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# Introduction

Welcome to this free course, Getting started with French 1.

Figure 1 Bonjour !

This course offers you an excellent start to your French learning journey. Starting from the basics, simple greetings and saying your name, you’ll progress towards being able to start to understand conversations in French.

Each week comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, explanations, exercises and tips about language-learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either on paper in a notebook or on your preferred digital device; in any case each week you’ll be encouraged to add to your own personal phrase book and decide how best you can go about memorising and practising key phrases and vocabulary, and there is a weekly quiz for you to practise what you’ve been learning.

You’ll start by learning how to greet someone and say goodbye, but first of all, take some time, now, to decide how you’ll allocate your time to your studies. Learning French, like learning any language, is a gradual process; it’s often described as ‘a marathon, not a sprint.’ ‘Little and often’ is the best approach, so if at all possible spread your 3–4 hours over the week, rather than devoting one whole afternoon or evening. This will give you plenty of opportunities to revisit vocabulary and language structures, to revise quickly what you did last time and above all to practise and consolidate. This is the best way to learn vocabulary and perfect your accent.

It’s also a very good idea to involve your family and friends; let them know you’ve decided to start learning French and they can help you when you practise what you’ve been learning, or leave you in peace when you need to study.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

- say hello, goodbye and some of the first phrases you might use when meeting a French speaker
- give your name and nationality
- use greetings and partings in different settings
- recognise 'u' and 'ou' sounds and the basic rules of French pronunciation
- distinguish between masculine and feminine forms, spot the differences between them when reading and listening, and pronounce each form correctly.

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OpenLearn - Getting started with French 1
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