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AP® French Language and Culture

Note: This course will be revised for the 2026-27 academic year to address College Board CED updates.

This Advanced Placement French Language and Culture course follows criteria, designed by the College Board, to parallel third-year college-level courses in French Composition and Conversation. The rigor of this course is consistent with colleges and universities and will prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. Upon successful completion of the exam, students may receive college credit and will be well-prepared for advanced French coursework. Additional details on this course from College Board can be found here: AP French Language and Culture

In this course, students will explore six big ideas:

(1) Families in Different Societies;

(2) The Influence of Language and Culture on Identity;

(3) Influences of Beauty and Art;

(4) How Science and Technology Affect Our Lives;

(5) Factors That Impact the Quality of Life; and

(6) Environmental, Political, and Societal Challenges.

Students will develop their French skills through three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. There are six required course themes: Families and Communities, Personal and Public Identities, Beauty and Aesthetics, Science and Technology, Contemporary Life, and Global Challenges. Each unit targets a primary theme but also connects to additional recommended contexts for those themes. Teaching to multiple themes ensures a rich curriculum that will spiral, as the themes are revisited through a variety of lenses throughout the course. This allows students to experience the study of language and culture in a variety of authentic and engaging ways.

This course is a rigorous course taught exclusively in French that requires students to improve their proficiency across the three modes of communication, further divided into six course modes. The course focuses on the integration of a wide variety of authentic resources from all over the French-speaking world. Through these authentic texts, students gain meaningful linguistic and cultural growth and insight, leading to greater communication and to interculturality. Using rich, advanced vocabulary and language structures students will build proficiency in all modes of communication toward the intermediate high to advanced low proficiency levels (ACTFL Performance Descriptors).

Students will be expected to enroll in My AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in My AP Classroom throughout the year. My AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, such as AP-style multiple choice and free response questions.

Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam. Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through My AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student's VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.

This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.

Acknowledgements

  • At a minimum, completion of French 3 if the course is equivalent to an intermediate high proficiency level course; completion of French 4 is recommended.
  • Grade of a B or better in the most recent French class.
  • Grammar and syntax of the language and strong skills in speaking, writing, reading, and understanding French are required.
  • In addition to the enrollment fee, this course has an Additional Course Fee of $80.
  • The required summer assignment for AP French Language and Culture can be found in our AP Summer Work Directory.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, you will be able to do the following:

  • Comprehend extended audio selections of an advanced nature
  • Read unedited texts
  • Write a substantial essay on a given topic with few grammatical and idiomatic errors
  • Communicate orally with a native speaker used to dealing with non-native speakers
  • Develop and refine an extensive vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions
  • Use accurately all of the major irregular verbs, compound tenses, the subjunctive mood, the passive voice, conditional sentences, the infinitive, and common prepositions.

Additional Requirements

  • Access select YouTube videos throughout the course.
  • Access to special characters specific to the language, including à, é, è, ù, â, ê, î, ô, û, ë, ï, ü, ç
  • Access to a device with headphone, microphone, and camera.
  • Students will be expected to record and upload videos of themselves speaking in target language in order to exhibit proficiency in the speaking domain using a video tool within the course platform.
  • This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.