UC Center, Paris

French 53B is the second part of the three-part 53ABC intensive advanced beginning conversation and grammar course sequence. The course immerses students in the French language and culture through daily class sessions and occasional instructor-led site visits. The 53ABC course sequence includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a focus on communication. Students have the opportunity to use everything they learn in class as they go about their daily activities. Students can expect to be able to talk about daily life, food, travelling, Paris, and a wide variety of activities. While students are learning how to speak the language, they continue their introduction to the culture of the French-speaking world. To immerse students in the language, only French is spoken in class. Although students are not expected to understand every word, they should try to follow the gist by paying attention to the context. Students find their comprehension increasing as the course progresses. The goal of the 53ABC course sequence is to help students develop the ability to communicate in spoken and written French. By the end of the course sequence, students should be able to understand the following at a level appropriate to a novice-high learner. Engage in short conversations with a sympathetic interlocutor in French, using simple sentences and basic vocabulary, with occasional use of past and future tenses, on familiar topics (such as the academic environment, family, food, and the home environment, habitual activities, memories, travelling and accommodations, facts and beliefs, opinions and emotions, health and illness, friendship, love and romance, etc.) and express their basic everyday needs. Use the present, and use occasionally the past, near future, and future, of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs, use reflexive verbs to talk about their daily routines, use reciprocal verbs, and use occasionally the imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods, as well as use subject, object, and relative pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, adverbs, interrogative expressions, negative expressions, idiomatic expressions, expressions of quantity, and time and weather expressions. Read, understand, and discuss short, non-complex, and highly predictable texts, for which there is contextual/extralinguistic support, on very familiar topics. Write with some accuracy on familiar topics in simple French, using the recombination of practiced vocabulary and structures to construct sentences. Understand basic French spoken by someone who is sympathetic to non-native and beginning students of French on familiar topics, using context and extralinguistic support to determine meaning. Reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music.

The city and language course introduces students to French history, culture, and language through team-taught instruction. In the “City as Public Forum” sessions, students are introduced to French history and culture through a series of lectures and site visits. Students discover some of the fascinating ways the core principles of social justice were tested in theory and practice on the streets of Paris in the past and explore how they evolved into the pillars of French society today. The course focuses on just how an ideal society should be forged, where all are free individuals and members of a cohesive community at the same time. Trying to make individuals believe—as religions do—in the primacy of the collective, and in its concomitant goal of protecting human rights, is at the core of social justice in France. From 52 B.C.E to today, France has been an exemplar of how—and how not—to construct a just society. To render these values visible, and therefore legible, to all by adding a physical dimension—whether constructive or destructive—to the usual means of establishing laws or setting policies, is what distinguishes the history of France's capital city of Paris. Those who control Paris—be they monarchs, revolutionaries, or presidents, past and present—believe that erecting all kinds of physical structures will render their values concrete and immutable. The ideal French society did not always necessarily mean a democratic or inclusive one. Since the French Revolution, however, institutionalizing the concept of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” has been France's greatest universal achievement and a source of constant upheaval, eliciting a unique form of secular activism that has led to targeting buildings and monuments that no longer reflect the collective's values. Students discuss how the diverse social actors, who constitute “the French,” continue to thrust their bodies and minds into the physical spaces of the public sphere in the pursuit of social justice. In the “Unlocking French” sessions, students learn targeted language skills through situational communication, so they have the opportunity to use everything they learn as they go about their daily activities. Advanced French students will participate in conversation courses on the program’s theme. This is the spring semester version of the course.

The goal of this course is to increase students' cultural sensitivity through an in-depth examination of the many layers that make up French history while at the same time exposing them to how this history shaped the physical city of Paris itself. Through comparative examination of current events in France and the US, the course also sensitizes them to differences in cultural norms. Lastly, the course seeks to increase students' understanding of how a nation's “eternal values and universal truths” develop in response to a people's particular historical experiences (e.g., the place of religion in the public sphere). The assigned readings and topics in the syllabus vary from year to year in order to align them with recent major events. Past units have included a variety of topics, such as: “The Veil”, Health insurance as a social or a socialist program; Presidents and the use and extent of power/elections; Women in the public eye; War and terrorism; Income distribution and the human costs of urban development. In each unit, the current issue is paired with careful study of related moments in French history (e.g., Huguenots in the 16th c. with Muslims today; a president with Napoleon). Readings expose students to the various ways history is/can be written. Readings include: First-hand accounts and editorials; Essays by specialists in political, social, economic, and urban history; Seminal texts of reference (e.g., “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”). In this course students develop written and oral rhetorical skills as well as their analytical skills through class discussion on readings, in which close attention is paid to both style and the use of evidence to support an argument, in-class analysis of things like political cartoons, and the deciphering of political messages embedded in the iconography of monuments' façades. Students are presented techniques to read visual evidence. Students engage in a photo-essay project that sends them to the Invalides in small groups. The final exam tests students on their ability to compare a set of recent newspaper articles/editorials to explain the differences in American and French attitudes by providing the appropriate historical background.

