🇫🇷 KS3 FRENCH (Years 7–9)

Students progressively develop six key areas:

🗣️Communication

Students learn to communicate in increasingly detailed ways — from introducing themselves and answering questions to describing experiences, expressing opinions and explaining their ideas.

📚 Vocabulary

Students build a broad and carefully selected vocabulary base, regularly revisiting and applying words in different contexts.

🔤 Grammar

Students develop an understanding of how French sentences work, including gender, agreement, adjectives, negatives, questions and word order.

⏳ Verbs & Tenses

Students gradually develop control of different time frames so they can talk about what they do, what they have done and what they are going to do.

🇫🇷 Pronunciation & Phonics

Students develop their understanding of French sound patterns, pronunciation and spelling so that they can read and speak French with increasing confidence.

💡 Opinions & Extended Language

As students progress, they learn to give opinions, explain reasons, compare ideas, use connectives and develop longer, more detailed answers.

KS3 is a gradual journey. Students don't need to produce sophisticated French from day one. Instead, they build their language step by step.

Hear it → Understand it → Say it → Develop it → Use it independently

For example, a student might begin with:

J'aime le tennis.

Then learn to extend the idea:

J'aime le tennis parce que c'est amusant.

And eventually develop a more detailed response:

Je préfère jouer au tennis parce que c'est amusant et je peux faire du sport avec mes amis.

The important development isn't simply the number of words a student knows.

It is their growing ability to combine, adapt and manipulate the language they know.

Our KS3 programme develops French through a range of familiar, relevant and increasingly challenging topics. These may include:

• Introducing yourself
• Family and relationships
• Describing people
• Personal information

• School
• Subjects and opinions
• Daily routines
• Lifestyle

• Hobbies
• Sport
• Free time
• Entertainment
• Festivals and traditions

• Travel
• Places and countries
• Culture
• Future plans
• Experiences and ambitions

Topics are revisited and connected so that students learn to reuse language in new contexts, rather than learning each topic in isolation.

As students build their vocabulary and grammatical knowledge, they learn to communicate about themselves, their lives and their experiences.

Students work towards being able to:

✓ Give opinions
✓ Explain and justify reasons
✓ Describe people and activities
✓ Talk about past experiences
✓ Discuss future plans
✓ Ask and answer questions
✓ Use a wider range of verbs
✓ Connect ideas together
✓ Give longer, more detailed answers

The goal: I can describe, explain and narrate in French.

As students become more confident, they begin to manipulate language more independently.

They work towards being able to:

✓ Express more complex opinions
✓ Justify and develop ideas
✓ Compare different things
✓ Use different time frames
✓ Produce longer answers
✓ Understand less familiar language
✓ Adapt familiar language to new situations
✓ Communicate with greater spontaneity

The goal: I can express and justify my ideas in French.

This growing independence is one of the most important foundations for successful GCSE French.

Grammar is an essential part of our KS3 programme.

But students don't simply learn grammar rules and complete exercises in isolation.

We teach grammar so that students can use it to communicate. Across their KS3 learning journey, students develop their understanding and use of:

• Sentence structure
• Gender and agreement
• Adjectives
• Questions
• Negatives
• Possessive adjectives
• Reflexive verbs
• Connectives
• Comparisons
• Key irregular verbs
• Different time frames

Grammar is continually revisited and applied so that students gradually become more accurate and more confident.

One of the important steps during KS3 is learning to communicate across different time frames.

Talking about what they do, what they like and what is happening.

Talking about what they did, what happened and their experiences.

Talking about plans, intentions, ambitions and what they will do.

As students become more confident, they learn to combine time frames and manipulate familiar structures rather than simply reproduce memorised sentences.

This helps prepare them for the increasingly independent language required at GCSE.

Good pronunciation starts with understanding how French sounds work.

Throughout KS3, students continue to develop their awareness of:

✓ French sound-spelling patterns
✓ Silent letters
✓ Common French sounds
✓ Word endings
✓ Pronunciation of familiar and unfamiliar words
✓ Reading French aloud

Regular phonics and pronunciation practice helps students become more confident both when speaking and when encountering new vocabulary.

