French

This course discovers various representations of India through the cross-study of literary and cinematographic works of the twentieth century. Students read works including A BARBARIAN IN ASIA by Henri Michaux and A CERTAIN IDEA OF ​​INDIA by Alberto Moravia; and view works including ABOARD THE DARJEELING LIMITED by Wes Anderson and the documentary by Louis Malle, GHOST INDIA.

This is a beginner level French language course for students who have previously completed one or two semesters of French. The course focuses on understanding commonly used vocabulary words and very frequent expressions concerning oneself, the family, and the concrete environment, provided that people speak slowly and distinctly. It covers common names and words as well as very simple sentences, for example those in advertisements, posters, and catalogs. The course builds skills to communicate in a simple way, ask and answer simple questions about familiar subjects or objects of immediate need, use expressions and simple sentences to describe where one lives and the people one knows; and write short, simple postcards and provide personal details on a questionnaire or hotel registration form. Topics include adjectives, possessive and demonstrative pronouns, recent past, past tense, and imperfect past; expressions of time, start, end, intervals, length, interrogative, imperative, present conditional, comparative and superlative, future, near, and simple.

This workshop is for students at the C1/C2 level of French. It improves written, oral, listening, and text skills through studies of specific themes. The course looks first at traditional notions of culture and civilization, then redefines the new societal challenges which are crucial and omnipresent, looking at social and political events to analyze their trajectories in today's world. Students learn to understand critical texts, analyze societal questions, present on varying viewpoints, and debate on diverse subjects.

This course, the sixth in our intensive summer language program sequences, with its continuous course FR60, is roughly equivalent to the sixth quarter of lower-division French language instruction and an upper-division French composition course on students’ home campuses. FR6 and FR170 provide students who have completed the better part of a university-level second-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 advanced intermediate-level forms of grammar, an expansion of students’ working vocabulary, and practice of oral and written communicative skills, with a particular emphasis on their writing skills. Placement in this course is determined by students’ previous experience and the results of a language assessment taken prior to arrival. Textbook and Course Materials for the course include: RÉSEAU: COMMUNICATION, INTEGRATION, INTERSECTIONS, by J.M. Schultz and M.P. Tranvouez,. The FR170 course reader includes : LE CODE NOIR; Louis de Jacourt, TRAITE DES NÈGRES ; DÉCRET D’ABOLITION DE L’ESCLAVE ; Assia Djebar, L’AMOUR, LA FANTASIA ; Mohammed Dib, L’ARBRE À PAROLES; Andrée Chédid; Rimbaud, LE DORMEUR DU VAL; MC Solaar, LA CONCUBINE DE L’HÉMOGLOBINE. Grammar, vocabulary, and cultural topics are discussed, including art, literature, cinema, vernacular French, multicultural society, Francophilia and Francophobia, and France’s role in the European Union. Students engage in class discussions, write summaries, dialogues and essays, in addition to group and individual oral presentations.

This workshop studies how to read and analyze journalistic content on economic and social themes in a professional manner. It provides an opportunity to question journalistic expression by analyzing the facts and data it provides, the credibility of the information transmitted, and the meaning of their publication on certain dates and distribution platforms. The course examines quality, balance, and relevance of the sources; tone, rigor, and atmosphere of the expression; precision of the information; point of view of the narration; identification of the news; typology of the publications; analysis of the formats; and platforms of distribution.

This translation course is taught at the second-year level. The course focuses on training students how to translate both the tone and grammar of Francophone and Anglophone literature and/or journalistic texts. Students first translate from English to French, and then from French to English. Students are given abstracts from English and French writers, mostly from the latter half of the twentieth century.

This course consists of intensive instruction in written and oral French, taught through audio-visual method and group work with an instructor. The course strengthens comprehension and expression skills through exercises. Oral French focuses on difficult cases of spelling, vocabulary of selected fields, and sentence structure. Written work includes advanced intermediate grammar, syntax, and spelling, with a focus on academic writing for French universities. Materials used in class present contemporary regional topics.