French
How to learn French at the Language Centre including pathways, timetables and fees.
Michaelmas Term Course Timetable 2021
For Learners without an Oxford University SSO, or who are not members of the University, enrolment information can be found here.
| Mode of delivery | Course Pathway | *Stage | Part | Duration |
Day and time of classes |
Date of first class | Date of final class | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Mondays 16:00-17:00 |
18 October 2021 | 22 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Mondays 17:00-18:00 |
18 October 2021 | 22 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Academic | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesdays 16:00-17:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Academic | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 11:00-12:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Academic | 2 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Fridays 13:00-14:00 |
22 October 2021 | 26 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 12:00-13:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 14:00-15:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 17:00-18:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 12:00-13:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 1 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 18:00-19:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 2 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesdays 16:00-17:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 2 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 10:00-11:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 2 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 17:00-18:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 3 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesdays 10:00-11:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 3 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 17:00-18:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 3 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesday 10:00-11:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 3 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesday 18:00-19:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 3 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 17:00-18:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 4 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Fridays 10:00-11:00 |
22 October 2021 | 26 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 4 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesdays 14:00-15:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 4 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesdays 17:00-18:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 5 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 12:00-13:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 5 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 16:00-17:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 6 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Mondays 17:00-18:00 |
18 October 2021 | 22 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 6 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 14:00-15:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 6 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 17:00-18:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | **Hybrid (online/in-person) | General | 7 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 10:00-11:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | General | 7 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Tuesdays 16:00-17:00 |
19 October 2021 | 23 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 7 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Wednesdays 12:00-13:00 |
20 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | General | 7 | 1 |
Weeks 2-7 |
Thursdays 10:00-11:00 |
21 October 2021 | 25 November 2021 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Fast Track | 1+2 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Mondays and Wednesdays 14:00-15:00 | 18 October 2021 | 15 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Fast Track | 1+2 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 09:00-10:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 1+2 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 13:00-14:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 1+2 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 17:00-18:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 1+2 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 18:00-19:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Fast Track | 2+3 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Mondays and Wednesdays 13:00-14:00 | 18 October 2021 | 15 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 2+3 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 13:00-14:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 2+3 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 17:00-18:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 2+3 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 18:00-19:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 3+4 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 18:00-19:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Fast Track | 3+4 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Wednesdays and Fridays 12:00-13:00 |
20 October 2021 | 17 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 3+4 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Wednesdays and Fridays 16:00-17:00 |
20 October 2021 | 17 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Fast Track | 4+5 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 09:00-10:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 4+5 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 13:00-14:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | In-person | Fast Track | 5+6 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 13:00-14:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
| Closed for enrolment | Online | Fast Track | 5+6 | 1,2,3 |
Full year |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 18:00-19:00 |
19 October 2021 | 16 June 2022 |
Enrolment is now closed. Please join our mailing list to be kept informed of when enrolment opens for our intensives courses at the end of term.
To identify which Stage is right for you, please refer to the Assess your level page or read the dedicated paragraph in the course handbook.
MT = Michaelmas Term (October - December); HT = Hilary Term (January - March); TT = Trinity Term (April-June)
*For General and Academic courses, a Stage is made up of three Parts, usually Part 1 is Michaelmas term, Part 2 is Hilary term and Part 3 is Trinity term. However, in some instances we will run another Part 1 in Hilary term due to popularity, please check the timetable carefully. Please note, complete beginners (Stage 1) cannot join Parts 2 or 3 if they have not completed Part 1.
**This course will be taught on a pilot experimental hybrid mode using our classroom digital equipment and learners will be able to join flexibly in person or online via MS Teams.
Waiting lists, funding, enrolment and mode of delivery
If the course on which you would like to enrol is fully booked, please check the timetable to see if the same course is being offered at a different time (many of our courses have several iterations, each with a different day/time for the ‘class'). In addition, we operate a first-come, first-served waiting list, simply click on the Join the Waiting List button alongside the course of your choice and we will email you if a space becomes available.
Priority funding for Michaelmas term courses is now closed.
If you need to learn a language to support your studies, you can ask your college, department or faculty to sponsor you via our Priority Funding scheme. You'll need to seek permission from your tutor/supervisor, obtain the email address of the financial signatory in your college/department/faculty, and click on the link to the Priority Funding Application Form below.