Learning a language is cumulative.

Students need to remember what they have learned previously while continuing to build new knowledge.

That's why we regularly revisit earlier learning through:

✓ Retrieval questions
✓ Vocabulary practice
✓ Speaking activities
✓ Listening tasks
✓ Reading
✓ Grammar review
✓ Short writing activities
✓ Games and interactive activities

This helps students build a stronger, more connected knowledge of French over time.

French is a living language spoken by millions of people around the world. We use cultural material, texts, activities and discussion to help students discover more about French-speaking countries and communities. Students may explore:

• French-speaking cultures
• Festivals and traditions
• Everyday life
• Young people's experiences
• French-speaking countries and regions
• Cultural differences and similarities

This helps students understand that French is not simply a school subject. It is a language used by real people in real places.

As students progress through the programme, they work towards being able to:

✓ Introduce themselves and hold conversations
✓ Ask and answer questions
✓ Understand increasingly challenging spoken French
✓ Read and understand short texts
✓ Write increasingly detailed sentences and paragraphs
✓ Express and justify opinions
✓ Talk about past, present and future events
✓ Use a wider range of vocabulary and verbs
✓ Apply grammar more accurately
✓ Understand French sound-spelling patterns
✓ Respond to less familiar language
✓ Adapt familiar language to new situations
✓ Communicate with greater independence

Most importantly, students develop the confidence to use what they know.

  A curriculum with purpose. Teaching with flexibility.

Our KS3 programme has been carefully designed to develop the knowledge and skills students need for long-term success in French.

Small-group learning

Students have regular opportunities to speak, listen, practise and ask questions in a supportive environment.

A clear learning journey

Lessons form part of a carefully planned progression. Previous learning is revisited while new vocabulary, grammar and communication skills are introduced.

Flexible teaching

Students don't all arrive with the same starting point. Our curriculum gives us the structure to know where students are going, while our teaching allows us to adapt how they get there.

Real communication

We want students to understand and use French — not simply memorise sentences.

Confidence and accuracy

Students are encouraged to take risks, make mistakes, try again and gradually become more accurate and independent.

Preparation for the next stage

KS3 provides the foundations students need as they move towards GCSE and increasingly sophisticated French.

Would you prefer to create a group with friends or classmates? You can create your own BELingual French group with 1, 2, 3 or more students. Self-formed groups provide a flexible way to learn together, with teaching adapted to the needs and level of the students in the group.

📞 07862 294119
✉️ contact@belingualfr.co.uk

For some students, private tuition can be a useful addition to their group learning. Private lessons can provide focused support with:

🎯 Specific areas
Vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, speaking or writing.

🔄 Consolidation
Revisiting and practising language introduced in group lessons.

🧩 Knowledge gaps
Addressing areas missed at school or from previous learning.

🗣️ Speaking confidence
Providing additional one-to-one opportunities to practise communication.

🚀 Extension
Moving ahead when a student is ready for greater challenge.

💡 Individual pace
Spending more time on areas that need explanation or moving ahead when a student is ready.

For some students, group lessons + private tuition can be an excellent combination.

Group lessons provide the opportunity to learn alongside other students, practise communication and develop confidence in a social environment.

Private lessons provide dedicated time for individual goals, targeted support and consolidation.

Together, they can provide both the benefits of collaborative learning and the flexibility of personalised teaching.

Day: Friday evenings during term time
Time: 6:30–7:30pm
Duration: 1 hour
Cost: £25 per lesson

Annual registration & administration fee: £45 per student per academic year (September–August).

This fee covers registration and administration for the academic year.

Not sure whether KS3 French is right for your child?

Get in touch and we can discuss their current level, confidence and learning needs.

We can help you decide whether a regular group class, a self-formed group, private tuition or a combination would be the best fit.

📞 07862 294119
✉️ contact@belingualfr.co.uk

At BELingual, our goal is to help students develop a genuine ability to communicate in French.

KS3 is where those foundations become stronger:

Vocabulary → Grammar → Communication → Confidence → Independence

And those foundations provide the platform for the next stage of their French journey.

BELingual — building confident language communicators from first words to GCSE success.