Elementary French 2: en avant!

If you want to improve your French but are short on time, then this 16-unit course can enhance your ability to understand and produce more complex language. By studying around 3–4 hours per unit, you’ll improve your reading, writing, speaking and listening in French through a variety of online activities. You will focus on extending your knowledge of vocabulary and language structures to talk about employment, qualifications and studying. You’ll learn to speak on the phone and make plans for meetings in French. You’ll also learn about shopping (in person and online purchasing). By the end of the course, you’ll have built your own French phrase book and developed the skills needed to speak about and understand more complex concepts.

After successfully completing this short course, you will receive a digital badge. This can be shared on social media, added to email signatures or act as a certificate.

Standalone study only

You will not be awarded credits for studying this course. It is available for standalone study only and cannot be counted towards an OU qualification.

Short course

Short course code

LGXF005

Credits

This is a non-credit bearing course.

What you will study

This short course is designed to give you a solid foundation to the French language. You’ll learn the essentials of reading, writing, speaking and listening in French. You’ll also develop key skills that will enhance your future study of the language. Delivered through user-friendly, ‘bite-sized’ blocks, in each unit you’ll discover key vocabulary and set phrases. Audio material, featuring recordings by native speakers of French, and a wide variety of speaking activities will aid your pronunciation.

Throughout the course, you’ll build up your own French phrase book covering varied topics such as:

employment, work patterns and business etiquette in France
the French education system and different qualifications
shops and trading (online purchasing and high-street shopping).

At the end of the course, you’ll have revised French verbs (passé composé and the imperfect) with a focus on past participles and reflexive verbs in the past, learnt to use demonstratives and direct and indirect pronouns, and learnt how to unpack word families.

Through completing the activities and quiz in each unit to strengthen your learning, you’ll have gained a solid foundation of French.

Please note that although this course is non-accredited, it can be used towards the module Making your learning count (YXM130) to gain OU credits.

You will learn

The course is designed to help you achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level B1 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).

Learner support

You will have access to discussion forums that you are strongly encouraged to participate in as these forums combine support from fellow students with input from a language-specialist learning adviser. Other support is available via the StudentHome website and Computing Helpdesk.

If you have a disability

The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.

The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying LGXF005 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.

Entry requirements

There are no entry requirements for this course.

However, it's beneficial if you have some basic knowledge of French, similar or equivalent to the language, skills and vocabulary practised in Beginners French 1: eh oui! (LGXF001), Beginners French 2: bien sûr! (LGXF002), Beginners French 3: absolument! (LGXF003), and/or Elementary French 1: allons-y! (LGXF004).

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact us.

Course length

The course is made up of 16 units, with each unit expected to take about 3–4 hours to study. In total, you’ll need around 64 hours to complete the course.

You can begin at any time during the life of the course and study at your own pace. The course will be open to you for a time period of between 6 and 18 months depending on your course registration date and you will be advised of the specific time limitations upon enrolment.

Register

Start	End	England fee	Register
At anytime before registration end date	Jan 2026 - see Entry requirements for more detail	£195.00	Registration closes 31/07/2025 Register

Ways to pay

Credit/Debit Card – We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.

Sponsorship – If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.

The fee information provided here is valid for short courses starting in the 2024/25 academic year. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.

Can you study an Access module for free?

Depending on eligibility and availability of places, you could apply to study your Access module for free.

To qualify, you must:

be resident in England
have a household income of not more than £25,000 (or be in receipt of a qualifying benefit)
have not completed one year or more on any full-time undergraduate programme at FHEQ level 4 or above or successfully completed 30 credits or more of OU study within the last 10 years

How to apply to study an Access module for free

Once you've started the registration process, either online or over the phone, we'll contact you about your payment options. This will include instructions on how you can apply to study for free if you are eligible and funded places are still available.

If you're unsure if you meet the criteria to study for free, you can check with one of our friendly advisers on +44 (0)300 303 0069, or you can request a call back.

Not eligible to study for free?

Don't worry! We offer a choice of flexible ways to help spread the cost of your Access module. The most popular options include:

monthly payments through OUSBA
part-time tuition fee loan (you'll need to be registered on a qualification for this option)

To explore all the options available to you, visit Fees and Funding.

What's included

All learning materials are delivered entirely online and there is no formal tuition for this course.

Your study is self-directed and you’ll have access to a course website, which includes:

a unit-by-unit study planner
course-specific materials and activities
audio and video content
discussion forums
support from language-specialist learning advisers.

Computing requirements

You'll need broadband internet access and a desktop or laptop computer with an up-to-date version of Windows (10 or 11), or macOS Ventura or higher.

Functionality may be limited on mobile devices. For example, voice recorder activities, which are common in language short courses, may not work on iOS/Apple devices.

Our module websites comply with web standards, and any modern browser is suitable for most activities.

Our OU Study mobile App will operate on all current, supported versions of Android and iOS. It's not available on Kindle.

It's also possible to access some module materials on a mobile phone, tablet device or Chromebook. However, as you may be asked to install additional software or use specific applications, you'll also require a desktop or laptop as described above.