Please do not enrol yourself on the course prior to your application being approved. When the Language Centre receives confirmation of approval from your college/department, we will enrol you onto the course and email you to confirm.
The deadline to submit your application is 12 noon on Wednesday, 13 October 2021 (Week 1). Priority Funding is not available for Fast Track courses. See our course handbook for more information.
Colleges will consider refunding students up to half the Fast Track course fees on completion of the course at the end of Trinity term. Please contact your college to find out more about their arrangements before you start your course. A form to record the agreement between a student and their college of their eligibility for the reimbursement scheme is available for students to download below: it should not be returned to the Language Centre.
For Learners with an Oxford University SSO (Single Sign-On) simply click on the enrol button next to the class that you wish to join.
For Learners without an Oxford University SSO, or who are not members of the University, please email admin@lang.ox.ac.uk with the following details:
- Full name
- Email address and phone number
- The name of the course you wish to study (including Stage and Part)
- The start date and time of the course
- Your connection to Oxford University, if any (to determine course fee)
We will then provisionally enrol you onto the course and send you a link to the Oxford University Online Store for payment. Once payment is received we will confirm your place on the course.
What happens after I enrol?
After enrolment you will receive an automated booking email to confirm your payment. From Week 1 you will be added to the course on Canvas (Oxford University's Virtual Learning Environment). You will receive an invitation to join Canvas, please accept it and follow the instructions for your course and make sure to go through your learning pathway before your first live session with your tutor. Course materials will be available a week before each live session. Please make sure that you read the course handbook for the course you wish to take with us as this contains more detailed information.
For Learners without an Oxford University SSO, please find useful information about Canvas in the dedicated page for external learners.
We teach our courses through a flexible and inclusive mode of delivery. In 2021/22 we are offering courses which are either entirely online (these courses all have ‘online’ in their title) or which have the live classes held in person at the Language Centre.
Our courses include a combination of online learning pathways, activities and feedback using the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Canvas, and small group conversation classes every week (either online or in person).
This mode of delivery enables you to:
• Work flexibly at your own pace
• Have access to a complete set of learning materials before each class and beyond the life of the course to master and review
• Get high quality generic and individual feedback
• Interact in small groups, which gives you an excellent opportunity to put your weekly learning into practice.
Please note that our ability to maintain the in-person course option throughout the term or academic year will depend on circumstances; we will follow government and University Covid-19 regulations and guidance and may therefore have to move in-person courses to online as required. Please see our terms and conditions for more information.
- Focus on communication and use of all four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking)
- Term by term commitment
- Entry: first-come, first-served
- Fully funded option available with Priority funding scheme
- Certificates of attendance and completion available
- Taught in weeks 2-7 every term (part 1 in Michaelmas, part 2 in Hilary and part 3 in Trinity)
- Number of classes per week: 1
- Length of class: 1 hour
- Learning pathway including language instruction and guided learning: 1.5 - 2 hours per week
- Recommended self-study and practice time: 2 hours per week
- Focus primarily on reading and on learners' academic needs for the language
- Term by term commitment
- Entry: first-come, first-served
- Fully funded option available with Priority funding scheme
- Certificates of attendance and completion available
- Taught in weeks 2-7 every term (part 1 in Michaelmas, part 2 in Hilary and part 3 in Trinity)
- Number of classes per week: 1
- Length of class: 1 hour
- Learning pathway including language instruction and guided learning: 1.5 hours per week
- Recommended self-study and practice time: 2 hours per week
- Focus on communication and use of all four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking)
- Yearly commitment with possible entry point in Hilary term
- Entry: first-come, first-served
- Fully funded (and contributory) options available with some programmes of Study from selected Faculties / departments (Mathematical Institute, Material Sciences, Physics and Chemistry) see appendix 3 in the Fast Track handbook for further information
- Part funding reimbursed by Colleges upon completion of course and assessments
- Certificates of attendance and completion available
- Number of classes per week: 2
- Length of class: 1 hour
- 2 learning pathways per week: 3 to 4 hours including language instruction videos and guided learning activities, communicative tasks and feedback
- Recommended additional self-study and practice time: 1 to 2 hours per week
Whether you have been short of time or found it difficult to keep up with your course, or if you prefer learning in a more intensive and focussed manner, we run a selection of our most popular General and Academic courses during Weeks 8, 9 and 10 at the end of each term. Enrolments for these courses will normally open in Week 6 .
