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French

A LEVEL

Join the revolution and immerse yourself in the rich, diverse culture of France

Our closest continental cousins. Home to the world’s best bike ride. Tall towers, boundless bridges (we’re mad about Millau), breath taking beaches (Fréjus – fabulous), delicious desserts and charming castles.

While the first written records of France hail from the Iron Age, stone tools show early humans were present in France at least 1.57 million years ago.

France has had plenty of time for practicing being a fantastic country. On this course, you’ll be exploring the fruits of all that labour, as we journey across la belle France to experience modern life from Provence to Paris.

Learn French for your passport to a lifetime of fantastic holidays. And doubtless you’ll find the language invaluable in your professional life – not only if you’re getting a job that requires bilingual abilities, but also because much of our English vocabulary is derived from French.

French is both a working language and an official language of the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross.

It’s one of the world’s most widely spoken languages. More than 300 million people speak French across all five continents. And it’s a great starter language if you want to study others such as Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

In your French cultural studies at Xaverian you’ll dive deep into the nation’s celebrated cooking, fashion, theatre, art, dance and architecture scene.

We’ll learn about its icons who include Victor Hugo, Molière, Edith Piaf, Jean-Paul Sartre and Alain Delon.

Once you’ve completed this course you might want to study at one of the many prestigious French universities or business schools.

We’ll spend a lot of time watching French television and movies to not only grow your appreciation of modern French culture – but also to help train your ear to the speed of which this language is taught.

We’ll start with subtitles to help you follow along but by the end of your course you’ll doubtless be following along perfectly fine without them.

The internet makes it easy to access French-language media, from TV5Monde and France 24 to Radio France Internationale.

All you need to do is make the right choice – French at Xaverian!

LESSON TIME!

We’re going to kick things off by testing your existing knowledge of France and its many world-class celebrations.

  • What’s special about July 14?
  • What are the flowers that French people take to cemeteries on All Saints Day?
  • What’s petanque?
  • What colour is the jersey worn by the Tour de France leader?
  • What do French people give to each other on May 1?
  • What happens on June 21?

Then we’ll test your vocabulary with words and phrases regularly cropping up during your French studies here at Xaverian.

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What’s next?

Accordion Content

You’ll be in high demand around the world as you progress towards being bilingual.

Jobs in your future might include:

  • Academic researcher
  • Diplomatic service officer
  • International aid worker
  • Interpreter
  • Logistics and distribution manager
  • Private tutor
  • Proof-reader
  • Resort or hotel operations manager
  • Teacher (including English as a foreign language)
  • Tour manager
  • Translator

Your French A-level will equip you with some powerful skills preparing you for higher education success. French is an analytical language – so you’ll be required every step of the way to structure thought and develop advanced critical thinking techniques.

Continue your French studies at university and you’ll not only specialise in one of your favourite aspects of Gallic culture, but also get the chance for an extended stay in France.

Or you might want to do all your studies in France. Many of our students have lived there for three years to gain a ‘Licence’ degree – equivalent to a Bachelors degree in the UK.

Speaking: 

A research project and presentation. 5-6 minutes theme-based discussion.

Listening: 

Questions which may include true/false statements, multiple choice, questions and answers and comprehension questions in French, German or Spanish.

Reading: 

Questions based on texts in French, German or Spanish

Translation: 

An unseen passage or passages from French, German or Spanish into English plus an unseen passage or passages from English into French, German or Spanish.

Critical response in writing (closed-book):

Candidates write an essay of approximately 300 words on each of the two works, one book, one film, they have studied.

 
Entry requirements:

Six good passes at GCSE including two at grade 6 or above

Course specific entry requirements:

Grade 5 from English, Grade 5 from French

Course duration:

2 years

Assessment methods:

Exams and externally moderated assessments

Course type:

Linear A-level

Exam board:

Eduqas

The MFL Department at Xaverian offers A-level courses in French, German or Spanish. There are currently 135 students following the taught programmes but we also aim to give Xaverian students the opportunity to try new languages or hone their own language skills.

Students applying for A-level courses are encouraged to have a grade 6 at GCSE. Our native speaker programme meant AS & A2 levels were sat in many languages in the 2019 session, including Farsi, Portuguese, Turkish Polish and Dutch. The results were outstanding with 100% achievement rates in all subjects

My proudest moment at Xaverian was completing a French oral exam – at the start of year 12 the idea of being able to do a 25 minute oral exam was so daunting and seemed impossible, but the way our skills have developed over the course is amazing, thanks to great teaching and hard work!

Heidi Kavanagh, applying to study Sociology at the University of Glasgow.

UNIVERSITY of Cambridge modern languages partnership

Thanks to its excellent A Level results, Xaverian College has been chosen by the University of Cambridge as the north west hub of its Widening Participation for Languages Project.

What does that mean for you? Students will get the chance to learn from visiting expert linguists not only in French but many other unusual languages – such as Japanese, or Czech.

It’s all part of an initiative by the University of Cambridge to establish language hubs around the country and develop and encourage learning.

RELATED COURSES

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COMPLEMENTARY COURSES

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Eight students from Xaverian College secured places at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge and more are off to study medicine in …

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Xaverian College students gain first-choice destinations with excellent results

Staff and students at Xaverian College are celebrating today as the College enjoys yet another year of excellent A Level and BTEC results. A Level …

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