Level 4
Intermediate French
Explain, discuss and communicate independently
Report information, organise complex events, express doubts and reactions, and defend your ideas with greater independence.
- Level
- B1–strong B1/B1+ equivalent
- Format
- 3 terms × 12 lessons
- Lesson length
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total guided learning
- 45 hours
Main language focus
Plus-que-parfait, reported speech, passive voice, everyday causative expressions, present subjunctive, conditionnel passé, past-unreal situations, combined object pronouns, advanced relative forms and more structured discussion.
This course is for students who can already hold connected conversations, tell stories in different time frames, discuss future possibilities and give opinions on familiar topics.
At Intermediate level, you will learn to handle more complex conversations with greater independence. You will report what happened and what other people said, explain processes and causes, discuss doubts and emotions, defend a viewpoint and respond to unfamiliar turns in a conversation.
French is developed through purposeful conversation, storytelling, role-play, problem-solving, accessible media and discussion. New structures are introduced as tools for communication rather than as disconnected grammatical lists. Natural expressions, pronunciation, French–English connections, false friends and differences between spoken and written French remain part of every term.
Each term begins by reactivating earlier learning. Important language returns in increasingly challenging situations, helping you develop flexibility, accuracy and confidence.
French Beyond the Textbook
Our classes are shaped around the people in the room. At every level, students are encouraged to bring their own stories, experiences, interests and questions into the conversation.
We also explore France and the wider French-speaking world through culture, everyday life and carefully selected local, national and international news. Topics and materials are always adapted to the ability and interests of each group, so even newer learners can engage with real French ideas without feeling overwhelmed.
Along the way, students discover colloquial expressions, idioms, pronunciation tips, French–English connections, false friends and the language French speakers actually use. As they progress, the stories and discussions become richer, the materials more authentic and the language increasingly nuanced.
How You Will Learn
This is a conversation-first course. New language appears through situations that give it a genuine purpose: investigating a story, passing on information, solving a dilemma, explaining a process or responding to someone who disagrees.
Lessons may include interviews, collaborative storytelling, news summaries, simulations, problem-solving, mini-debates, authentic audio or video, cultural material and short presentations. Grammar is clarified in accessible language and immediately returned to meaningful interaction.
Earlier learning is regularly reactivated and combined with new language. You will also develop conversational strategies: asking for clarification, reformulating, qualifying a statement, gaining thinking time and repairing misunderstandings.
Your Progress by the End of Intermediate
You should be able to:
- sustain a 20–30 minute conversation with increasing independence
- understand the main ideas and important details of clear, standard spoken French
- narrate and report multi-stage events accurately
- summarise what someone said without relying on exact quotation
- express and justify opinions on familiar social or cultural issues
- communicate doubt, emotion, necessity, purpose and concession
- explore real and unreal possibilities across different time frames
- adapt your language to everyday and selected professional situations
- write a structured account, summary or opinion text
- compensate successfully when you do not know a word or expression
Language structures covered
Intermediate — Report, qualify and discuss independently
- Plus-que-parfait and complex past narration.
- Present and past reported speech.
- Passive voice, on and everyday faire + infinitif.
- Present subjunctive for necessity, wishes, emotion, doubt, purpose and concession.
- Conditionnel passé and past-unreal hypotheses.
- Double-object pronouns and relatives lequel, auquel, duquel.
- Gérondif, infinitive constructions and more structured discussion.
Topics we may cover
Intermediate 1
- Reactivation — Re-enter extended conversation
- Earlier past — Explain what had already happened
- Complex narrative — Organise background, earlier events and main events
- Passing on information — Report statements, commands and questions
- Reporting a past conversation — Report earlier speech from a past viewpoint
- News summary — Summarise sourced information
- Processes — Focus on the action and result rather than who did it
- Viewpoint — Shift the focus of what you're describing
- Getting things done — Explain having something done for you
- Complicated problem — Untangle and retell a complicated problem
- Cultural story — Retell and interpret an event
- Reporting challenge — Investigate and present a coherent account
Intermediate 2
- Reactivation — Recover reporting and complex narration
- Necessity — Express required or desired change
- Wishes and emotion — React to another person's action or situation
- Doubt and judgement — Express uncertainty and subjective evaluation
- Purpose and concession — Explain goals and acknowledge obstacles
- Concise alternatives — Express yourself more concisely
- Different past outcome — Imagine what might have happened
- Regret — Express missed opportunities and criticism
- Rules and responsibility — Discuss expectations and consequences
- Concession — Recognise another viewpoint before responding
- Difficult decision — Weigh certainty, emotion, purpose and consequence
- Nuanced-opinion challenge — Present, defend and revise a position
Intermediate 3
- Reactivation — Reconnect narration, reporting, stance and hypothesis
- Multiple references — Track several people and things
- Quick-fire references — Keep track of who and what in fast conversation
- Precise selection — Ask and answer “which one?”
- Linking information — Add precise detail about people and things
- Speaking in general — Speak about non-specific people and things
- Simultaneous action — Express manner or circumstance concisely
- Linked actions — Connect a sequence of actions smoothly
- Logical explanation — Develop cause, result and concession
- Formal and informal — Adapt your speech to the situation
- Discussion — Sustain evidence-based interaction
- Showcase — Show confident, independent conversation
Classes at this level
Evening class
Intermediate — Tuesday Evening
19:15–20:30 · 22 Sept – 8 Dec 2026
Aberlady - East Lothian
Covers: richer storytelling — what had already happened and why, passing on what people said, summarising the news, explaining processes and untangling complicated real-life problems.
Enrolment open
Daytime class
(New) Intermediate — Tuesday Morning
10:00–11:15 · 22 Sept – 8 Dec 2026
Aberlady - East Lothian
Covers: richer storytelling — what had already happened and why, passing on what people said, summarising the news, explaining processes and untangling complicated real-life problems.
Enrolment open
Evening class
(New) Intermediate — Wednesday Evening
19:15–20:30 · 23 Sept – 9 Dec 2026
Aberlady - East Lothian
Covers: richer storytelling — what had already happened and why, passing on what people said, summarising the news, explaining processes and untangling complicated real-life problems.
Enrolment open
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