Getting A for LF5001 French Level 1 BDE

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

LF5001 French Level 1

Faculty	School of Humanities Centre for Modern Languages
Semester Taken	AY2024-25 Semester 2
Instructor(s)	Ms Estelle Bech
Credits	3au
Delivery Format	Weekly: 2 tutorials (1hr 20min each)

What is LF5001 French Level 1 about?

LF5001 is an introductory French language course designed for students with no prior background in the language. It focuses on basic communication skills through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. You will learn how to talk about everyday topics like greetings, family, hobbies, identity, and daily routines, as well as pick up essential grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. The course also explores elements of Francophone culture, from food to festivals.

Assessment Breakdown

Component	Weightage
Written 1	15%
Oral 1	15%
Written 2	15%
Oral 2	20%
Written 3	15%
Participation	20%

My Experience

For this mod, you can choose between an index that has one three-hour session per week or one that splits into two 1.5-hour sessions. I personally went with the latter because it helps with spaced repetition and retention, and tbh sitting through 3 hrs straight of a new language can be brutal. The shorter, more frequent classes felt a lot more manageable and digestible.

That being said, learning a language is no walk in the park. If you want to do well, you have to put in the work. I came into this course with absolutely zero French background (I didn’t even watch French shows or listen to French music), so everything was new to me. I would say grinding this mod became my biggest time commitment this sem because I had to build everything from scratch. So unless you're planning to SU, take this mod only if you can COMMIT TO IT.

The learning curve starts off gentle and you'll start with basic topics like greetings, how to introduce yourself, nationalities, and languages. But then the pace picks up quickly and towards the end of the sem you will be expected to do more complex tasks like describing someone’s daily routine or giving directions. Be prepared.

Lots of group activities in the class Telegram group!

French is also not the easiest language to learn. There are a lot of small details to remember like masculine versus feminine nouns, pronunciation rules like liaison, and the dreaded conjugations which come in many forms and variations. Verb endings will seriously test your memory and your patience so be prepared to grind if you don't want to fall behind.

The biggest pain point for me was definitely the weekly Classiels we had to complete on NTULearn. They count for 8% under participation, and I thought since it was one of the few components I could fully control, I made it a point to get full marks for each of them. I would redo them multiple times until I got everything right. Again, lots of time invested.

Overall, learning a new language can feel like a personal achievement if you choose to see it that way. It may be challenging but it's also incredibly rewarding bc it pushes your brain to form new neural networks and helps you think in ways you never have before. If you lean into the process, you might actually enjoy it more than you expect! But that said, do not expect this mod to be chill. It demands time, consistency, and effort every week throughout the sem.

Study Tips

Let me just say Quizlet was my girl. I used flashcards to study for everything the entire sem and had over 1000 at the end. I set the prompts in English and the answers in French. They also have a very useful audio feature which lets you hear the French pronunciation. I’d try to answer the flashcard prompts on foolscap paper first, then flip the card to check. This forces you to recall actively rather than just guessing in your head, and helps you test whether you actually know the answer.

Another tool I relied heavily on was ChatGPT. It was tremendously helpful for breaking down grammar rules, clarifying when and why to use certain words, and giving examples in context. I also prompted it to give me mini quizzes based on what I was learning, attempted them on paper, and then asked it to generate an answer key so I could mark my own work. A huge part of learning anything is through retrieval practice i.e. testing yourself regularly so I highly, highly recommend this.

As for the Classiels (weekly homework), try to pair up with someone. Sharing answers is super helpful because sometimes it's hard to spot where you went wrong, and truthfully, you don’t want to spend 6 hours puzzling over a weekly task that only contributes a small fraction to your final grade. Working together makes things more efficient by leaps and bounds.

Lastly, a gentle reminder: input does not always translate into output. You cannot learn a language just by reading and passively absorbing. You have to practise and produce – whether that's speaking aloud, writing things out, or testing yourself regularly. Consistent effort is paramount!

Final grade: A 🇫🇷✨