French

Name, age, nationality, where you live and what you do, in five short sentences.

Être and avoir. The two verbs behind most first sentences: to be and to have.

Articles and gender. Every French noun is masculine or feminine; the little word in front tells you which.

Present tense of -er verbs. One pattern for most French verbs: parler, habiter, aimer, travailler.

Negation. Wrap the verb in ne … pas, and change un, une, des to de after a negative.

Family words, mon / ma / mes, and adjectives that agree. Talk about your family and describe people.

Numbers from 0 to 100, including the tricky seventies, eighties and nineties.

Days, months, dates and telling the time. Read an agenda, a timetable and opening hours, and say when things happen.

Asking questions. Three ways to ask a yes/no question, and the question words you need to find things out.

Aller, faire and the near future. Two everyday irregular verbs, au and aux, and how to talk about plans with aller + infinitive.

Places in town and directions. Name places, say where they are, and follow and give simple directions.

Tu or vous. Two words for "you", and how to pick the right one.

Shopping, food and prices. Ask politely with je voudrais, say how much, and understand the price.

Filling in forms. The words on every French form, and how to write a date.

Writing a short message or postcard. The shape of a friendly message, and how to reach 40 to 50 words with simple sentences.

Reading signs, timetables and instructions. The words on French signs, notices and timetables, and how to find the answer fast.

Reading messages, letters and short articles. Find who writes to whom, why, when and where in a message, a card, an email or a small ad.

Listening for the key detail. How to use two listenings, catch numbers and places, and not fall for corrections.

Passé composé with avoir. Say what you did, and ask what your friend did.

Passé composé with être. The verbs of coming and going take être, and their participle agrees.

The imparfait. Set the scene and say what used to happen, then tell what happened with the passé composé.

Depuis, il y a and pendant for time; d'abord, ensuite, puis, enfin to put events in order.

Reflexive verbs (se lever, se doucher, s'habiller) for your daily routine, now and in the past.

Describe things and people: adjectives before and after the noun, beau, nouveau, vieux, and ce, cette, ces.

Compare with plus, moins, aussi … que; say what's best with le plus; and the irregular meilleur and mieux.

Object pronouns le, la, les (it, them) and lui, leur (to him, to her, to them), so you don't repeat every noun.

Y (there) and en (some, of it, of them), the two little words that make French sound natural.

Pouvoir, vouloir, devoir and il faut + infinitive: say what you can, want and have to do.

The futur simple (je partirai, nous verrons) for plans, predictions and promises.

Polite requests with je voudrais, j'aimerais, pourriez-vous and est-ce que je pourrais.

The imperative (prends, prenez, prenons) for instructions, recipes and advice, with pronouns and in the negative.

En, au, aux with countries; à with cities; transport words; and buying a ticket at the station.

Join ideas with qui, que and où, so your sentences flow instead of stopping and starting.

Write a short, lively account of an event: passé composé for what happened, imparfait for the scene, and your feelings.

The set phrases for inviting, thanking, accepting, refusing and apologising, in friendly and polite messages.

The three parts of an A2 speaking conversation (and of the DELF A2 oral): talk about yourself, tell something, and handle a real-life situation.

Read A2 everyday texts fast: instructions, notices, short articles and letters. Find the answer without reading every word.

Catch the details in announcements, radio clips and conversations at A2: plan, listen twice, and listen for changes.

Plus-que-parfait. Go back one step further in the past to explain why things went wrong.

Telling a story. Mix three past tenses and the little linking words that make a story flow.

Reported speech. Tell someone what a third person said, asked or ordered.

Giving, sharing and challenging opinions. Say what you think without starting a fight.

Subjunctive, part 1. Say what has to happen, who has to do it, and who should.

Subjunctive, part 2. Show feelings, wishes and doubt, and know when French keeps the indicative.

Linking ideas to build an argument. Contrast, cause, consequence and structure.

The conditionnel présent for advice, with tu devrais, à ta place je… and il vaudrait mieux. Say what someone should do without sounding bossy.

Hypotheses with si, imagined (si + imparfait, conditionnel) versus real (si + présent, futur). Talk about what might happen and what you would do.

The gérondif (en + present participle) for two actions at once, how you do something and conditions. Say more in one sentence.

Projects and intentions, with avoir l'intention de, compter, envisager de and je souhaiterais. Speak about your strengths and plans in formal French.

Double pronouns (je te le prête, je le lui rends, il y en a). Two little words before the verb, in one fixed order.

Dont, lequel and qui after a preposition. Join two ideas to say exactly which flat you want.

The passive (a été construit, sera rénové, est visité). Say what is done to things, and when French prefers on or se.

Making a complaint by phone and email. Describe the problem, ask for a solution, stay polite but firm.

Writing an opinion with a clear structure, arguments, a counter-argument and connectors. Say what you think, and prove it.

Formal writing with vous: openings, a purpose sentence, polite requests in the conditional and closing formulas. Sound polite, clear and professional.

The three parts of the B1 speaking test, and how to defend a point of view with two arguments and examples. Say what you think, then back it up.

Reading at B1: get the topic, the structure and the writer's view from a longer article. Read smart, not word by word.

Listening at B1: predict the topic, tell the speakers apart and catch who thinks what. Listen for the opinions, not every word.

Past conditional. Say what you should have done, reproach someone gently, and make polite wishes about the past.

Past hypotheses. Say what would have happened if things had been different, and what would be different today.

Past subjunctive. Talk about a completed action after feelings, regrets and bien que.

Futur antérieur. Say what will be done by when, and what happens once something is finished.

Concession. Say "yes, but" in French without sounding rude.

Cause and consequence. Pick the right connector for the register you need.

Hedging. Say "I've heard" without claiming it is true.

Emphasis. Put the word you want heard at the front of the sentence.

Registers. Match your French to the person, the place and the medium.

Discourse markers. Small words like bref, du coup and enfin steer a conversation.

Idioms. Learn common expressions as whole phrases, never word for word.

Recognising slang. Understand verlan and everyday slang when you hear it; you don't need to use it.

Recognising the passé simple, the tense of novels and history books. You will read it, not speak it.

Nominalisation, turning verbs into nouns. Read verbless headlines and use the same trick in formal writing.

Complex relatives, ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, preposition + lequel, and dont vs duquel. Say precisely what you want, need and care about.

Critical reading. Find the thesis, arguments and tone of a French opinion column, and separate fact from opinion.

Building a 250-word argued text with a thesis, concession and consequence connectors, and a formal register. Argue like someone who has weighed both sides.

Presenting a view in a structured monologue, then holding your own in a debate. Speak like someone who can disagree politely and not lose the floor.

Reading a long article for structure, thesis, nuance and who says what. Read faster by reading smarter.

Following a debate with several speakers: positions, nuance and unspoken attitudes. Hear what people mean, not just what they say.