-
Limited variety of Stages available, mostly beginner and advanced
-
Term by term commitment
-
Taught in Weeks 8, 9 and 10 every term (part 1 in Michaelmas, part 2 in Hilary and part 3 in Trinity)
-
Number of classes per week: 2
-
Length of class:1 hour
-
Expected hours of self-guided study learning outside the classroom (supported by Canvas, the University’s new Virtual Learning Environment): 12
-
Entry: first-come, first-served
-
Fully-funded Priority places available for students sponsored by their college/department (see Priority Funding box on this page for further information)
-
Certificates of course completion and attendance are available, please see the course handbook for conditions
Don't miss out
Join our newsletter to receive notification of the courses we will be offering as Intensives this year!
Further resources
Library shelfmark: FR
OF for Old French (with also some books available in the Pléiade collection)
At Oxford
- Oxford - Some useful links
- La Maison Française d' Oxford
- The Taylor Institution Library
- French at Oxford for undergraduates
- OXAM Digital copies of most of the official examination papers (including the Honours School Examination for Modern Languages) presented by the University of Oxford. Please note: access is limited to those in the Oxford domain.
- The last five years of the listening comprehension and discourse topics examinations are available on WebLearn They also are in print in the library with audio materials available for the listening comprehension examination.
General
General courses
- Alliance Française d'Oxford
- Apprendre le Français avec TV5 Monde
- BBC French
- Culturethèque a digital plateform, which offers free e-books, audio, videos for all UK resident
- France diplomatie links page of French sites on a variety of topic
- French e-course from the University of Texas at Austin
- Introduction to French Studies Online course material from the University of Toronto. Includes an outline of French history, extracts from French literature, and work tasks (essays, etc)
- Institut de France
- Kanedix contains many links to various websites for learning French at beginner's level. Also some information about the language itself
- Love France learing French online page a selection of websites to help you learn French
- Office québécois de la langue française
- Le point du FLE a very rich site with lots of exercises
- Resources for French beginners
- Start Local a selection of sites to learn French from beginner's level
- Test de Français langue étrangère et seconde
Local languages in France and dialects of French
- Bourguignon-morvandiau: dictionary
- Breton: dictionary Skol Ober (online lessons)
- Le picard Le patois du Nord-Pas de Calais
- Le patois de Paris
- Le dictionnaire provençal and information on the provençal language
- Québécois from Lexilogos, links to many useful sites including radio canada, wikipedia Quebec French phonology
Dictionaries
- Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
- Dictionnaire de français Littré
- Dictionnaire Le Robert
- Larousse médical
- Synonymes Dictionary
- Vélo-dictionnaire dictionary of cycling terms, French/English, English/French.
Grammar
- Ortholud (for beginners)
- French grammar lessons Also includes URLs to listening, writing, speaking, vocabulary and spelling resources
Listening
- Litterature audio.com a fantastic collection of audio books with 4092 titles for the visually impaired
- Literature of French expression read aloud or sung from the University of Tennessee at Martin
Pronunciation
- Alphabet phonétique phonetic alphabet for the sounds of French
- Dictée donnée avec les signes de l'api: l'heure de la violette literary extracts given in phonetic alphabet: your task is to retranscribe them in French
Vocabulary
- Délégation générale à la langue française
- LanguageGuide.org French vocabulary
- Goethe-Tests
- Vocabulary list from French Learner.com
Writing
- Orthogram.com orthographe et grammaire
Blogs and MOOCs
- Adventures on the bookshelf from Oxford University. In English, for anyone interested in French language and culture. Also useful for students considering studying French at Oxford University
- Cinéma et culture française à Oxford
- La plume francophone
- Le blog de Pierre Assouline la république des livres (advanced level)
- Le blog des correcteurs du Monde Langue sauce piquante (very advanced level)
- Ortholud apprendre le Français en s'amusant (beginner's level) accompanying blog to Ortholud website
- MOOC francophone a directory of MOOCs in French
- Flot.sillages.info for helping access to the Grandes Ecoles
- IDBOOX a selection of MOOCs
- Solerni culture MOOC for the history of art
- Coursera (also in English) MOOCs created by some French Grandes Ecoles
- France Universite Numerique MOOC which also has specific courses (heathcare, engineering, economy, finance)
- Open Classrooms MOOCs created by some French Grandes Ecoles
- Sup Numerique portail numérique pour l'éducation dans le supérieur
- France television education a collection of MOOCs for highschool studies and preparation for the bac and the brevet
Business and Economics
- Les Echos Daily economic information
- Le Monde Economie française
- Insee Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques
Culture
- General
- Académie française
- Commission Canadienne de Tourisme
- La FNAC cultural shop
- Literature of French expression read aloud or sung from the University of Tennessee at Martin
- Ministry of Culture France
- Les Bandes Dessinées (Links to Francophone cartoons/comics)
- BD oubliées
- Dargaud édition
- Drozophile édition
- Futuropolis édition
- Les Humanoïdes Associés édition
- Festival d'Angoulême
- Moving images
- Cannes
- Centre national de la cinématographie
- Cinématheque française online French cinema museum.
