New to French? This program is designed to make getting started simple and approachable. Students are guided step by step through the basics, learning essential words, clear grammar, and how French is used in everyday situations.
Each level builds naturally on the last, helping students grow comfortable reading, writing, and speaking French over time. Lessons are clearly organized and move at a steady pace, so beginners can build confidence without feeling overwhelmed.
With guided practice, engaging lessons, native-speaker audio, and a complete test program, the curriculum supports beginners from their first words through meaningful, real-world use of French.
Online Access includes:
- Audio, video, and interactive exercises (twelve unique exercise formats)
- Cultural articles featuring notable people and landmarks from French-speaking countries
- Instant feedback for exercises with corrections for incorrect answers
- Responsive flashcards with audio to reinforce vocabulary
- Oral questions and video instructional capsules
À Vos Marques... Partez ! Beginner "A" and En Route ! Beginner "B" are designed for middle school and introductory high school students. Each level provides a complete, year-long French course with an award-winning, student-friendly approach.
These titles bring the same proven methodology behind Breaking the Barrier's celebrated French curriculum to Middle School and Introductory High School French students — building vocabulary, grammar, and cultural knowledge in a structured, engaging format.
À Vos Marques... Partez ! Beginner "A"
The STEPS Section:
Students begin their journey with an engaging foundational section covering ten essential building blocks — greetings, family, telling time, numbers, weather, days of the week, home and school vocabulary, and more — that help students begin speaking immediately. Students build confidence from day one!
Core Content Covered:
After the foundational section, students work through chapters that are thematically organized. Most chapters feature a region of the French-speaking world.
Each chapter includes:
- A visually designed cultural map of a part of the French-speaking world
- Vocabulary with interactive flashcards for fun and easy practice
- Clear presentation and explanation of grammar topics with plenty of practice
- Practice activities online with correction feedback and the ability to repeat practice as needed
Key Grammar Topics covered:
- Present tense (regular and irregular verbs)
- Passé composé (past tense)
- Progressive constructions
- Object pronouns (direct and indirect)
- Prepositions
- Adjective agreement and placement
Rappel
A special review section in the middle of each chapter called Rappel focuses on concepts presented in earlier chapters, so that students can revisit prior material as they learn new ideas.
Cultural Content:
Up-to-date cultural information from countries and regions such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, Québec, Senegal, and Morocco is offered at the beginning of each chapter. Students are exposed to different French-speaking accents from native speakers throughout the program.
En Route ! Beginner "B"
Students begin En Route ! Beginner "B" by reviewing the major ideas from À Vos Marques... Partez ! Beginner "A", including the present tense, passé composé, progressive constructions, object pronouns, prepositions, and adjective agreement.
Key Grammar Topics covered:
- Imparfait (imperfect tense)
- Future tense
- Passé récent (recent past)
- Commands (imperative mood)
- Reflexive constructions
- Relative pronouns
Rappel
Again, an important review section in the middle of each chapter called Rappel focuses on concepts presented in earlier chapters so that students can easily revisit material as they continue learning.
Cultural Content:
Up-to-date cultural information is introduced at the beginning of each chapter from regions such as Togo, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Benin, Madagascar, Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and more. Immersive articles with audio recorded by native speakers, videos, and literary selections are also featured throughout the program.
Be the first to know when Beginner "A" and Beginner "B" are available.
French Level 1/Beginner
Level 1 requires no prior knowledge of French. The "First Steps" lesson also presents all the sounds of the French language so that students can develop an authentic accent.
- Theme-based, simple words and vocabulary offers students opportunities to learn words relevant to their daily lives at home, school, and beyond.
- An action-packed dialogue series appears throughout the book offering students reading and listening comprehension practice.
Throughout the chapters, easy-to-understand explanations unravel these essential building blocks of language:
- nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions
- the present, passé composé, imperfect, and progressive tenses
- formal command
French Level 2/Intermediate
Level 2 first reviews key grammar topics to ensure that all students have a strong grounding in the present, passé composé and imperfect tenses.
- New lists of vocabulary further expand students' ability to describe the world around them
- An adventure series also is featured in Level 2 as characters travel to exciting new places with unexpected twists and turns
- The new material in Level 2 includes:
- the future, conditional, present perfect, the pluperfect, present subjunctive, and the pluperfect subjunctive tenses
- indefinites, demonstratives, and reflexive pronouns
- informal commands, comparisons
French Level 3/Advanced
Level 3/Advanced targets students in their 3rd or 4th year of French. This title covers all the key grammar found on AP, SAT II, IB, or college placement tests. Continuing the strategies established in French Level 1/Beginner and French Level 2/Intermediate, this title begins by reviewing the major present, past, conditional and future tenses. Cultural articles with comprehension exercises help students get to know stories from people around the world.
Key topics include:
- all perfect tenses, including the present perfect, pluperfect, future perfect and conditional perfect
- the subjunctive mood (with commands, verbs of emotion, hypothetical situations, adverbial phrases)
- comparatives, the passive voice, "if clauses," punctuation, and uses of the infinitive
- intriguing vocabulary, with special focus on adjectives in early chapters, followed by nouns, verbs, and idiomatic expressions
The Advanced title makes certain that every student – whether formally enrolled in school or studying independently – has all the rules he or she will ever need to know about the French language. It fully equips students for a lifetime of authentic contact with the Francophone world.