Intensive French and French Immersion in New Brunswick: a guide for parents
New Brunswick families often wonder how the French programs differ, when each starts, and how to help at home without speaking French. In English-language schools, children learn French through Intensive French and Post-Intensive French (called Core French in Gradelings) or through French Immersion. Gradelings practises both as optional subjects you can switch on for each child.
Core French and French Immersion side by side
| Core French | French Immersion | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | French as a school subject, taught alongside classes in English. Intensive French is a focused program for non-immersion learners, and Post-Intensive French builds on it. | A program where much of the school day, including other subjects, is taught in French, with French Immersion Language Arts as the language course. |
| When it starts | Intensive French is for non-immersion learners in Grades 4 and 5. Post-Intensive French follows from Grade 6. | Early French Immersion begins in Grade 1. A later entry point is available in Grade 6. Programs can change, so check with your school district. |
| Who it suits | Every child can learn some French. No earlier French is needed. | Families who want their child to become fluent in French and are happy to have much of the day in French. |
| Name in the curriculum | Intensive French and Post-Intensive French (French Second Language) | French Immersion Language Arts |
| In Gradelings | Grades 4 to 9. Prompts are in English, with French words and sentences to read, choose and build. | Grades 1 to 9. Prompts and stories are in French, with English hints for parents. |
Programs differ by school district. Your school and district have the current details.
What Intensive and Post-Intensive French children learn
These courses have three strands: oral communication, reading and viewing, and writing and representing. Children learn to ask for and share information, read and understand simple texts, and produce short texts on familiar topics. In the upper grades, the texts grow longer and more connected.
What French Immersion children learn
In French Immersion Language Arts, children listen, speak, read and write in French, and learn about francophone cultures and their own identities as speakers of more than one language. Younger children start with sounds, songs and stories, then move on to sentences, paragraphs and longer texts. How much of the day is in French depends on the grade and the school.
Francophone sector schools are different
New Brunswick also has a francophone school sector, where French is the first language of instruction. This guide is about French as a second language in English-language schools. Gradelings is not a French first-language program.
How report cards describe French
Gradelings shows practice, not a report card mark, so ask your child's teacher what the report card says about French for your child.
Helping if you don't speak French
You don't need French to help. Ask your child to teach you a word each day, listen while they read aloud, and celebrate effort over accuracy. Mistakes are a normal part of learning a language.
How Gradelings fits in
French is off by default. A parent can switch on Immersion, Core French or both for each child in Settings, under Subjects. French is not counted toward the Grade Champion trophy, and French lessons are read aloud with a French voice from your device. You can pick that voice in Settings.
Ways to practise French at home
- Pick one new French word each day and use it at dinner or on the way to school.
- Label a few household objects with sticky notes in French.
- Listen to French songs or watch a short French video together and talk about what you noticed.
- Ask your child to read a page aloud in French, then retell it to you in English.
- Play a French game: count stairs, name colours, or spell a word out loud.
Common questions
Early French Immersion starts in Grade 1 for families who choose it. For other learners, Intensive French is taught in Grades 4 and 5 and Post-Intensive French from Grade 6. Your school can tell you how much time it gets each week.
There is a later entry point in Grade 6. Entry rules and spaces differ by district, so ask your school or school district.
English language arts is still taught alongside immersion, and research has generally found that immersion students do well in English. If you are worried, talk with your child's teacher.
No. French is a separate, optional set of subjects. Children earn their own French trophies instead.
No. It gives short, kind practice that matches the topics in the New Brunswick curriculum. It doesn't replace a teacher, and its levels are not a report card mark.
Also see: New Brunswick report cards explained.
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