French Level 1A (1.5 hours)

9 – 10:30 a.m.

Instructor: Barbara Shaw

This course is designed for students who have completed an introductory course in French, but would like to develop their skills further before moving to French II. The goal of this class is to reinforce and extend the concepts presented in French 1 with an emphasis on travel vocabulary and travel situations. Student participation will include at-home preparation, games, role-play activities, in-class responses to readings and mini-compositions. Cultural aspects are an integral part of this course.

These points will be reviewed briefly:

•  Greetings and levels of formality 
•  Present tense of regular verbs 
•  Negative structures 
•  Indefinite and definite articles (un, une, le, la, l’, les) 

The following concepts will be practiced and expanded:

•  Essential irregular verbs and idiomatic expressions with être, aller, avoir, faire 
•  Using numbers (to give and receive personal information, to get on the right train, to purchase things, to locate destinations) 
•  Interrogative adjectives and asking questions (to get recommendations, find accommodations, get directions, obtain basic needs) 
•  Agreement and placement of adjectives (to describe a lost article, to purchase goods, to describe a companion, to fill out a police report) 

Basic vocabulary will be reinforced and extended in the following areas:

•  Everyday expressions 
•  Public information signs 
•  Hotels / lodging 
•  Transportation (train, subway) 
•  Eating out / deciphering menus 
•  Stores and services 
•  French expressions used in English 

Books and Materials Used: Contacts – Langue et culture françaises by Jean-Paul Valette and Rebecca M. Valette; Seventh Edition – Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company; Student Edition: ISBN: 0-618-00748-2

Reference Books: Cassell’s French and English Dictionary (Paperback), Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Inc., ISBN: 0020136803 and Bescherelle: L’Art de conjuguer 12,000 verbes (Verb Conjugation), Publisher: Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166.