Guide to Levels

We understand that no one knows your learners better than you and that you may use different groupings and level indicators for your classes than us. To help you best choose which resources may be most suited to your learners, we have therefore created just five broad and straightforward groupings that can be found in four sections in order to categorise our resources to try to facilitate this process for you. Some of the resources cross over levels so they may appear in several categories.

Beginners Section

Learners will have no prior knowledge of French.

Higher Beginners/Elementary Section

Higher Beginners:

Learners will already have some experience of learning French, perhaps from completing a beginners course, studying at school in the past or spending time in a French speaking country. They will have a range of every day vocabulary and will be able to take part in simple exchanges such as ordering food, checking into a hotel etc… as well as talking a little bit about themselves. They will have working knowledge of the Present Tense and the Near Future Tense but may not yet use these confidently when speaking without prior preparatory work.

Elementary:

Learners will be beginning to feel more confident in engaging in short, structured conversations using the Present and Near Future tenses to speak about themselves and others and will understand their interlocutor if they are speaking clearly and slowly and using vocabulary the learners are familiar with.  They may have some knowledge of the Perfect Tense and Simple Future and will be ready to explore these tenses further with a view to using them in their spoken French.

Intermediate/Intermediate Plus Section

Intermediate:

Learners will have a good working knowledge of the Present Tense, Future Tenses and also the Perfect Tense and will be able to use these, perhaps with some hesitation, in short conversations on a broad range of every day topics. They will understand an interlocutor speaking clearly and quite slowly (or quite quickly) using both familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary. They will be able to structure longer sentences using a good and broad range of vocabulary but are likely to still feel more confident preparing work prior to engaging in conversations. They will be ready to explore the Imperfect Tense and the Conditional Tense with a view to using them in their spoken French.

Intermediate Plus:

Learners will have a very good working knowledge and understanding of the tenses listed in the Intermediate Level description and they will be able to use these with some facility in written work but may still be hesitant using these freely in conversation. They will be able to understand an interlocutor speaking clearly and quickly on a wide range of topics, but may require some repetition and clarification. They will have a very good range of vocabulary, understand and use some idiom, and be ready to explore the Subjunctive and Third Conditional structure.

Advanced Section

Advanced:

Learners will have an excellent knowledge of the tenses listed in the Intermediate Level and will be able to use these quite fluently in conversation, although hesitation may occur with more complex structures. They will also have a good understanding of the Subjunctive and Third Conditional structure but may use these less spontaneously in spoken French. They will be able to understand a native speaker but may require some repetition and clarification. They will be able to talk confidently on known topics but may be less confident with new and unfamiliar subject areas.

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