UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

Department of Languages, Literature & Culture

Course Outline

Course Code/Title: LAICFR101 French for Beginners I

Lecturer: Mr P Bare
Contact hours: 48 hours

Purpose of the course

Among the most spoken languages in the world, French has extensive global coverage and is a widely s spoken daily
by millions of people and understood by many millions more. French is the official language or one of the official
languages in several countries around the world. The importance of French in an increasingly globalized world cannot,
therefore, be overemphasized. This course is designed for students who have never studied the French language but
who wish to establish a foundation on which to develop French language studies. The course emphasizes
conversational (oral) and grammatical skills at beginners level. Students focus on the verbal and auditory aspects in a
range of settings and situations for a variety of purposes. Particular attention is paid to the teaching of language skills
(listening, reading, speaking, and writing) through the study of basic oral and written texts. The course is instructed in
French and English. Extensive work in grammar and content, pronunciation, idioms, structure and analysis is the
objective.

Aims
The aim of this programme is to train students to be able to understand and use familiar everyday
expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of basic needs of a concrete type. By the end
of the course the student should be able to introduce him/herself in detail and others and ask and answer
questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has.
The student should also be able to interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and
clearly and is prepared to help.

Course Content (and Content Time frames)

Students will learn and expand their knowledge of the following grammatical concepts:
Week Concept
1 General Greetings
Introducing oneself (Je me presente)
Introducing one person to another
Days of the week
Months of the year
Assignment 01 (Presentation)
Write a description of the french phonetic system including
a) alphabet- consonants, vowels, sound combos, silent letters and french R
b) Elision
c) Liaison
d) Nasals
e) soft and hard sounds
f) accents

1
 g) stress
h) schwa
i) glides and diphthongs
j) Intonation

Due Date - Monday 14 November 2022

2 The French Alphabet
French numbers (0-60)
Telling the time
Giving one’s phone number, age
3 Introduction to French Grammar
Conjugation of regular ER, IR, RE verbs
Conjugation of Être and Avoir
4 Les Articles
French Possessives
Noms Feminines et Musculins
5 In-class
6 General revision

Student Assessment

Two types of evaluation are applied: continuous evaluation (coursework) for the practical component,
written assignments, and one examination paper. Students are expected to pass both components separately.

Written Examination 40 %
Coursework 60%