Since the Scientific Revolution of the early 17th century, France has been the site of many of the most important scientific innovations of the modern age. More than this, science has played a crucial role in the construction of French national identity. From the 1635 foundation of the Jardin des Plantes by Louis XIII as a center of botanical and medical research, to the construction of the Eiffel Tower as a monument to the scientific accomplishments and to the engineering might of France, discoveries, innovations, and scientific feats have long been at the heart of France’s understanding of its own place in the world. In this course, students investigate the history of science in modern France, with a particular focus on the figures and institutions that contributed to this history within the walls of Paris. The course develops a critical approach to these figures, borrowing methods and insights from the scholarly discipline known as “history and philosophy of science”, or “HPS”.

This course, the fifth in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its contiguous course FR56A, is roughly equivalent to the fifth and sixth quarters of French language instruction on students’ home campuses. FR56A and FR56B provide students who have completed more than a university-level first-year French course or its equivalent the opportunity to expand and improve their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as expand their cultural knowledge of the French and Francophone world. The course is based on a presentation of intermediate-level forms of grammar, an expansion of students’ basic working vocabulary, and practice of oral and written communicative skills. Placement in this course is determined by students’ previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Course material includes: MOTIFS: AN INRODUCTION TO FRENCH, by K. Jansma, Heinle, 5th Edition, 2011, and RÉSEAU: COMMUNICATION, INTEGRATION, INTERSECTIONS, by J.M. Schultz and M.P. Tranvouez, Prentice Hall, 1st Edition, 2010. Through the FR56AB sequence course, students gain the ability to communicate in spoken and written French and develop a understanding of intermediate French grammar points and a working vocabulary of information on French and Francophone culture including family structures, the distribution of household chores, housing, health, politics, the education system, leisure activities, the arts, multicultural society, and vernacular French. Following the 56AB course sequence, students should be able to use all the verb tenses of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs including reflexive verbs, use the indicative, imperative, conditional, subjunctive and infinitive moods, as well as use subject, stressed and object pronouns, articles, expressions of quantity, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, negative and interrogative expressions, relative pronouns, hypothetical sentences and the passive voice at the high-intermediate level. Students apply aspects of French grammar (such as verb tense, mode and conjugation) to written and oral communication, engage in conversations in French on familiar topics and express their basic everyday needs, and discuss themes presented in contemporary French culture and society. Students are required to do individual and group presentations; read, understand, answer questions and discuss selected literary and journalistic texts as well as multimedia material; write summaries, dialogues or skits, as well as produce 2½ - 3 page compositions. Additionally students are encourage to reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music. Assignments include class participation, small group and pair work, role play, games, individual and group presentations, written exercises, grammar, dictation, presentations of cultural products such as songs, films, audio texts, a variety of short and simple texts on cultural perspectives, and writing activities.

This course examines how the history of political ideology and social conflict in France since the Middle Ages has been embodied in the urban landscape of Paris. More than in any other city, the meaning, message, and significance to state and nation of most Parisian sites was – and continues to be – violently contested. The course looks at the histories of the conception, construction, and public perception of Parisian monuments and places their stories within the larger context of the development of the French state and of French national identity. Major events of French history form the chronological backbone for this course, with emphasis placed on the forces that literally shaped some of the city's most emblematic neighborhoods and monuments. The readings are selected from works by specialists in French political, urban, and social history; and the course includes weekly visits to sites in Paris, as the student learns to “read” architecture and to use the city as a rich primary source for historical analysis. Be advised: while no prior knowledge of French history is required, a high level of commitment to learning about France is required. All of the writing for this class demands careful consideration of both readings for class and information given during site visits. This is a class that engages in the complex history of Paris and France. Students are evaluated on the richness and clarity of their engagement with that history.

This fifteen-week beginning conversation and grammar course immerses students in the French language and culture through bi-weekly class sessions and occasional instructor-led site visits. The course includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a focus on communication. Students have the opportunity to use everything they learn in class as they go about their daily activities. Students can expect to be able to talk about daily life, food, travelling, Paris, and a wide variety of activities. While students are learning how to speak the language, they continue their introduction to the culture of the French-speaking world. To immerse students in the language, only French is spoken in class. Although students are not expected to understand every word, they should try to follow the gist by paying attention to the context. Students find their comprehension increasing as the course progresses. By the end of the course, students are able to understand, perform, and possess the following at a level appropriate to a novice-mid learner. Understand the basic structures of French grammar and use the present and use occasionally the past and near future of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs, use reflexive verbs to talk about their daily routines, use occasionally the imperative and polite conditional moods, as well as use subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, interrogative expressions, expressions of quantity, and time and weather expressions. Possess a basic working vocabulary and engage in short conversations with a sympathetic interlocutor in French, using simple sentences and basic vocabulary, with occasional use of past and near future tenses, on familiar topics (such as the academic environment, family, food, and the home environment, habitual activities and hobbies, going out, memories, travelling, etc.) and express their basic everyday needs. Understand information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: greetings, leisure activities and sports, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multiethnic society, youth culture, and the geography, music, and cuisine of the francophone world. Read, understand, and discuss short, highly contextualized, and predictable texts, containing cognates and borrowed words, on familiar topics. Write with some accuracy on well-practiced, familiar topics using limited, formulaic language in simple French. Understand basic French spoken by someone who is sympathetic to non-native and beginning students of French on familiar topics, using context and extra-linguistic support to determine meaning. Reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, and music.

