French courses
The association Chercheurs Étrangers à Nantes organizes French courses for researchers and their spouse, three times a year.
If our groups are full, we can also guide you towards other French class possibilities in Nantes.
Our classes target the 4 competences (oral and written, comprehension and production) with an emphasis on oral. The aim of the class is to provide to international researchers with the basics of French in order to navigate daily life and daily work situations while in France.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Classes take place at the residence Maison des Chercheurs Étrangers, in city center, 8 rue Perrault, near Hôtel Dieu tram stop.
Each course is a 30-hour session. It’s not necessary to have attended the previous sessions of the year to join. Each class meets twice a week, from 6 to 8 pm, over approximately 8 to 9 weeks.
-> FALL SESSION (from mid-October to mid-December),
-> WINTER SESSION (from the end of January -till the end of March),
-> SPRING SESSION (from mid-April to mid or late June).
The classes are conducted by three language teachers from the ‘Institut de Français Langue étrangère de Nantes Université’.
A class can count and be included in some of the doctoral programs, upon agreement with the head of your doctoral cursus (please check directly with your Doctoral School).
At the end of a session, an attendance report will be issued to the researcher and his/her lab (if it has been financing the class for the researcher). We DO NOT provide level certification.
GROUP LEVELS
Each session presents three independent classes based on three levels. Each group has a maximum of 12 to 14 participants, except level 3, with a cap at 10.
- Level 1 (Mondays and Wednesdays for spring 2025 session) is primarily designed for complete beginners, people who never took any French classes or very few.
- Level 2 (Tuesdays and Thursdays for spring 2025 session) is designed for people who took some French classes before but never got to practice much, are still struggling talking in daily life, and understanding or using basic past/future tenses.
- Level 3 (Mondays and Wednesdays for spring 2025 session) is for the 9 -10 most advanced candidates of the 36 registered. This class is usually composed of people with some solid oral basics, but need to practice complex sentences or conditional/subjunctive uses, etc. In general, you need a A2 level minimum to be in this group and should hope to finish with a level close to B1.1.
If our levels 1 and 2 are stronger, then level 3 group could start with a A2/B1 level and target a solid B1 at the end.
WHICH LEVEL WILL I BE PLACED INTO ?
At registration’s time, our staff does a pre-organization of the groups. Soline will tell you in which level you are placed at that point. HOWEVER, the teachers are the ones who will ultimately decide by the end of first week of class, the actual level you will attend. You’ll take an entrance level test during the first class. 90% of the students will stay in the group pre-determined during registration. But a few will be moved to a higher or lower level than initially mentioned, and this in order to make sure they are in the best group fitting their needs.
We care to create homogenous groups where everyone will progress.
Therefore, unless you are a total beginner, when registering, make sure you will be present during the 1st week of class for the entrance test, and you are indeed available Monday to Thursday evenings, since you might end up having class on a different evening than initially thought. This chance is very slim, but it does happen every session for 2-3 people. Please make sure you have this in mind when registering.
IMPORTANT ! There won’t be any reimbursement possible based on the fact we re-oriented you to a different group.
REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION (BY PHONE ONLY !!!) will start on Tuesday April 1st 2025 at 9:30AM.
IMPORTANT ! Please call us (02 53 46 21 73) ahead of registration (no email) in order for our staff to make a first assessment of your French level. This first exchange of a few minutes over the phone simplifies the registration process on April 1st.
Once you have registered on April 1st, you will need to come to our office a few days later to pay and finalize your registration.
Next session will start on MONDAY APRIL 14th 2025, and will end on Thursday 12 or 19th of June 2025 (the exact date for the last class of your group can be extended from a few days to a week, pending on unexpected teacher sick day).
COURSE FEE
For a 30-hour course, the fee is :
-> 190€ if the researcher pays directly for the course (payment in two instalments is possible, but the total must be paid by mid class). You can pay in cash, bank transfer from a euro account, or by French cheque payable to Association Chercheurs Étrangers à Nantes.
-> 250€ if the researcher’s laboratory pays for the course via a purchase order.
ATTENTION: We do not proceed to full or partial reimbursement if the student has missed class time for medical, professional or personal reasons. The schedule of the class is provided at registration, so it is the student’s responsibility to determine his/her availability for the course.
If a teacher is absent for medical reasons, he or she will replace the cancelled class at the end of the session. If a student is absent, these training hours are lost.
