french continuers question (1 Viewer)

[tavee222]

So I am forced to do French Continuers in year 11 and 12 after being rejected to do French Beginners with Open High School as I have spent a considerable amount of time in France when I was younger. It seems it is too late to change it and so the issue is, I barely learnt any French at all while in France as I was going to an American School (only speaking english) and I barely spoke French while I was there. Now that I am older I have learnt a fair amount of basics in french but not the amount that I would expect most people going into the course would know.

So my questions are, how much are you expected to know when entering a continuers language course?
What specifically should I try to learn before starting?
Would I be able to catch up with extra study and outside of school intensive courses? (I am a very motivated worker)
And finally, even if I were to catch up, would those who have done 2-4 years of language classes prior to me be so far ahead in experience that I would be better off trying to switch to another course where I am starting with the same experience as my peers?

Note: no one else at my school is doing french continuers so I can't ask to see how much they already know.

I really do want to learn a language, especially French!

Sorry for the long and numerous questions, I only just got the email stating that my beginners course was rejected and it's too late to change so I am kind of freaking out...

 

[MadameSophie]

By now, you will have been assigned a teacher at Open High. The best thing would be to talk with him/her and express your concerns. You will need to catch up, mostly on written and oral production. Comprehension is probably at the same level, you just lack the practice.
You should increase your exposure to the language by listening to the radio (rfi.fr is a good start), read newspapers, create an account in a French Forum and try to post.
You teacher will be able to give you more suggestions.

Si tu veux, écris-moi quelques lignes ici afin que je puisse voir ton niveau et te donner quelques conseils. Par exemple, la période de ta vie en France. Il n'y a ni trucs magiques ni raccourcis, il te faut écrire écrire et encore écrire . Bon courage!

 

[Kat92]

I would have a look at the two syllabus documents and see what is covered: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/languages.html. I would be regularly recording my speaking and do writing activities to help with expression and grammar. Also, there used to be sites for students studying languages to link up with native speakers- perhaps try a google search and see what you come up with.

Bonne chance et tout le meilleur avec elle!