Why study French

With France one of the world's major tourist destinations, French remains one of the most widely taught international languages. French is the official language of the International Red Cross and one of the formal languages of the United Nations. Approximately 20,000 English words have their origins in French. French is a beautiful language and can be a lot of fun to learn - especially French slang (argot). Wouldn't you love to impress your friends with your understanding of classic French films, or be able to read and understand a menu written in French? Travel to some of the world's most celebrated romantic or scenic destinations - Paris, Switzerland or Canada - and communicate with the locals in their own language.

French is one of the "Romance" languages, descended from Latin. Other Romance languages include Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian. There are almost 100 million French speakers in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and parts of Africa. There are a number of differences, both major and minor, between French and English; for example, gender is assigned to nouns and most pronouns in French, and words in French may look the same in English but mean different things (false cognates).

We integrate active communication skills with the grammatical structure of the language. Students develop proficiency in the language by using it in realistic situations and enjoyable activities. Awareness of cross-cultural communication is also addressed as this is an important factor in language learning.

• Introductions, greetings, leave-taking etc
• Giving personal details such as address, phone/fax number, occupation
• Small talk, weather, health etc
• Basic telephone skills, ordering food and drinks
• Catching a taxi and using public transport
• Asking for and understanding directions
• Prices, quantification, booking a hotel
• Inviting guests home, dates, months etc
• General knowledge of common practices and customs
• The etiquette of social and formal functions
• Cross-cultural awareness skills