Subject guide to French
French at Manchester
At Manchester, degree-level French has been taught since 1894, which is longer than any other UK university. We are proud to continue that tradition and be one of the top 6 universities in the UK for Modern Languages (QS World University Rankings by subject 2025).
Students join a language learning pathway that matches their knowledge/experience (beginner or intermediate). Language learning classes are engaging and interactive to build students’ skills and their confidence with reading, writing, listening and speaking. Cultural course units bring everyone together to learn about Francophone cultures in different regions of the world. Topics are drawn from a range of subjects – art, film studies, history, and politics.
Away from the seminar room, students are encouraged to engage with the film screenings, book clubs, French soirée, theatre workshops, and online talks hosted by The Alliance Française de Manchester, and cultural events at HOME Manchester.
My learning of French during my studies in the University made me confident that I can continue studying in French that’s why I want to do my master’s degree in Paris. I feel like I gained so many skills throughout my first and second year that I feel confident to find employment easily.
Zehra Kes / Politics and French, 2026.
Video: Discover more about studying here
Courses - 2027 entry
French is available as a specialism in the following 4-year degree courses:
- BA Art History and Modern Languages
- BA English Literature and Modern Languages
- BA Film Studies and Modern Languages
- BA History and Modern Languages
- BA International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response and Modern Languages
- BA Linguistics and Modern Languages
- BA Modern Languages and Business and Management
- BA Modern Languages
- BA Politics and Modern Languages
- BA Sociology and Modern Languages
BA Modern Languages has 3 pathways for French and students on this course must choose one:
- French
- French with Digital Humanities
- French and a language chosen from Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian or Spanish.
The degree title on the graduation certificate will state the language(s) that have been studied. For example: BA Art History and Modern Languages (French), BA Modern Languages (French and Spanish), BA Modern Languages (French) and Business and Management.
For information about entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships and bursaries, please visit the online prospectus.
Course structures
Degree courses in French provide students with a range of choices. When considering the choices you’d like to make, please note:
- French has 2 language learning pathways – beginner and intermediate.
- Each year, all students study a total of 120 credits. Each course unit is 20 credits unless indicated.
- The course unit titles for each year of study have been listed.
- Joint honours. In Year 1 students take 60 credits from French. In Years 2 and 4, students can take 40, 60 or 80 credits from French. The remaining credits are taken from the other subject or language.
- Single honours. In Year 1 students take 80 credits from French. In Years 2 and 4, students can choose 80, 100 or 120 credits. Each year, students can choose up to 40 credits from a range of subjects in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, including digital humanities, or the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning.
- Digital Humanities. Students on BA (Hons) Modern Languages that take 40 credits of digital humanities course units each year will graduate with BA (Hons) Modern Languages (French) with Digital Humanities.
- Essential course information for students studying a 4-year degree.
Course content
Each language learning pathway builds students’ knowledge and skills. Skills developed through the beginner pathway include understanding short texts about everyday life and current affairs, engaging in conversations, understanding media reports (television, radio, social media), and writing short pieces of text about a range of subjects.
On the intermediate pathway, French language is studied in context using novels, poetry, film, historical and contemporary media, and business-related texts. Students translate from English to French, and debate and present in French. Through the study of plays, novellas, poetry and film, French Cultural Studies develops students’ socio-historical knowledge of the Ancien Régime, The Third French Republic, post-war France, and post-colonial France
All students
40 credits taken from one of the language learning pathways:
◆ Beginner pathway: French Language 1
◇ Beginner pathway: French Language 2
◈ Intermediate pathway: French Language 3
◈ Intermediate pathway: French Cultural Studies
20 credits from:
◈ Identity in Modern France
French, or French with Digital Humanities
20 credits taken from:
◈ French Project
French
40 credits chosen from:
◆ Free choice units in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures or the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
◆ Course units from Digital Humanities. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
French with Digital Humanities
40 credits taken from:
◆ Course units from Digital Humanities. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2
KEY:
◆ Semester 1
◇ Semester 2
◈ Full Year
Students continue learning French on the beginner or intermediate pathway, prepare for the Residence Abroad year, and study cultural course units. Course units are 20 credits unless indicated.
Stardom in France is mostly taught in French. Students study mainstream and niche French celebrities with different gender, class and cultural identities. By doing so, students analyse popular culture in France and identify issues shaping French society.
Pragmatics: Meaning, Context and Interaction considers how meaning is generated by the use of language in specific contexts of communication. Subtopics covered include conversation analysis, (in)politeness and intercultural communication. This course unit is usually only available to students that have taken English Word and Sentence Structure in Year 1. This course unit is available as a free choice unit from the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
All students
20 credits taken from one of the language learning pathways:
◈ Beginner pathway: French Language 4
◈ Intermediate pathway: French Language 5
French (joint honours) students choose 20, 40 or 60 credits. French (single honours) students choose 60, 80 or 100 credits. French with Digital Humanities students choose 60 credits from:
◆ Art in France
◈ Stardom in France
◇ Temptations of the Tragic: Love and Death in French Literature
◇ Media, Performance & Digital Culture in Contemporary France
◇ Pragmatics: Meaning, Context and Interaction
French
0, 20 or 40 credits chosen from:
◆ Free choice units in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures or the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
◆ Course units from Digital Humanities. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
French with Digital Humanities
40 credits taken from:
◆ Course units from Digital Humanities. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
KEY:
◆ Semester 1
◇ Semester 2
◈ Full Year
This is the Residence Abroad year and students live in a French-speaking country. Opportunities vary from year to year, and some opportunities are selective.
In 2025/26, students studying French could either study or work abroad in France, Belgium or Switzerland, or in a French-speaking province in Canada.
Students studying French and another language, usually divide their time between two countries.
Please see Residence Abroad for information about funding and finance, the support provided to students to find suitable study or work placements, and for videos and blog posts from current students.
Returning from Residence Abroad, all students have a good level of language fluency, and everyone takes the same language learning course unit.
The Dissertation in Modern Languages and Cultures is an optional course unit. This is a guided research project and students develop their own research question and receive support and advice from a supervisor. Contact hours are low (less than 10 hours) and independent study hours are high (391 hours). The dissertation will be written in English but students must demonstrate they analysed or used primary or secondary sources in French.
If students choose Introduction to Interpreting, they cannot choose Introduction to Professional Translation, and vice versa. There are limited places on Introduction to Interpreting, which is also a selective course unit. Students must achieve a minimum of 60% in Year 2 Language course units to apply.
Arts, Culture and Activism in the Age of Social Media is delivered in French. Wild and Tamed draws on French-language novels and graphic novels but lectures and seminars are in English.
All students
20 credits of language learning:
◈ French Language 6
French (joint honours) students choose 20, 40 or 60 credits. French (single honours) students choose 60, 80 or 100 credits. French with Digital Humanities students choose 60 credits from:
◈ Dissertation in Modern Languages and Cultures (40 credits)
◆ Arts, Culture and Activism in the Age of Social Media
◆ Exoticism & Orientalism in C19th France
◆ Introduction to Interpreting: Context, Skills and Modes
◇ History and Memory in Francophone Cinema
◇ Wild and Tamed: Nature in French Culture and Politics
◇ Introduction to Professional Translation
French
0, 20 or 40 credits chosen from:
◆ Free choice units in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures or the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
◆ Course units from Digital Humanities. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
French with Digital Humanities
40 credits taken from:
◆ Course units from Digital Humanities. Some course units are delivered in semester 1, some are delivered in semester 2.
KEY:
◆ Semester 1
◇ Semester 2
◈ Full Year