Languages

Leaving Certificate French Courses: Prep For Your Exam

Considering a Leaving Certificate French Course? 

French is the most popular foreign language taken for the leaving certificate by far. The exam tests your oral, comprehensive and written skills. A leaving certificate French course will help you to prep for your French oral, written and listening exam. The course is ideal for those taking French who feel they need some help or wish to improve. The French language syllabus aims to develop learners’ communicative skills, to develop their strategies for effective language learning and enhance their awareness of social, cultural and political diversity. The good news is there are tons of leaving certificate French courses currently available.  

About French 

French is a romance language and is widely recognised as being among the most beautiful languages in the world. A romance language is a language that uses Latin, which is historically spoken by the ancient Romans at its root. While French shares the romance descriptor with Spanish and Italian, it is undoubtedly one of the most interesting romance languages. It is spoken all around the world. The French language is the second most spoken language after English, it is among the top languages for the number of countries where it has official status. In addition, it is the only language, along with English, that is taught in almost every country across the globe. The language boasts more than 100 million students and roughly 2 million teachers. In fact, the amount of French speakers has tripled since 1945. French remains a working language of the UN and the EU in addition to many other international organisations such as Amnesty International, International Labour Organisation, the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. 

Why Do a Leaving Certificate French Course? 

Leaving certificate French courses will provide you with comprehensive notes on all of the topics covered in the exam. They generally offer continuous written and oral assignments, which are corrected and graded, designed to help you see whether progress is being made or whether more help is needed. Plenty of practice is covered in these courses also. 

What Will I Learn? 

You can expect to learn everything on the French leaving certificate syllabus to fully prepare you for the exam. Therefore, you will explore aural conversation, interview and news pieces. In addition, students will learn literary and novel comprehension as well as newspaper and magazine comprehension. Animals, nature and the environment, education, health, travel, politics, sport, technology and media and family will also be covered. The course will help you prepare for the oral exam and teach you how to write a diary, letter, note and email to ensure you are entirely covered for the written section. 

The Exam 

The French leaving certificate exam is split up into the oral exam, listening exam and written exam. The written paper comprises two sections – reading comprehension and written expression. The reading comprehension section is worth 160 marks. There are four questions, each of which carry 40 marks and must be answered. The written expression section is worth 100 marks. There is a second paper which is on listening comprehension, this paper is worth 80 marks. In addition, there is the oral examination which involves speaking to the examiner in French. 

Career Opportunities with Leaving Certificate French 

Having a foreign language is a requirement for many CAO courses so it is smart to have a language, unless you are certain that it will not make you ineligible for the course you want to do in the future. The French language is useful for travelling and for a wide range of courses. In addition, if this was a topic you particularly enjoyed in school, it may be a sign that you should become a French language teacher.  

If you’re serious about doing a leaving certificate French course, check out courses near you in the Nightcourses.co.uk national course finder.