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CEFR B2 · 59 lessons · 8 units

B2 Upper intermediate

Argue a point, follow the news, and speak with nuance and fluency.

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Unit 1

Nuance and society

  1. 1Nuancing your opinionCommunicationSoften, qualify and partly concede an opinion with il me semble que, dans une certaine mesure, plutôt and je dirais que.
  2. 2Social issuesVocabularyTalk about poverty, inequality, housing, integration and the people and groups who help, without official figures.
  3. 3Subjunctive after conjunctionsGrammarLink two clauses with bien que, avant que, à condition que, jusqu'à ce que, sans que and à moins que, and switch to the infinitive when the subject is the same.
  4. 4Concession and oppositionGrammarContrast two facts and concede a point with malgré, même si, pourtant, cependant, néanmoins, alors que, tandis que, en revanche, quand même and avoir beau.
  5. 5Everyday idiomsVocabularyUnderstand and use 21 very common French idioms about the body, food and animals, with their register.
  6. 6Logical connectorsGrammarLink ideas in writing to add, explain, draw a consequence and give a cause, with en outre, en effet, or, par conséquent, étant donné que, faute de and more.
  7. 7Expressing purposeGrammarSay why you do something with pour, afin de and dans le but de + infinitive, or pour que, afin que and de peur que + subjunctive.
  8. 8Review: Nuance and societyReviewBring the unit together in a nuanced opinion piece on social housing, with concession, connectors, purpose and an idiom.

Unit 2

What might have been

  1. 9The conditionnel passéGrammarForm the conditionnel passé and use it for what could have happened and for news that isn't confirmed: j'aurais aimé, elle serait partie, l'incendie aurait fait deux blessés.
  2. 10Si + plus-que-parfait, conditionnel passéGrammarTalk about the unreal past: si j'avais su, je serais venu. Add the words for luck, chance and near misses.
  3. 11Mixed si-clausesGrammarMix the past and the present in one si-sentence, and use même si, sauf si and au cas où with every tense.
  4. 12The futur antérieurGrammarSay what will have happened by a point in the future, link two future actions with quand, dès que and une fois que, and make guesses about the past: il aura oublié.
  5. 13The past subjunctiveGrammarReact to completed events with the past subjunctive: je suis ravi que tu sois venu, bien qu'elle soit partie tôt. Choose between the present and the past subjunctive.
  6. 14Regret and reproachCommunicationSay what you should have done and what someone else could have done, apologize at the right level, and answer an apology: j'aurais dû, tu aurais pu, si seulement, je vous présente mes excuses.
  7. 15Review: What might have beenReviewBring the unit together in a personal alternative history, with the conditionnel passé, si-clauses, regret, the futur antérieur and the past subjunctive.

Unit 3

News and reporting

  1. 16Politics and institutionsVocabularyFollow political news in French: the government, Parliament, parties, bills and reforms, polls, abstention and resignations.
  2. 17Reported speech in the pastGrammarReport what someone said with a past reporting verb, and shift the tenses correctly: il a dit qu'il viendrait, elle a expliqué qu'elle avait fini.
  3. 18Reported questions and ordersGrammarReport questions and orders in the past: il m'a demandé si j'étais libre, elle m'a dit de ne pas attendre. Add the verbs for ordering, forbidding and allowing.
  4. 19Reporting verbsVocabularyChoose the reporting verb that shows the speaker's attitude, such as affirmer, prétendre, nier, avouer and souligner, and shift time words when you report: la veille, le lendemain.
  5. 20The passive voice in all tensesGrammarUse the passive in every tense, from sera construit to aura été rénové, and choose between par and de: entouré d'un mur, respecté de tous.
  6. 21Alternatives to the passiveGrammarSay what's done without the passive: on, the pronominal passive (ça ne se fait pas, ce plat se mange froid), se voir + infinitive, il est interdit de, and à + infinitive (une maison à vendre).
  7. 22NominalisationGrammarTurn verbs and adjectives into nouns for the dense style of news writing and headlines: la hausse des prix, la fermeture de la gare, la gratuité des transports.
  8. 23Summarising an articleCommunicationPick out an article's main idea and key points, and summarise them neutrally in French, crediting the source: l'article porte sur, il ressort que, en somme.
  9. 24The French pressCultureGet to know the main French national, regional and satirical papers, the AFP and public broadcasting, and what an editorial line is.
  10. 25Review: News and reportingReviewBring the unit together: report an interview in the past, with the right reporting verbs and the passive, and summarise a press release neutrally.

