French

Course summary

AS and A Level work in a Modern Language builds on the foundations established at GCSE, in which, ideally, you will have gained a grade 7, 8 or 9. An A Level in a Modern Language will enable you to speak and write the language with confidence as well as understand more advanced written and spoken language across a variety of situations. It will also provide you with practical and transferable skills as well as broaden your cultural horizons; the courses are enjoyable and interesting in addition to academically rigorous, and many employers look favourably upon advanced linguistic skills as well as the communication skills and analytical thinking you will develop. The A Level courses which we follow cover a range of linguistic, literary and cultural topics. You will study themes such as family, music, cinema, technology and culture in Year 12, extending skills developed at GCSE in listening, speaking, reading and writing. In year 13, the themes move away from GCSE and are more focused on the country whose language you are studying, such as immigration and integration. In addition to the language topics, you will also study either one film and one book, or two books. We recognise that the study of literature may at first seem a little daunting, but you can be assured that works will be chosen with a view to their accessibility and with candidates’ interests in mind. For the speaking exam, you also undertake an individual research project (IRP) on any topic which interests you about one of the countries where your language is spoken. Previous students have chosen a famous (or infamous) person, a cultural movement, a historical or political event, an art form, a sport, a scientific or fashion subject – the world’s your oyster! Grammatical work is important at A Level, as the only way to become a truly competent user of a language is to understand its grammar and to be able to apply it in any situation; grammatical work is not overbearing, however – it is tackled in a detailed and thorough but a regular and manageable way