A1 → B1PopularReading
Reading Real Life: Signs, Menus, Letters
The documents of daily life, laid out like the real thing.
B2 → C1Free
Great French Short Stories
Maupassant and Daudet in short extracts, with the passé simple made simple.
Three famous short stories in the public domain, read through short original extracts, summaries and questions: Maupassant’s “La Parure”, a cruel twist about appearances; Daudet’s “La Chèvre de monsieur Seguin”, a tale about freedom with two possible morals; and Daudet’s “La Dernière Classe”, the last French lesson in Alsace in 1871. You learn to recognise the passé simple, to tell background from events, to use the future in the past, and to write a nuanced, argued opinion at C1 level.
Lessons
- 1
Maupassant, “The Necklace”
A young woman dreams of luxury, borrows a diamond necklace for one evening and loses it: read the opening and the famous twist, and learn to recognise the passé simple.
- 2
Daudet, “Mr. Seguin’s Goat”
A little goat prefers freedom in the mountains to safety in the barn: a tale with two possible morals, and the imparfait and passé simple of storytelling.
- 3
Daudet, “The Last Lesson”
In 1871 an Alsatian schoolboy attends his last French lesson: language, identity and memory, the tenses of narration, and an argued opinion.
Final assessment
Ten questions drawn from the whole course. Score 70% or more to earn your certificate.
What you will be able to do
- 01Read 19th-century literary French
- 02Recognise the passé simple
- 03Interpret irony and morals
- 04Write a nuanced opinion (C1)
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