Corporate Training

FAST TRACK FRENCH COURSE

We favour this method when a student disposes of a limited number of hours to learn French and wants to cover as much material as possible in a fairly short time frame; this method is suited for this type of fast track studying.

3 Levels ( Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced)

A progressive and pedagogical grammar series that is lively and stimulating!

This simple, clear and practical grammar focuses on and proposes lessons with practicing exercises, for a progressive improvement.

Through a progressive approach and an authentic language it presents and explains complex grammar points and puts a link between form and meaning in order to associate grammar and communication with numerous and relevant examples to reinforce the grammar points.

The exercises of are necessary to supplement the grammar component as it consolidates the grammar learned and develops oral and written communication. It encourages both creativity, with illustrations of grammar points, and oral expression.

This course also introduces the basis of vocabulary and helps the learners assimilate this vocabulary as quickly and easily as possible. It offers the student the essential tools to communicate in French in a simple, clear and precise way.

- the words are put in context in sentences, stories, dialogues...

-exercises and communication activities range from the easiest to the more difficult. These exercises are varied (true or false, find the odd one out, multiple choice questions, cloze tests...).

Testing:

There are 3 books (one for each level) of tests to measure the understanding of the grammar learned in previous classes.

There are 3 books (one for each level) of tests to measure the retention of the vocabulary covered in previous classes.

FAST TRACK FRENCH COMMUNICATION COURSE

In this course you will discover the many different aspects of French communication while using realism and humour.

It allows for flexibility in learning French in its modern style modules. Through some varied activities and realistic dialogue, you will explore communication in ‘hands on’ situations. Each lesson illustrates a specific language function using typical situations of daily life with a normal everyday life vocabulary, without the use of slang!

Certain subjects can be found in the different levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) like shopping, or going to a restaurant; situations in which they are given or asked for specific information. Each lesson ends with a review test.

This program proposes a series of lessons; each organized:

One or several concrete dialogues that can also be listened to on audio support. We will find as well, recapitulated different lexicon notes or cultural and practical expressions.

Also, you will find three different kinds of pedagogical exercises:

• • Exercises that are aim to verify the dialogue comprehension

• Exercises that will require one to reuse the vocabulary that was just learned

Role play or creative activity.

PORTFOLIO OF PRE-SELECTED MATERIAL

(Assembled by The Language Studio Inc. and taken from various sources)

This method is used for students attending Developmental Courses to maintain the acquired Linguistic Profile of the PSC, as well as people aiming for the preparation of the “C” level of the said Linguistic Profile. Following is the description of the different components of this course:

L’Actualité:

This news magazine is a unique tool to motivate students to a variety of subjects: politics, social changes, sciences, culture, discovering the heroes of our time. It writes about people or events that touch our daily lives. It is used as support material for debate and study.

Objectives:

• • Enrich Vocabulary

• • Improve pronunciation and speech flow by reading aloud

• • Develop the ability to rephrase and reinstate a message by summarizing a paragraph or the entire article.

• • Improve oral comprehension and sound discrimination

• Improve writing skills

Grammar:

A student attending a developmental course has already covered all the basics of the grammar; but a fair amount of time will still be spent during each class reviewing grammar or going more in depth as grammar is really the foundation of the language allowing for a clear and unambiguous message.

Objectives

To remove all doubt or hesitation around the use of grammar
To demystify the complexity of the grammatical structure

Translation :

• Text to be taken from different translation manuals

Objective:

Each translation works on a particular grammar point in order to see how the student knows how to apply them to the learnt language

• Text to be taken from a document brought in by the students from their workplace.

Objective:

To test their knowledge of the terminology pertinent to their own work environment.

Vocabulary:

The enrichment of vocabulary is an on going process. It can be learned indirectly through all kinds of activities in forms of reading, speaking, listening but we feel that for better retention it is important to have activities that focus specifically on the learning of new words. The following is what will be done on a regular basis to achieve this particular goal:

• • Exercises to be taken from vocabulary books

• • Crosswords

• Synonyms research

Objective

Retention and application of new vocabulary

French Civilization

Because of the current status of the French language in the world we feel it is important that students discover what culture lies beneath the language they are learning. These activities will be done as little parentheses to add diversity to the class and make the students feel part of a wide network, namely “La Francophonie” and doing so giving a broader meaning to their learning which initially might have been only personal or professional.

Objective

Raise the awareness and consciousness about the status of the French language and what derives from it; being cultural, geographical, historical, political, religious etc….

Debate and Conversation

A large portion of the Developmental Course (approximately 50%) will be allocated to conversation. The daily news lends plenty of thought for discussion. The students are given a web site address to go and consult on their own about all the francophone newspapers of the world. The work done with the news magazine L’Actualité also leads to many discussions as well as the work done with French Civilization. The instructor can also introduce debate topics such as the following, to name a few.

• • Technology

• • Engineering

• • Public Health

• • Education

• Ethics in the Work place

Objectives:

Phonetics

Phonetics is important in order to avoid crystallization of mispronounced phonemes, to improve overall communication, to avoid frequent interruption from the listeners for clarification.

In theory people taking a developmental course should already have a grasp of the phonetic system; however if some students still have difficulties with pronunciation we will do little capsules of phonetics as it is very important to be clearly understood and the speech should not be impaired by reoccurring errors. Nothing impedes conversation faster than an inability to make yourself understood. So the goal is not necessarily to sound like a French person, but to be understood by a French speaker.

The phonetic approach is covered in every aspect of the program and we take every opportunity to review phonetics as per relevancy in ways of repetition of default phonemes. Students are encouraged to do pronunciation exercises on tape to be reviewed by the instructor. Following is a list of the material we use to supplement and correct phonetics:

• • Internet Site using Voice recognition

• • CD – Rom Software :

• A variety of books on phonetics

Oral Comprehension

Different exercises will be administered to the students in order to help them develop a more acute oral understanding of what they are hearing. Following you will find oral comprehension activities to reach that goal:

Those exercises help to sharpen the students’ hearing, sound discrimination and prepare them for a better language exchange and ultimately a better grasp of nuances and subtleties, as well as to enable them to sustain a longer and more in depth conversation with a very accurate understanding of the content.