Unit 4

Precision with pronouns

  1. 26lequel, auquel, duquelGrammarUse lequel and its contracted forms as relative pronouns after prepositions: le logiciel avec lequel je travaille, le projet auquel je pense, le parc près duquel j'habite.
  2. 27Prepositions with relative pronounsGrammarChoose the right relative after a preposition: avec qui for people, ce à quoi and ce dont for ideas, de quoi + infinitive, and the concessive quoi que, qui que and où que.
  3. 28Subjunctive in relative clausesGrammarUse the subjunctive in a relative clause when the person or thing is sought, absent or unique: je cherche quelqu'un qui sache, il n'y a personne qui puisse, c'est le meilleur film que j'aie vu.
  4. 29Idiomatic y and enVocabularyUse the everyday verbs built on y and en (s'en aller, s'en sortir, ne t'en fais pas, s'y faire, j'en ai marre) and the neutral le: je le sais, je l'espère, comme je te l'ai dit.
  5. 30Emphasis: c'est… qui / queGrammarPut one part of a sentence in focus: c'est Paul qui a gagné, c'est demain que je pars, c'est moi qui ai fini. Add ce que je veux dire, c'est que…, quant à and spoken dislocation.
  6. 31Review: Precision with pronounsReviewBring the unit together in a neighbourhood newsletter: relatives after prepositions, the subjunctive in relatives, idiomatic y and en, emphasis, and an agreement checklist for compound tenses.

Unit 5

Work and the economy

  1. 32The economy and businessVocabularyTalk about the economy and companies at news level: growth and recession, turnover and profit, shares, competition, investment, redundancies and offshoring.
  2. 33Faire + infinitiveGrammarSay that you have something done or let someone do something: je fais réparer ma voiture, je la fais réparer, elle s'est fait voler son sac, laisse-moi faire.
  3. 34Present participle, gerund, verbal adjectiveGrammarTell apart the gérondif (en travaillant), the written participe présent (ne pouvant pas venir, ayant fini) and the verbal adjective that agrees (des arguments convaincants), and spell the pairs right.
  4. 35The past infinitiveGrammarUse avoir or être + participle after prepositions and verbs, for an earlier action: après être parti, sans avoir dit au revoir, merci de m'avoir aidé, je regrette d'avoir dit ça.
  5. 36Meetings and professional callsCommunicationRun or take part in a meeting or a video call in French: the agenda, taking the floor, video-call phrases, making decisions and writing the minutes.
  6. 37NegotiatingCommunicationMake proposals and counter-offers, set conditions, concede a point and reach an agreement: nous serions prêts à, à condition que, en échange de, quitte à, trouver un terrain d'entente.
  7. 38Presenting data and trendsCommunicationDescribe a chart or a table in French: rises and falls, proportions, averages and comparisons, with augmenter de, passer de… à, la moitié, en moyenne, plus… plus and d'autant plus que.
  8. 39Writing a reportCommunicationWrite a short structured report with findings and recommendations in an impersonal style: le constat, il apparaît que, il convient de, il importe que, il est recommandé de, mettre en œuvre.
  9. 40Review: Work and the economyReviewBring the unit together in a short report on workload: findings, analysis and recommendations, with faire and laisser + infinitive, participles, the past infinitive and report style.

