French 1 (Beginners) - starts January

Enrol-by Date

6 January 2025

Booking link

French 1 (Beginners)
Tuesdays 18:00 - 20:00
Starts 14 January 2025
20 weeks | January - July
Fees from £288
Tutor: Laurence Zanier
Classroom course at South Kensington

Aimed at: Suitable for applicants who have no or very little previous knowledge of French

Welcome to our French 1 course for beginners. This course will give you a general foundation in the language and culture of French-speaking countries so that you can build your knowledge and confidence to deal with a range of everyday situations in French, interacting with people verbally at a basic level, and also develop some basic reading and writing skills.

Activities will include whole class and small group work, individual practice and the use of audio-visual and written material to help develop your experience in a practical and effective way.

Our aim is to get you to a point where you will be able to understand simple questions and information and interact in a very basic way with native French speakers in routine situations, such as when shopping, travelling or buying tickets for entertainment, and to some extent in social situations. We will also teach you the key skills to extract key information from short and very simple written documents, such as notices and brochures, written in French, and to write very short messages and emails for yourself. 

We will also discover something of the culture of France and other French-speaking countries.

Upon completion of the course you should be able to perform at Level A1.1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. 

Previous Experience

If you are not entirely new to French, we do advise completing a level check before enrolment to establish whether a Beginners course is appropriate for you. Please use our course descriptions as a starting point, then take the French placement test before contacting our Assistant French Coordinator for her recommendation: Dr Tatiana Codreanu, t.codreanu@imperial.ac.uk.

Class Recordings

These classes are not recorded

 

Attendance Certificate

 

Successful completion of this course leads to the award of an Imperial College attendance certificate

 

Terms and conditions apply to all enrolments to this course. Please read them before enrolment

Course Information

Laurence Zanier is a French language teacher with experience teaching French literature to native speakers and French language to no-native speakers. Born in Belgium, she earned a MA in French Language and Literature from the University of Liège. Eager to share her passion for the French language and culture, she then went on to study a MA in French as Foreign Language.

Throughout her career, she has been teaching French at all levels and age groups, ranging from undergraduate students to adults, within language institutes and Universities. Additionally, she is a teacher trainer and an examiner for the TCF and DELF/DALF Certificate.

Her teaching methodology makes her lessons engaging, interactive and enjoyable. She uses a range of resources and strategies to customize her approach to the specific need of her students. She also incorporates cultural elements from France and French-speaking countries into language teaching, providing students with insights into the word of Francophonie.

Choosing the right course level

It is very important to book onto a course which is a good match for your level of ability, and we aim to make the process of deciding which is the right course level for you as simple as possible.

We advise you to take the French placement test pre-enrolment and contact Dr Tatiana Codreanu t.codreanu@imperial.ac.uk (Assistant French Coordinator) for a brief assessment to ensure you are taking the appropriate level of French.

Weeks Standard Rate Internal Rate Associate Rate
 20 Early Bird: £482
Full price: £536
 Early Bird: £288
Full price: £320		 Early Bird: £380
Full price: £422
All fee rates quoted are for the whole 2-term course. Early Bird rates are available until the end of 30 September 2024. Part-payments are not possible.

 

Rate Categories and Discounts


Standard Rate

  • Available to all except those who fall under the Internal Rate or Associate Rate category.

Internal Rate

  • Current Imperial College students and staff (incl. Imperial NHS Trust, Imperial Innovations, ancillary & service staff employed on long-term contracts at Imperial College by third-party contractors)
  • People enrolling under our Friends & Family scheme
  • Alumni of Imperial College and predecessor colleges and institutes, including City & Guilds College Association members
  • Students, staff and alumni of the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Music and City, UAL and the City and Guilds of London Art School
  • Students, staff and Governors of Woodhouse College and the IC Mathematics School

Associate Rate

  • Austrian Cultural Forum staff
  • Co-operative College members
  • Francis Crick Institute staff, researchers and students
  • Friends and Patrons of the English Chamber Orchestra
  • Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
  • Friends of Leighton House/ Sambourne House
  • Friends of the Royal College of Music
  • Harrods staff
  • Historic Royal Palaces staff
  • Lycee Charles de Gaulle staff
  • Members of the Friends of Imperial College
  • Members of the Kennel Club
  • Members of the London Zoological Society
  • Members of the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI)
  • Members of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
  • National Health Service (NHS) employees
  • Natural History Museum staff
  • Residents of postcodes SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 and W8
  • Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council staff
  • Royal Geographical Society staff
  • Science Museum staff
  • Staff of Exhibition Road Cultural Group (Discover South Kensington) organisations
  • Students (non-Imperial College)
  • Teachers and other staff of UK schools
  • The American Institute for Foreign Study
  • Tutors and other staff of institution members of the Association of Colleges
  • Tutors and other staff of other universities and higher education institutions
  • Victoria and Albert Museum staff

Late enrolment

It is possible to enrol on many of our adult education courses after the course has already started. For non-language courses this is subject entirely to agreement by the tutor. For language courses it is subject to agreement by the language coordinator conducting level assessment. If you want to join a course late do bear in mind there might be work you will need to catch up on, particularly in language courses.

Friends and Family Scheme

This course is eligible for allowing Imperial College students and staff to share their discount with their friends and family.

Weeks Autumn term Spring term Summer term
 20 n/a Week starting 13 January - week ending 22 March 2025 (10 weeks)* Week starting 28 April - week ending 5 July 2025 (10 weeks)*
*This is a 2-term course - Spring term PLUS Summer term - with the Easter break in between

Enrolment via the blue booking link is open. Early-bird discounts are available until the end of 30 September 2024

Enrolment and payment run through the Imperial College eStore. When enrolling:

  • Do check on the drop down menu above called "Course Fees and Rate Categories" to see if you are eligible for a discounted rate and also do make sure you select that rate when enrolling on the eStore
  • If you are a first-time eStore user you will need to create an account before enrolling. You can do this by entering an email address and password. This account can then be used for any future enrolments via the eStore.

When you have enrolled you will be sent the following email notifications:

What is sent When is it sent What does it contain
1. Payment confirmation Is sent straight away following submission of your online application
  • This is a receipt for your payment and includes payment date, order number and course title
  • Confirmation of your place on your chosen course will follow later as long as the course recruits enough students to run. If not you will receive a refund of your payment.
2. Enrolment confirmation Is usually sent within 10 working days. Please treat your payment confirmation as confirmation that your applicant details and payment have been received
  • Confirms your course choice
  • Shows your course's term dates
  • Confirms the day and time of your course
3. Programme information Is usually sent on Friday late afternoon the week before term starts
  • Contains joining instructions for your course, either online or in the classroom, depending on the course
 
  • If you need further help with the above information please ring 020 7594 8756 / +44 20 7594 8756.
  • All enrolments are provisional until the course is confirmed to run. This will be dependent on the course reaching the minimum number of enrolments.
  • All enrolments are subject to our Terms and Conditions. It is not possible to join one of our courses without agreeing to be bound by our Terms and Conditions.

If you have any questions about the academic content or teaching of this course please contact the Assistant French Coordinator, Dr Tatiana Codreanu, t.codreanu@imperial.ac.uk

If you have any questions about your enrolment or payment processes please contact the Programme Administrator, Christian Jacobi, eveningclass@imperial.ac.uk