Introduction:
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other languages d’oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) largely supplanted. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents,most of which are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 84 countries which share the official use or teaching of French. French is also one of six official languages used in the United Nations. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; the Democratic Republic of Congo; Algeria; Morocco; Canada (provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick as well as other Francophone regions); Cameroon; Belgium (Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region); Ivory Coast; Tunisia; western Switzerland (Romandy—all or part of the cantons of Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Valais); Monaco; parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States; and various communities elsewhere
The French lessons and comprehension exercises are ranked according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which describes six levels of language proficiency.
- A1 is beginning French, consisting of everyday language like greetings and personal details.
- A2 is low-intermediate French, consisting of survival language: family, shopping, routines.
- B1 is intermediate French, consisting of practical language for work, school, and travel.
- B2 is upper-intermediate French, consisting of conversational language that allows for in-depth discussion, opinions, and spontaneity.
- C1 is advanced French consisting of proficient language: complexity, sub-text, near-fluency.
- At the C2 level, there are no lessons – you just need to talk and read and listen to native speakers to perfect your French. (Near-Native French)