The French Program at SAIS offers classes from Novice to Advanced levels. Authentic documents are used in class to ensure skill development. Grammar is presented through a Web program created to meet the specific profile of SAIS students.

In the Novice course, students acquire the basic vocabulary and grammatical structures necessary to operate on a minimum communicative level. In the Intermediate-Low course, students are exposed to authentic materials with relevant vocabulary and more complex grammatical structures.

In the Intermediate-Mid course, students are given opportunities to improve upon their foundations. They read selected authentic material from magazines or Internet files and participate in discussions pertaining to current issues in international affairs with a reasonable degree of grammatical control and appropriate vocabulary.

In the Intermediate-High course, students improve their fluency and their use of appropriate structures and vocabulary. By the end of the course, they can take the proficiency exam. To satisfy graduation requirements, they must reach an Intermediate Mid in writing and Intermediate High in reading, listening and speaking. The Advanced courses are offered to students who have passed the proficiency exam and are interested in furthering their French studies.