Cours Municipal d’Adultes

To learn or improve different writing techniques and strategies. To strengthen and broaden writing skills and thus acquire a more natural writing style. Study of different writing techniques. The courses include practical exercises.

All persons of non-French speaking origin, who have had a school education in their country of origin. Any such person must have a good command of written French (the French as a Foreign Language level 5 of the Municipal Courses for Adults or equivalent). Two units are offered.
To confirm registration for these courses, all applicants must take an entrance test to assess their level.

In order to cover the entire programme and acquire a good command of all writing techniques, it is recommended to take the classes for two consecutive semesters. The choice of the first unit (1 or 2) is left up to the student. Depending on the available places, the results of the entrance test and a balanced number of students in each unit, you may be asked to take a different unit from the one you have chosen.

Unit 1:
Narrative and descriptive techniques:
Learning narrative and descriptive techniques to develop personal writing skills. Study and creation of texts of progressively difficult levels.
General introduction: different types of texts. The functions of communication. Denotation-Connotation. Different writing styles. Lexical groups. Stylistic devices. Simple, composed and complex sentences. Paragraphs and text structure. Punctuation.
Narrative text: features and functions of narration. Speeches and stories. Features of enunciation. Focus. Narrative tenses.
Descriptive text: features and functions of description. Descriptive elements. Types of description (portrait, caricature, pastiche, etc.).

Unit 2:
Argumentative techniques:
Learning argumentative techniques to gradually produce individually formulated arguments.
The characteristics of an argumentative text. Different types of reasoning and arguments. Interrelations and logical connections. Using citations and examples. How to introduce and conclude. Different types of dissertation structures.
Summarizing texts: methodology and practise in writing summaries.