Level 3
Lower Intermediate French
Connect your ideas and bring your stories to life
Tell richer stories, compare past and present situations, discuss the future, give advice and imagine different possibilities.
- Level
- Strong A2–developing B1 equivalent
- Format
- 3 terms × 12 lessons
- Lesson length
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total guided learning
- 45 hours
Main language focus
Imparfait, contrast between the two main past forms, futur simple, conditionnel présent, real and imagined si patterns, y, en, dont, wider negative expressions and richer connectors.
This course is designed for students who can already communicate about familiar topics using everyday present, past and near-future French. It is the natural next step after our Elementary level.
At Lower Intermediate, you will move beyond short, practical exchanges and learn to hold more connected conversations. You will tell richer stories, describe past situations, discuss future possibilities, give advice, imagine different outcomes and express your opinions with greater confidence.
French is developed through conversation, listening, authentic situations, role-play and accessible cultural topics, not through long lectures filled with unfamiliar grammatical terminology. Natural expressions, pronunciation tips, French–English connections, false friends and insights into real spoken French are woven throughout the course.
Every term begins by reactivating earlier learning. Language then returns in new topics and situations, helping you become more fluent rather than simply collecting new rules.
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 structures are introduced because they help you communicate something worthwhile: bring a memory to life, explain what went wrong, imagine a different future, give advice or defend a choice.
Lessons may include personal storytelling, interviews, information gaps, problem-solving tasks, role-play, mini-debates, accessible videos or articles, cultural discoveries and collaborative projects. Your teacher will clarify patterns in simple language and quickly return them to meaningful conversation.
Previously learned French is deliberately revisited. You will meet familiar language in new combinations, correct persistent errors and develop the speed and flexibility needed for more spontaneous interaction.
Your Progress by the End of Lower Intermediate
You should be able to:
- hold a 15–20 minute conversation on familiar topics with less reliance on prompts
- tell a coherent story using background detail and completed events
- compare past and present situations
- discuss plans, predictions, wishes and imagined possibilities
- give advice and explain the likely consequences of a choice
- ask follow-up questions and respond naturally to another speaker
- use a broader range of connecting expressions
- understand the main ideas of clear, natural-speed French on familiar subjects
- write a connected personal account, recommendation or opinion of several paragraphs
- use practical expressions, conversational shortcuts and cultural knowledge with increasing confidence
Language structures covered
Lower Intermediate — Connect time, possibility and reference
- Imparfait and the passé composé/imparfait contrast.
- Futur simple and comparison with futur proche.
- Conditionnel présent for politeness, wishes and advice.
- Real and imagined si patterns.
- Pronouns y and en; wider negation.
- Relative pronoun dont, richer connectors and more sustained opinion.
Topics we may cover
Lower Intermediate 1
- Bridge and reactivation — Re-enter French across three time frames
- Childhood and past habits — Describe repeated or continuing past situations
- Setting the scene — Describe past circumstances
- Event and background — Distinguish context from completed event
- Travel story — Combine description, ongoing action and events
- Then and now — Compare past and current life
- Recent changes — Express a very recent event and its result
- Anecdotes — Tell and react to an unexpected event
- Changing places — Describe how a place evolved
- Mishaps — Explain a problem and its circumstances
- France through time — Discuss an accessible cultural story
- Storytelling challenge — Sustain an interactive narrative
Lower Intermediate 2
- Reactivation — Recover narrative control
- Future events — Discuss plans and predictions
- Intention or outlook — Choose between two ways of discussing the future
- Trip planning — Make and adapt a detailed plan
- Wishes and politeness — Express a wish, preference or polite request
- Advice — Give and respond to recommendations
- Real possibilities — Discuss a realistic future condition
- Imagined alternatives — Imagine an unlikely present or future
- Dreams and ambitions — Develop an ideal scenario
- Negotiation — Evaluate options and reach agreement
- Future choices — Discuss practical social and environmental change
- Possibilities challenge — Respond flexibly to a changing scenario
Lower Intermediate 3
- Reactivation — Reconnect narration, future and hypothesis
- Places and ideas — Refer back to places and ideas without repeating them
- Quantities and amounts — Talk about amounts without repeating yourself
- Conversational shortcuts — Keep fast exchanges natural and unrepetitive
- Adding information — Link extra information into one sentence
- Instructions — Give directions and explain a process
- Precise negatives — Express absence and change
- Quantity and degree — Compare amounts and intensity
- Precision — Describe how and to what degree
- Connected opinions — Organise cause, contrast, result and example
- Discussion — Express and support a viewpoint
- Showcase — Hold your own in independent conversation
Classes at this level
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