Culture & Society
Are you fond of French culture or more versed into current affairs? Our Cultural French Courses will help you sense better the subtleties of French culture while conversing with your teacher and co-students.
Already quite comfortable in French and addicted to news? Refresh the feed and keep your language up to date with this workshop focused on current affairs! If you already speak French quite well and wish to maintain and broaden your skills while enjoying with the news and its portrayal in the written press and broadcast media.
Objectives: You will develop your listening and interaction skills on a wide range of French and international current affairs subjects, politics, society, science, economy, travel, environment, tech, diplomacy etc. as well as widening your understanding of the media landscape.
Learning approach: using newspapers, broadcast and social medias you will work on your debating skills through dynamic discussions while sharpening your vocabulary and grammar with interactive exercises such as quizes, presentations, etc.
Resources: the course will be based on authentic documents, from newspaper articles to online magazines and blogs, documentaries, extracts from radio and tv programmes and clips provided by your teacher.
Tutor: All our tutors are University trained and native speakers.
Suggestions: to explore more about French cinéma, our students often round up their journey with a culture & society course or a standard course.
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.
For those wishing to gain insight into French society while perfecting their linguistic skills!
Objectives: Discuss various themes (news, politics, culture, education, work, leisure, etc.) to better understand the different aspects of francophone contemporary societies and improve linguistic skills.
Learning approach: analysing and commenting authentic audio and written materials, presentations and discussions, guided reading of literary texts. Occasional grammar revision when needed or requested.
Resources: press articles, videos, surveys, excerpts from radio, TV and films, book excerpts, adverts, songs, etc. provided by your tutor.
Tutor: All our tutors are University trained and native speakers.
Suggestions: to explore more about French cinema, our students often round up their journey with a culture & society course or a standard course.
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.
Enjoy reading and discussing books and authors with like-minded literature enthusiasts. For those wishing to expand their knowledge of classical or contemporary works.
Objectives: you will discover and study literature and authors from French speaking countries.
Learning approach: analysing and commenting on novels perceive finer linguistic nuances and cultural subtleties. to improve vocabulary & to work on different linguistic points whilst enhancing your vocabulary and upgrading your phrase “repertoire” and widen your scope of fluency.
Resources: to be confirmed by the teacher at the beginning of the course. All books can be bought at La Page or European Bookshop with the French Institute student discount.
Tutor: All our tutors are University trained and native speakers. (Marie-Laure Balistreri, Brigitte Coudino or Christiane Di Matteo).
Suggestions: to explore more about French cinema, our students often round up their journey with a creative writing or a standard course.
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.
Discover the greatest French philosophers and their impact on modern French society and beyond.
Objectives: Through figures such as Henri Bergson, Simone Weil, Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault, you will learn about the key philosophical movements that shaped French culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Learning approach: We will read key texts and discuss philosophy’s role in French society and beyond. Through a participatory approach, you will acquire a diverse and transferable vocabulary while learning about the history of ideas.
Resources: The course will be based on articles, essays, radio programmes and videos provided by your tutor. You will familiarize yourself with the material which will then be analyzed, discussed, and contextualized in class.
Tutor: Benoît Loiseau is a writer, journalist and scholar. He holds a degree in philosophy from the École Normale Supérieure (PSL) and recently completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh, where he has taught French literature and philosophy. He is currently at work on his first book.
Suggestions: To complement their knowledge of French culture, our students often round up their learning journey with another of the Culture and Society course such as Contemporary Literature, Discuss French Cinema, or a general French course.
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.
For those wishing to combine language learning with creativity and imagination.
Objectives: be inspired to write your own French texts (fiction, poetry, plays, biographies, etc.), discover writing techniques, and develop your vocabulary and grammatical knowledge in a creative and enjoyable environment.
Learning approach: the workshop will focus on activities which promote creativity – imitation and modification of texts, the use of stimuli or ‘triggers’ (images and texts), literary games followed by discussions on the work produced – and which combine oral and written skills.
Resources: any material which can stimulate and inspire us in our writing.
Tutor: all our tutors are University trained and native speakers. Catherine Gaitte is specialized in teaching French as a foreign language and has extensive knowledge of French and British media.
Suggestions: to explore more about French culture, our students often round up their learning journey with another of the Culture and Society course or a general French course. If you seek official recognition, an exam is ideal!
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.
Polish your linguistic skills and enhance your appreciation of art.
Objectives: you will develop your knowledge of art history: starting with famous artists’ works and techniques to the actual exhibition of these works (how such exhibitions are conceived, developed, displayed and catalogued).
Learning approach: Using art as a language frame, you will enhance your communication and debating skills in an active and dynamic way.
Resources: the course will be based on online international exhibitions, virtual visits of outstanding museums, the study of the artworks themselves, exhibition catalogues, presentation videos by curators and critical articles.
Tutor: Anne de Chillaz has a degree in History of Art and Museology from the Ecole du Louvre, as well as a degree from the Courtauld Institute. She researches and catalogues French national collections and has many years’ experiences in teaching French as a foreign language.
Suggestions: to explore more about French culture, our students often round up their learning journey with another of the Culture and Society course or a general French course. If you seek official recognition, an exam is ideal!
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.
Do you know L’Abbé Pierre, Belmondo, Coco Chanel, Catherine Deneuve, Coluche, la dictée, Perrier, la Cocotte-minute, Canard Enchaîné, les grandes écoles, ‘Métro, boulot, Dodo’, la 2CV, Sempé, la pétanque, la rentrée, le Tiercé, Victor Hugo?
Objectives: Enrich your cultural knowledge through reading, speaking and watching documentaries and film excerpts. Improve your communication with French people.
Understand the underlying cultural message of your French counterparts.
Learning approach: You will read and watch materials related to iconic symbols (celebrities, gastronomy, institutions, daily life and language). You will discuss icons with the support of quotes, opinions and questions.
Resources: written materials, films and documentaries’ excerpts.
Tutor: with more than 20 years of teaching experience Cécile Alais has had the opportunity to teach a wide range of courses both in Higher and Continuing education. After her graduation in translation (master’s degree), she specialized in Teaching French as a foreign language in France. She went on to further study teaching and le
Suggestions: to explore more about French culture, our students often round up their learning journey with another of the Culture and Society course or a general French course. If you seek official recognition, an exam is ideal!
Book a free level assessment for further advice and to find the right level for you.
Upon registration, you will be awarded a complimentary membership to enjoy films at our cinemas, books at our library, online perks, and more.