How to Major

In the fall of freshman year, students begin French courses at a level that corresponds to what they acheived in high school. During the first week, students are able to change clases, if they feel the course is too difficult or simple. Most begin in Intermediate French, a course designed collaboratively and taught by all French faculty members each fall. Intermediate French introduces students to media, pop culture, and film from France and the francophone world while pushing students to improve their skills in oral as well as written expression.

After completing introducotry courses, students begin to branch out from purely grammar courses, to experience language, literature, culture and film from an array of thematic and genre-based courses.

A semester abroad in a francophone country is also required for French majors.

To receive a French Degree, a minimum of 24 hours of classes must be completed. These hours are completed meeting the following requirements:

Two courses at the 200 level*
One advanced grammar course, French 303 (prerequisite for all 300/400 courses)
One culture course, either French 304 or French 306
One introcutory literature course, French 308 (prerequisite for all 400 literature courses)
Two 400 level courses, one must be a literature course
One semster of Study Abroad in a French-speaking country doing coursework in French
One ACTFL Oral Profiecieny Interview
One ACTFL Written Proficiency Interview

*May be exempted, or equivalency accepted

Courses at 200 Level

French 201, 202: Intermediate Active French I and II

An intensive review of the language, with emphasis on development of listening comprehension and speaking skills in authentic cultural contexts, refinement of grammatical structure, vocabulary building, and expansion of reading and writing skills. Oral communication is stressed in class.

Courses at 300 Level

French 303: Advanced Grammar

Refinement of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills aimed at moving the student toward advanced proficiency in French. The course stresses improvement in the student's ease and richness of expression, as well as increased awareness of levels of discourse and written expression of French as it is currently used. Strong emphasis on written and oral expression, and cross-cultural experiences.

French 304: The French World: France

Students will acquire a broad-based knowledge of cultural issues of France with particular emphasis on the making of a French identity through its history, geography, social and political system, and through current events. Students will gain knowledge of major aspects and issues of French social and political life today while stressing the differences with their own American culture.

French 306: The French World: Africa, Europe, the Americas

An exploration of French-speaking areas of the world beyond the metropole, in selected nations or regions of Europe (Belgium, Switzerland), Africa (the Maghreb, West Africa), and the Americas (the Caribbean, Quebec). Focus is on the social and cultural institutions of non-French francophones and their concerns as expressed in a foreign idiom.

French 308: Introduction to French Literature

The student learns reading techniques which illuminate the content of a text through an appreciation of style, syntax, and rhetorical device. Diverse literary genres are studied, including works of prose (fiction and non-fiction), poetry, theater, and film. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the historical, social, and cultural contexts of the chosen works. Students are introduced to the French craft of the "explication de text" and will learn to build and defend a literary argument.

Literature Courses at the 400 level

French 412: The French Novel

Readings from selected texts,representative hot the evolution of the French novel. Attention is paid to technique and style, with emphasis also on the historical and social importance of each novel. The student also becomes familiar with a substantial corpus of critical literature and will move towards Advanced level proficiency in the four language skills.

French 413: French Poetry

Studies of a variety of texts selected from poetry representative of the poetic movements from the late Medieval period through the 20th century. Emphasis is placed on poetry as a social and historical document and close attention is paid to the changes of poetic structure and technique.

French 414: French Non-fiction

A careful reading of selected major essays, journalistic articles, reviews, biographies, and autobiographies. The course focus on important themes and perspectives of influential French authors, both contemporary and historical, as well as on the basic elements and strategies of their prose styles.

French 415: The French Theater

A careful reading of texts representative of the French theater designed to acquaint the student with the different genres of theater and to teach the student to read critically.

French 421: French Film Seminar

A study of French film as an art form. Using a representative sample of films as "texts" the course considers narrative processes, representational modalities, and the language of film (cinematographic techniques and devices). Other topics of consideration may include the contrastive analysis of literary and cinematic fictions, the cinematic depiction of social and cultural realities (film as cultural mirror, film as propaganda), the historical development of a national film industry, and the director as auteur.

Non-literature courses at the 400 Level

French 440: The Art and Craft of Translation

To enrich and deepen the student's understanding of different methods of written expression in French, this course focuses on expansion of the student's active and passive vocabulary and on the student's appreciation of the linguistic nuances that distinguish the French language from the English language. Special emphasis will be placed on developing strategies to solve linguistic and cultural problems encountered by non-native speakers of French translating into and out of French.

French 441: Advanced Grammar and Composition

This course is designed according to the ACTFL Revised Proficiency Guidelines to help students improve their control of French grammar in order to improve their composition and grammatical skills in French. The focus on grammar and writing skills will be supported by various listing and speaking activities. By the end of this course, students should be able to write in relatively sophisticated and accurate French on complex topics, to converse about these same topics, and to read authentic texts written in French with increasing ease.

French 442: Oral Proficiency, Conversing and Interpreting in French

A practical approach to speaking French. Using a wide variety of spoken samples for listening practice and role-play tasks for speaking practice, this course examines the functions and contexts of oral proficiency levels from intermediate to superior abilities. This course also cosigners techniques of oral assessment and the nature of professional interpreting as a career.

French 443: French Phonetics

An introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet and its application to problems of correct phonetic utterance. Students will distinguish major contrastive features of the sound of French and English and address the particular challenges that American speakers face when learning to pronounce French. They will also learn to recognize and transcribe with accuracy the major speech variations which exist among native speakers of French. In addition, they will produce speech that can be understood without difficulty by native interlocutors.