Boys at Charterhouse will be taught to express themselves confidently and accurately in spoken and written French. Considerable emphasis is placed upon the regular acquisition and practical use of new vocabulary. A broad range of topical listening and reading material is covered in hash in conjunction with thorough grammatical explanations and exercises. Boys in the top divisions also have the opportunity to read short stories by writers such as Jules Verne, Alphonse Daudet, and Jules Supervielle, to undertake prose translations, and to acquaint themselves with poems by Baudelaire, Hugo, Apollinaire, etc.
Boys in the Removes and Fifths prepare for the four components of the GCSE (listening, speaking, reading, writing). More sophisticated grammatical structures and colloquial expressions are introduced together with more advanced vocabulary. Boys in the Removes currently attend regular conversation classes with a native speaker. Boys in the top divisions read and discuss works by writers such as Georges Simenon, Pierre Boulle, and Marcel Pagnol. They also learn about French history (Joan of Arc, the Revolution, Napoleon, etc.) through lectures and films.
The AS exam is composed of three papers : Listening and Writing, Reading and Writing, and an Oral Topic (12 minutes). There are eight hashes of French per week, plus one conversation class with a native speaker. Pupils are taught advanced grammar, writing skills, and aural comprehension. They also study a work by a writer such as Voltaire or Camus. Preparation for the oral exam involves independent research, for which the school offers a number of printed and electronic resources. First Year Specialists are able to choose French cinema as a Monday afternoon activity.
The A2 exam is composed of three papers : an Oral Discussion (15 minutes), a Literature Paper, and a general paper which comprises a Listening Comprehension, a Discursive Essay, and a Reading Comprehension. Pupils will spend a significant amount of time improving their grammatical accuracy and written articulacy, and are required to attend a weekly conversation class with a native speaker.
All pupils who wish to study French at AS and A-Level are expected to spend time in France during their holidays. The school can help pupils to organise homestay and residential courses in places such as Paris, Tours, Montpellier, and Biarritz.
S.M. Bramwell