Is this the same as French 2 in a middle school world language sequence?

It follows the usual second-year scope: past tenses (passé composé and imparfait), object pronouns, reflexive verbs, partitives, and the near future. Because sequences differ by school and textbook, you can tell Evelyn which chapter or unit your class is on and sessions will follow that order instead.

My child got through French I fine but is lost in the past tense. Can you help with just that?

Yes. The passé composé is where most second-year students stall, usually over the avoir/être choice and participle agreement. Sessions can focus entirely on that until the student can narrate a short past-tense story out loud without stopping to think about the auxiliary.

Will my child actually speak French, or just learn grammar rules?

Sessions are spoken. Evelyn asks questions in French and expects answers in French, with pronunciation corrected as you go — including the ones that trip up English speakers, like the nasal vowels in 'vin' and 'vent', the French r, and knowing when a final consonant is silent. Grammar is explained in English when needed, then practised aloud.

How often should we schedule sessions during the school year?

Once or twice a week alongside class is common, since the material builds cumulatively and a missed structure like agreement makes the next unit harder. Students preparing for a specific oral presentation or unit test often add short extra sessions in that week.

French II

Middle School (6-8) · World Languages

French II picks up where a first year of French leaves off: students move from describing what happens now to narrating what happened before. The core of the year is the past tense — building the passé composé with avoir and être, then adding the imparfait for description and habit — alongside object pronouns, reflexive verbs, and enough vocabulary (daily routine, food and shopping, travel, health, past holidays) to tell a short story out loud rather than answer in single words. Sessions with Evelyn are spoken French plus explanation in English, so students hear the pronunciation of silent past-participle endings while working out why the sentence is built that way.

Start a session on French II

What this covers

Forming the passé composé: regular -er, -ir, -re past participles plus the high-frequency irregulars (eu, été, fait, pris, mis, vu, dit, écrit)
The être verbs (aller, venir, partir, sortir, rester, naître, devenir…) and making the past participle agree with the subject: elle est allée, ils sont partis
Choosing between passé composé and imparfait — completed events versus background, description, and repeated habits — and combining both in one narration
Reflexive verbs in the present and the passé composé: je me lève, je me suis levé(e), with the reflexive pronoun placed before être
Direct and indirect object pronouns (le, la, les, lui, leur) and y and en, placed before the conjugated verb; negation wrapping around them
Partitive articles du, de la, de l', des for food and quantity, and the switch to de after a negative or an expression of quantity
Le futur proche and an introduction to the simple future, plus comparatives (plus/moins/aussi… que) for describing and contrasting

Where learners get stuck

Using avoir for every verb in the passé composé, or memorising the être list without applying the agreement: English has one auxiliary, so 'I have gone' maps naturally onto 'j'ai allé'. Even students who recall the être list often forget the -e or -s on the participle because the extra letters are usually silent — nothing in the spoken sentence signals the error, so it survives until writing.
Treating passé composé and imparfait as interchangeable past tenses, or as 'did' versus 'was doing': English marks this contrast with adverbs and context rather than verb endings, so there is no ready-made rule to transfer. Students latch onto the -ing translation, which works for 'je regardais la télé' but breaks down for 'j'avais faim' or 'il faisait beau'. The fix is practising the two in the same paragraph, not on separate worksheets.
Saying 'je mange le pain' or 'j'aime du chocolat' — mixing up definite and partitive articles: English drops the article altogether ('I eat bread'), so students pick whichever French article they saw most recently. The rule depends on the verb: aimer/adorer/détester take le/la/les, while manger/boire/acheter take du/de la/des, and everything becomes de after a negative.
Placing object pronouns after the verb, as in 'je vois le' or 'j'ai vu la': English word order puts the object after the verb, and students carry that order across while translating word by word. In the passé composé it compounds: the pronoun goes before the auxiliary, not before the participle.

What a session looks like

A typical 25–45 minute session opens with a few minutes of spoken warm-up in French about the student's day or weekend, which naturally pulls in past tense and reflexive verbs. Evelyn then works through one target structure — say, être verbs with agreement — using guided examples, quick oral drills, and correction of pronunciation and endings as the student speaks. The second half applies it: retelling a short story, describing a photo or past event, or role-playing a café or shopping exchange. Students can bring in their own textbook chapter, vocabulary list, or homework to work through instead. Evelyn switches to English to explain a rule when the student is stuck, then returns to French.

Helpful to know first

A year of French or equivalent: present tense of -er, -ir and -re verbs plus être, avoir, aller and faire
Familiarity with noun gender, definite and indefinite articles, and basic adjective agreement and placement
Comfort forming questions with est-ce que and inversion, and negating with ne… pas
Working vocabulary for family, school, weather, time, numbers and everyday activities

Questions

Is this the same as French 2 in a middle school world language sequence?: It follows the usual second-year scope: past tenses (passé composé and imparfait), object pronouns, reflexive verbs, partitives, and the near future. Because sequences differ by school and textbook, you can tell Evelyn which chapter or unit your class is on and sessions will follow that order instead.
My child got through French I fine but is lost in the past tense. Can you help with just that?: Yes. The passé composé is where most second-year students stall, usually over the avoir/être choice and participle agreement. Sessions can focus entirely on that until the student can narrate a short past-tense story out loud without stopping to think about the auxiliary.
Will my child actually speak French, or just learn grammar rules?: Sessions are spoken. Evelyn asks questions in French and expects answers in French, with pronunciation corrected as you go — including the ones that trip up English speakers, like the nasal vowels in 'vin' and 'vent', the French r, and knowing when a final consonant is silent. Grammar is explained in English when needed, then practised aloud.
How often should we schedule sessions during the school year?: Once or twice a week alongside class is common, since the material builds cumulatively and a missed structure like agreement makes the next unit harder. Students preparing for a specific oral presentation or unit test often add short extra sessions in that week.