Unit 6

Science and health

  1. 41Science and researchVocabularyTalk about research and the scientific method in French: hypotheses, experiments, samples, results, discoveries and publications.
  2. 42Health and the health systemVocabularyUnderstand how healthcare is organized and paid for in France (Sécurité sociale, mutuelle, médecin traitant, specialists) and talk about prevention and public-health debates.
  3. 43Certainty and probabilityGrammarSay how sure you are, from certain to unlikely, with the right mood: il est probable qu'il viendra, il se peut qu'il vienne. Add sans doute, epistemic devoir (il doit être malade) and le fait que + subjunctive.
  4. 44Writing an argumentative essayCommunicationWrite a structured French essay: la problématique, annoncer le plan, thèse, antithèse, synthèse, a conclusion with an ouverture, and essay phrases such as force est de constater que.
  5. 45Review: Science and healthReviewBring the unit together in a short argumentative essay on a health topic: research and health vocabulary, the probability scale, le fait que, and the dissertation plan.

Unit 7

Culture and the arts

  1. 46Arts and literatureVocabularyTalk about painting, theatre, poetry and literary movements (un tableau, une pièce de théâtre, un vers, un recueil, le romantisme), and recognize the passé simple in literary texts.
  2. 47Key moments in French historyCultureFive turning points of modern French history and the words to talk about them: l'Empire, les deux guerres mondiales, l'Occupation et la Résistance, la décolonisation, la construction européenne.
  3. 48Adjectives that change meaningGrammarUse the adjectives whose meaning depends on their position: un ancien ami / un bâtiment ancien, ma propre voiture / une voiture propre, un grand homme / un homme grand, le même jour / le jour même.
  4. 49Tout, toute, tous, toutesGrammarUse tout as a determiner, a pronoun and an adverb, pronounce tous correctly, and use set phrases (en tout cas, tout de même, tout compte fait, à tout prix) and the indefinites quiconque and quelconque.
  5. 50Describing a work of artCommunicationDescribe, interpret and judge a painting: au premier plan, à l'arrière-plan, évoquer, suggérer, symboliser, frappant, saisissant, sobre, il s'en dégage.
  6. 51Francophone AfricaCultureWhere and how French is used in West and Central Africa and the Maghreb: langue officielle, langue nationale, bilingue, le nouchi, le camfranglais, labelled local words, la négritude and the griots.
  7. 52Review: Culture and the artsReviewBring the unit together in a critical description of a work of art in its historical context: describing, interpreting and judging, tout, adjective position and the passé simple.

Unit 8

Registers and debate

  1. 53Registers of FrenchCommunicationRecognize and choose between familiar, standard and formal French: word triplets (bagnole, voiture, automobile), questions with inversion (Paul vient-il ?), ne… guère, je ne saurais dire, and inversion after peut-être and aussi.
  2. 54Spoken, everyday FrenchVocabularyUnderstand and use everyday spoken French: dropped ne, on and ça, questions like tu fais quoi ?, reductions (t'es, y a, chais pas), fillers (bah, euh, genre, quoi) and markers (du coup, en gros, carrément, grave, trop).
  3. 55Verlan and slangCultureHow verlan works (fou → ouf, louche → chelou, femme → meuf), common slang (un mec, un pote, le fric, kiffer, crevé, c'est la galère), where it comes from and when not to use it.
  4. 56False friendsVocabularyAvoid the false friends English speakers get wrong most often: sensible, éventuellement, assister à, une location, rude, large, un car, supporter, une déception, excité, réaliser, plus a recap of the ones you already know.
  5. 57Taking part in a debateCommunicationTake and keep the floor, interrupt politely, rebut and refocus a debate: si je peux me permettre, laissez-moi finir, je maintiens que, réfuter, objecter que, là n'est pas la question, revenons-en à.
  6. 58Persuasion and hedgingCommunicationPersuade an audience with appeals (avouez que, convenez que), rhetorical questions (n'est-il pas vrai que, ne pensez-vous pas que), imagining (imaginons que + subjunctive), intensifiers (qui plus est, sans compter que) and strategic concession (j'en conviens, quoi qu'on en dise).
  7. 59B2 final reviewReviewReview the whole B2 level: a checklist of what you can do, one key structure from each unit, and a final piece of writing, Mon bilan de B2.