French

French 53A is the first 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.

This course examines the place of religious and biblical culture in literature and literary studies, as well as general historical, philosophical, and artistic culture, to better understand literary and artistic works, philosophical thoughts, and historical facts through the most contemporary topicality. It consists of an introduction to the Bible, a historical journey through Biblical Antiquity, and a book-by-book presentation of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, while considering the issues of interpretation of these texts.

This course focuses on oral comprehension and expression, as well as on phonetics. It examines basic concepts of articulatory phonetics and French phonology, including perceptual phenomena, segmental and supra-segmental features, linking, neutralization, assimilation, germination, individual and dialectal variations, written and oral systems, and discourse analysis. Emphasis is placed on the acquisition of French pronunciation, as well as oral and gestural expression. Methods employed include soundtracks, tapes, reading of texts, role-playing, formal writing, and note-taking.

This course studies the popular forms of literature that existed between the 16th and 18th centuries and how historical events invented stylistic choices as well as choices in medium. The 16th century focuses on the birth of the Renaissance, the poetry written then, and how prose became a bigger medium for fiction instead of just scholarly journals. The 17th century introduces the Jacobean era of the influence of Shakespeare's works. The 18th century introduces us to the "modern novel" to explore the era of Romanticism and how it began, the stylistic choices that embody it, and how society in Europe reflected or rejected its core ideals.

This advanced course improves communicative skills in oral French. It consists of 3 parts: listening comprehension, oral production, and phonetics. Listening comprehension involves listening and analysis of various and relatively long documents. Oral production includes expressing oneself on complex topics in a clear and well-structured way. Phonetics focuses on sound recognition, pronunciation exercises, and reading. The course develops French oral skills to reach a C1 level (comprehension, production). It provides an opportunity to practice the French language in a relaxed atmosphere, without fear of making mistakes.

This course is designed for beginners with at least one semester of university-level French to acquire the linguistic and communicative skills at a beginning intermediate level. Content covered includes reading, writing, oral and written comprehension, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary. Although all skills are worked on, the emphasis is put on speaking and interaction. Drawing on a wide range of materials, including audio and video documents, learners are gradually introduced to the structures that are necessary for communication and then use these linguistic tools in written and oral form. 

This course is a tutorial section for the course CHANGES IN FRENCH SOCIETY. This course focuses on the different aspects of French society in the 20th century and how that society has changed in recent history. Topics range from the French education system to socio-economic classes and French values. Students read papers by different sociologists and analyze and present them in class.

This pre-semester course examines both the lexicon and the syntax of French grammar, focusing on tenses, logical connectors, complex sentences, and argumentation. French academic writing techniques are explored throughout the course. In lectures and with examples and practice, emphasis is placed on summarizing, organizing, outlining, commentary, textual analysis, and forms of dissertation (compositions and term papers). The course also includes training in note-taking skills, using listening exercises with oral follow-up and written reports, training in the delivery of oral reports, and training in methods of debate.