Thank you for showing an interest in Basic French which is a new u3a class.

This is a group for people who may or may not have studied some French at school. No prior knowledge is expected, and the plan is to start from the beginning whilst recognising that there might be some amongst us who are a little more advanced.

Essentially, we want to create an enjoyable, supportive environment as learning a language is excellent therapy for the brain, but it doesn’t need to be  too stressful! Initially, we’ll establish  basic skills and then seek to ‘dip into’ a publication called Alter Ego level A1 published by Hachette. New copies of this publication are available on Amazon, but you should be able to find a second-hand copy from under £10. That said, we will not  be using a textbook initially so don’t feel you need to purchase one in advance.

We will meet during school term times at 9.30-11.00am on  the 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th Thursdays in the Golden Lion Hotel in St. Ives starting on January 29^th.  There is no charge for the room which is situated at the front of the building overlooking the road. However, we are each expected to buy a drink to secure the use of their premises.

Of course, there will be times when members will miss sessions due to holidays and the like. This is fine and between us we’ll seek to support each other, so nobody falls behind.

In the first place  we will look at subjects such as: introducing yourself, simple pleasantries, days of the week, numbers and ordering food and drink. In parallel we’ll learn a little grammar by looking at the present tense of verbs and naturally every week we’ll increase our vocabulary. The aim is to enable you to quickly be able to hold simple conversations in French.

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me via the blue envelope.