French - Intermediate II

All-Genders Course; Prerequisite - Successful completion of at least two years of high school French;  Full-year course
COURSE DESCRIPTION
French – Intermediate II students review all points of the foundational curricula, study new grammatical structures and vocabulary, and continue to develop cultural awareness. There is a marked shift from the study of the present to a mastery of past narration in the first term and the addition the future and the conditional and fluidly navigating through those moments in time in the second term. The course stresses the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through a variety of exercises in T’es Branché 2. Moreover, students develop their communicative skills through structural exercises and original written work from authentic documents: a soap opera, songs of the week, films, and short stories. Students completing French – Intermediate II will be prepared for the French – Advanced I course.
WHAT STUDENTS SAY

“I've enjoyed interacting with my classmates online. Despite our different schools, I noticed we all had similar reactions to the songs and videos we watch. This is a unique experience thanks to our technology.”

WHAT STUDENTS DO
Learning is an active process at One Schoolhouse. Students design, create and apply. And, they engage with classmates and connect with their teachers through discussions, video conferences, and projects. Specifically, in this class students will:
  • Set goals that drive their learning. Students reflect regularly on their growth, and meet on video chat with their online teacher to review progress towards their goals.
  • Have choice in how they learn new content and practice new skills. Students are given agency to determine the best ways for them to learn.
  • Apply what they are learning to the real world. Learning is meaningful and connects to concepts outside the classroom.
  • Practice constructive engagement in a diverse and changing world. Students interact with classmates from across the country and around the world.
  • Gain academic maturity. Online learning takes greater discipline and independence than a traditional face-to-face classroom. Teachers support students to build this skill.
MEET A TEACHER FOR THIS COURSE
OUR RESEARCH-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING LANGUAGES ONLINE
​One Schoolhouse designs competency-based courses with the student-teacher relationship as the cornerstone of our personalized pedagogy.  While students excel in our language AP courses, for many years we did not offer full sequence language courses because there was little research to support the efficacy of online language learning at the early levels.  The research shows that fewer than 1% of Americans are proficient in the language they studied in traditional classrooms. Not wanting this outcome for One Schoolhouse students, our goal is to inspire deep learning so we strive to ensure that the online learning experience increases the effectiveness of second language acquisition. In recent years, we have honed our approaches to delivering the four language competencies – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – in the online space, and have therefore endeavored to build out our Chinese, French, and Latin sequences.  The limitations of other online language programs are mitigated by the centrality of the student-teacher relationship, including interactive sessions where students speak, listen, and translate with their peers and teacher, at One Schoolhouse.  J.C. Narcy-Combes’s research on second language learning online shows that, “meaningful interaction will trigger learning processes,” which we know to be true anecdotally, and that, with intentional design, students can be taught to learn language effectively online.  Carrier et. al. have more recently shown that educational technologies and online learning are rapidly transforming second language acquisition, and that intentional practice can create a highly effective digital experience.  Because One Schoolhouse students have pathway options where they can practice in the target language at their own pace, get feedback from their teacher, interact with peers from around the country, and demonstrate their mastery through both traditional assessments and creative projects, students have the full complement of research-based learning activities in their online courses that you would expect to find in any independent school language program.  Additionally, our language teachers have advanced degrees from American universities, are trained in both their language and the best pedagogical practices for delivering language online, teach in independent schools around the US, and are AP readers.  
SIGNATURE ACTIVITIES
This is a topical course with grammar and vocabulary woven in to support active engagement in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We will focus on four chapters of our Textbook T’es Branché 2 as well as two abridged novels: La Belle et la Bête & Le Petit Prince
  • Watch and discuss 20 episodes of our soap opera: Rendez-vous à Nice as well as four movies leading to two French cooking assignments.
  • Design and plan two trips to francophone destinations.
  • Interact with classmates through weekly discussions focusing on the song of the week (la chanson de la semaine), celebrating the entire French speaking world (la francophonie).
  • Practice simulated conversations & cultural comparisons
COURSE APPROVAL
This course is approved by the NCAA. 

One Schoolhouse is fully accredited with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges through December 1, 2025; we are an approved online publisher for the University of California. 
Elizabeth Caldwall
she/her/hers
Language Teacher
BA Lafayette College
MSEd University of Pennsylvania​