This fifteen-week beginning intermediate conversation, reading and writing course immerses students in the French language and culture through bi-weekly class sessions and occasional instructor-led site visits. The course includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a focus on communication. Students have the opportunity to use everything they learn in class as they go about their daily activities. Students can expect to be able to talk about daily life, food, travelling, Paris, and a wide variety of activities. While students are learning how to speak the language, they continue their introduction to the culture of the French-speaking world. To immerse students in the language, only French is spoken in class. Although students are not expected to understand every word, they should try to follow the gist by paying attention to the context. Students find their comprehension increasing as the course progresses. By the end of the course, students are able to understand, perform, and possess the following at a level appropriate to an intermediate-mid to -high learner. Understand the structures of French grammar and use the present, and all the verb tenses of high-frequency regular and irregular verbs including reflexive verbs, use the indicative, imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods, as well as use subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, negative and interrogative expressions. Apply these aspects of French grammar (such as verb tense, mode and conjugation) to written and oral communication. Possess a working vocabulary and engage in conversations with an interlocutor in French, using both simple and more complex sentences and vocabulary, with use of past and future tenses as well as conditional and subjunctive moods, on familiar topics and to express their basic everyday needs, as well as on topics relating to a variety of contemporary sociological and cultural issues that touch on questions of family and professional relationships, class, social, ethnic, multicultural, and political identities, and the role of the arts in contemporary contexts. Employ the listening strategies and skills necessary to understanding a wide variety of discourse. Understand information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: health and illness, vacation time, family structures, schooling and values of the French Republic, the distribution of household chores, environmental protection, cuisine, grocery shopping and eating habits, the workplace, café life, multi-ethnic society, youth culture, and the geography, music, and cuisine of the francophone world. Individually and/or collectively present orally information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of sympathetic listeners on a variety of topics. Read, understand, answer questions, and discuss selected literary and journalistic texts as well as multimedia material. Write summaries, dialogues, or skits, as well as produce short (1-2½ pages) compositions. Reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts, such as varying levels of familiarity/formality, etiquette, cuisine and dietary habits, family structures, commerce and the professional world, etc., as well as in cultural products such as film, performances, news, and music.

This semi-intensive language course is roughly equivalent to the first quarter or to the first semester of beginning French language instruction on students' home campuses. It introduces basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills to the complete beginner within a French-immersion context. This course is for absolute beginners only. The textbook for this course is MOTIFS: AN INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH by K. Jansma, 6th Edition, 2014. This course helps students develop the ability to communicate in spoken and written French. By the end of the course, students have been presented with the basic structures of French grammar and obtain a basic working vocabulary organized according to certain themes. Students are presented with information on French and Francophone culture on the following topics: greetings, identifying and describing people and things, leisure activities and sports, vacation time, family structures, schooling, the workplace, the news, eating and drinking, café life, and the geography, music, and cuisine of the francophone world. Students engage in short conversations using simple sentences and basic vocabularies, with limited use of perfect and recent past tenses and occasionally use near future tense. Covered in this course are: present, perfect, recent past, and near future tenses, along with high-frequency regular and irregular verbs, high-frequency reflexive verbs, the polite conditional mood, subject and object pronouns, articles, prepositions, possessive adjectives, interrogative expressions, and time and weather expressions. Basic oral competency skills are covered. Students are required to read, understand, and discuss short, highly contextualized and predictable texts, containing cognates and borrowed words, on very familiar topics. They also are required to write with some accuracy on well-practiced, familiar topics using limited, formulaic language in simple French. Students reflect upon basic cultural differences as reflected in a variety of French and Francophone contexts. This course involves class participation in tasks such as whole class discussion, small group and pair work, role play, games, and individual and group presentations. Cultural immersion activities are included and students may choose to pursue a personal project, such as an off-site dance or art course or similar activity, or to take part in instructor-led site visits. The course uses the city of Paris as a living laboratory to provide students with real life scenarios to help develop their speaking and listening skills.