- Ecran noir Online magazine for cinema.
- Gaumont Archives of the French film company, including a history of the Cannes Film Festival
- Gobelins the moving image school, worth checking their youtube channel
- INA Institut national de l'audiovisuel
- Unifrance For the promotion of French cinema
- Food and Drink
- La Francophonie
- Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
- Documentation Française dossier Francophonie excellent site with serious documentation
- Littérature francophone wikipedia which can be acadienne, africaine, algérienne, belge, guadeloupéenne, haïtienne, indienne, marocaine, martiniquaise, mauricienne, polynésienne, québéquoise, réunionnaise, suisse ou tunisienne
- Mondes en VF Francophone literature with extracts of new books and audio
- Galleries, Museums and Libraries
- Literature
- Fabula
- Littérature francophone entry from wikipedia which can be acadienne, africaine, algérienne, belge, guadeloupéenne, haïtienne, indienne, marocaine, martiniquaise, mauricienne, polynésienne, québéquoise, réunionnaise, suisse ou tunisienne.
- Poésie française selection of over 1500 French poems, searchable by author, title and century. Some poems can also be listened to via Real Audio.
- Salon du Livre le rendez-vous littéraire de l'année.
- Littérature orale et écrite des îles
- Theatre
- La Comédie-Française
- L'Odéon Includes 8,500 item library, archives specialising in the history of theatre.
- Théâtre de la Colline
- Théâtre de la Criée (Théâtre national de Marseille)
- Le Théâtre national de Strasbourg
Geography
- Agropolis Site for the association of research and higher education institutes in agronomy, specialising in Mediterranean and tropical areas.
- Le Courrier de l'Environment de l'INRA Journal produced by the ME&S (Mission Environment and Society) of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research - INRA. Searchable by theme - e.g. fox-hunting, the greenhouse effect, etc.
- French Départements and their reference codes.
- Section de Géographie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure Includes summaries of various research topics - look for these on the section members' own pages
- Institut Géographique National
- Météo-France
- Palais de la découverte
- Recherche 'La Recherche est la première revue internationale d'information scientifique et technique de langue française'.
- RiverNet Site from the European Rivers Network - information about European rivers. In French, English or German.
Government
- Assemblée nationale
- Assemblée nationale du Québec
- Education department official homepage
- French senate official homepage
Media
Latest news will be on the Library Netvibes page
If you can't find the media you want, try our multilingual page
- CSA Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel
- INA Institut national de l'audiovisuel
- Print
- Le Canard Enchainé the title page is available
- Courrier International Summaries of international news stories, links to the original source newspaper and other related sites covering the topic in question
- France-Amerique
- Le Parisien
- Le Monde
- Les Echos Daily economic information
- Libération
- Ouest-France
- La Presse, CA
- Le Devoir Montreal's daily newspaper
- Radio
- TV
Science and Technology
- Musée des sciences et de la technologie du Canada
- D&NT Legal issues surrounding new technology
- Unité Réseaux du CNRS
Sport
- RDS Canadian French sports link
- L'Equipe French sport newspaper
- Le Web du Tour de France available in English, French and German
Miscellany
- Commission Nationale de l'informatique et des libertés
- Europa A directory of 200 French language schools throughout France. Includes regional details and details of language exams
- Jeu de l'oie game
Course fees
Useful links
General course handbook
Course textbooks
Information about course textbooks can be found in the course handbooks above.
