Beginners French 1: eh oui!

Whether you want to visit, work or live in a French-speaking environment, you'll get more out of the experience if you can communicate effectively with people. In this short course you will begin to develop your reading and listening skills in French, and learn to speak and write the language to communicate in everyday situations. You'll learn the basic structures of French, along with key vocabulary to meet and greet people and to talk about yourself and others. This course will also increase your awareness of the cultural diversity of France and other French-speaking countries.

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

LGXF001

Credits

This is a non-credit bearing course.

What you will study

Have you always loved the sound of French but never been able to grasp what’s being said? Perhaps you’ve taken holidays frequently in France and felt frustrated that you couldn’t start or join in a conversation? Or maybe there’s a chance you could work in France or another French-speaking country? There are many reasons for learning French, but it can be difficult to know where to start.

This 16-unit course offers you an excellent start to your learning journey. Starting from simple greetings and saying your name, you’ll progress unit by unit towards being able to hold longer conversations and to understand more language in different situations.

In this course, you'll learn how to:

say your nationality
give your age
explain where you come from and where you live
talk about jobs and occupations
ask for and give information about other people
talk about family members
say what people look like and describe their personality
talk about clothes.

Learning a language is also learning about culture, so you will discover information about how the French behave when meeting and greeting people, the evolution of the family in France, and French attitudes to clothes.

Throughout the course you will improve your ability to understand spoken and written French and to communicate your own information and ideas. You will acquire a knowledge of the basic structures of French along with key vocabulary. Each unit comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, exercises, explanations and tips about language-learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either in a notebook or on your preferred digital device. There are regular revision units and, at the end of each unit, there is a quiz for you to practise what you’ve been learning.

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 A1 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 LGXF001 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. It’s suitable if you are completely new to French and to language learning, and it does not assume any prior knowledge.

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
student 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.