your own French plan, prepare and record a five-minute story, write a 250-word email and plan, practise and review a real conversation. A project brief, a plan workbook and a self-review checklist are included.

Who this course is for

• Learners who finished a beginners' course or school French and want to go further.
• People with friends, holidays or projects in France who want to talk properly, not just get by.
• Anyone who understands more than they can say and wants to speak with more confidence.

How the course works

Read each lesson, say the examples out loud, then do the practical task using the verb tables and phrase banks in the practice pack. The course teaches French as spoken in France and outlines the main differences elsewhere. Go at your own pace and keep lifetime access.

What will I learn?

• Tell stories about the past using the passé composé, imparfait and plus-que-parfait
• Use le, lui, y, en and two pronouns together naturally, including in the passé composé
• Talk about plans and the future, make polite requests and use si sentences
• Choose correctly between c'est and il est, savoir and connaître, and other tricky pairs
• Give instructions and use the present subjunctive in everyday situations
• Link ideas, give opinions and write longer messages and emails in the right register
• Keep conversations going, cope with natural speech, handle calls and explain how something works
• Plan your own path from A2 towards B1 and keep improving

Frequently asked questions