French

Course summary

Through the study of A Level French pupils will not only gain valuable skills such as communication and interpreting skills but will open their future into firms who have international links worldwide, owing to the breadth of French (with around 110 million native speakers). It is an official language in 29 countries and of the United Nations (alongside Arabic, Mandarin, English, Spanish and Russian) as well as one of the European Union where it is the official language of the three political centres: Switzerland, Strasbourg and Luxembourg City, so is a particularly useful asset to anyone wanting to work within any businesses operating in the European markets. A Modern Foreign Language not only has the rigour and gravitas desired by universities but can build communication, interpersonal, intercultural, communication and public speaking skills, otherwise known as ‘soft skills’, which graduate recruiters value. Research suggests that speaking two or more languages leads to a rise in cognitive processing, focus and the ability to multitask. If you work for a big international firm, speaking a language immediately puts you in line for interesting work which otherwise would not come your way. Pupils will not only learn about the topics, but will also become confident to discuss the issues and their opinions through class discussion. Pupils also have a range of new materials to enable and encourage independent study along with books of interest - literary or otherwise - which will assist in preparing them for post-18 education. Not only does French go well with many other subjects to form a joint honours degree, modern foreign languages are also classified as facilitating subjects, subjects favoured by top universities for a whole range of degree courses, so they are a great option, whatever you want to do! French alumni have gone on to study single honours degrees in French and joint honours degrees combining French with another Language, Law, International Relations, Business Studies, Linguistics, Music, and Catering at the following universities: Oxford, Bath, Durham, Exeter, Reading, Manchester, Cardiff, UCL, Nottingham and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.