Group Classes

Course information: Emphasis in all of our courses is on communication achieved through active student participation. All classes are conducted in French, giving you maximum exposure to practice the language. Small classes are standard to facilitate communication. All our teachers have native or near-native ability in the language. Visit the Course Levels page for more information on levels or to take a proficiency test. Private, semi-private, and group lessons are available, as well as DELF/DALF test prep.

Contact the school director, at school@afsantarosa.org, for questions about placement. Membership with AFSR is a requirement to enroll in classes and can be purchased on-line.

Take a journey through French history and culture by exploring art, architecture, and politics, style, and more. While the Alliance has traditionally offered classes in French to support language learning, these courses reflect a broader commitment to sharing the richness of French culture with a wider audience.

Beginning French teaches the fundamentals of listening, speaking, reading, and writing French. Common themes covered are greetings, exchanging simple information, restaurant, travel, family, weather, activities and shopping. Students learn correct pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary through student interactions while exploring French and francophone cultures.

As students progress through the beginning levels, new thematic units and vocabulary are introduced such as clothing, careers, daily routines and activities, foods, transportation, and directions. Through paired and group activities, simple conversations, dictations, and grammatical patterns students learn to comprehend, ask and answer questions, and follow instructions in French. Students explore writing and reading while expanding their vocabulary and command of the language.

Intermediate classes offer a variety of approaches in advancing students’ speaking, reading and writing facilities. Ongoing classes include Conversational French for Everyday Situations, Early Intermediate French, Discussion of Short Films, and Short Story/Poems and Song.

Advanced-level students continue to improve their communication skills by summarizing information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation, and expressing themselves spontaneously and fluently with videos, dictations, and discussion.

The graphic above illustrates the usual course of AFSR group class sessions throughout the year.

Current and upcoming session dates:

NOTE: Tutoring (semi-private and private instruction) is available year-round, and is arranged with the school director or directly with the instructor.