French Level I (1.5 hours)
Instructor: Shannon Tumanut
This is an introductory course designed for students who
have never before studied French or have not studied or used their French for
many years. The goal of this class is to provide members with a basic knowledge
of French, to encourage comprehension and communication through in class work,
dialogue and at-home preparation. Cultural aspects of French society are an
integrated part of this course. Class work includes an audio portion.
Course Outline: Lessons will include these aspects of French grammar and culture:
·
Formality and levels of language (vous
and tu)
·
Use of present tense
·
Negative sentence structures
·
-er, -ir and
-re verbs
·
Etre and avoir verbs
·
Pronoun “on”
·
Stress pronouns
(moi, toi, lui, etc)
·
Indefinite and definite articles
(un, une, le, la, l’, les)
·
The expression « Il y a ».
·
Placement of adjectives
·
Possessive adjectives (mon,
ma, mes, etc)
·
Interrogative adjectives
(quel, quelle, quels, quelles)
·
Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)
·
Asking questions
·
Imperative verb forms
By the end of this class members will be able to converse on a wide variety of topics, including:
·
Greeting people
·
Using numbers
·
Using colors
·
Asking and giving directions
·
Telling and asking time and dates
·
Describing everyday objects
·
Describing types of people
·
Talking about leisure activities
·
Going shopping
·
Talking about the seasons and the weather
·
Using the Metro in
·
Talking or asking about family, work, home and leisure activities
Required 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
Recommended 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.
French Level 1A (1.5 hours)
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.
Course Outline: Lessons will include these aspects of French grammar and culture:
These points will be reviewed briefly:
·
Greetings and levels of formality
·
Negative sentences
·
Indefinite and definite
articles (un, une, le, la, l’, les)
The following concepts will be practiced and expanded:
· Present tense of regular verbs
By the end of this class members will:
·
Have a more solid knowledge of
beginning grammar structures
·
Be familiar with a range of vocabulary
and situations encountered in travel
·
Be aware of “pitfall” or problem
vocabulary when traveling
·
Be competent to use the
·
Be able to use an expanded idiomatic
vocabulary based on expressions with être, aller, avoir, faire
· Be more comfortable, through role-play activities, using and comprehending the French number system, making purchases, using transportation systems, checking into a hotel and dealing with problems, giving and following directions to a location
Required 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
Recommended Reference Books (not required): Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary (Paperback), Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN: 0-00-470711-7 (or any HarperCollins French-English dictionaries) and Bescherelle: L’Art de conjuguer 12,000 verbes (Verb Conjugation), Publisher: Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166.
French Level II (1.5 hours)
Instructor: Barbara Shaw
This class builds upon the foundations established in Level
I and IA. The goal of the class is to enable students to achieve a higher level
of understanding and ability to communicate in French while covering some of
the more intricate aspects of French grammar. Comprehension and communication
are achieved through in-class work and dialogue as well as at-home preparation.
Cultural and social aspects of French society are an integrated part of this
course.
Course Outline : Lessons will
include these concepts of French grammar and culture :
·
Additional -er, -ir,
and -re verbs
·
Irregular verbs including venir,
prendre, mettre, sortir, partir, vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, connaître, savoir,
ouvrir, lire, dire, écrire
·
“Depuis” and the present tense
·
Distinction among the definite
(le, la, les, l’), indefinite (un, une, des) and partitive articles (du, de la, de l’, des)
·
Expressions of quantity
·
Idiomatic expressions with être, avoir, aller, faire
·
Use of “il faut”
·
Direct / Indirect object pronouns (le, la, les,
lui, leur, me, te, nous, vous)
·
Expressions with « quelqu’un » and
« quelque chose »
·
Affirmative and negative expressions ( souvent, encore, deja,
ne…jamais, ne…plus, ne…rien, ne…pas encore)
·
Passé composé with être and avoir
·
Pronouns “y” and “en”
·
Reflexive verbs
·
Irregular adjectives
·
Holidays, gestures, Médecins sans frontières, ecology and being « green », and more
By the
end of this class members
will be able . . .
·
to
converse more easily using the concepts reinforced from French 1
·
to
narrate events in the past—your vacation, your childhood, last weekend
·
to
communicate in a variety of situations such as following directions, talking
about themselves and family, making introductions, making appropriate responses
in social situations
·
obtain
a room in a hotel or other lodgings
·
order
from a menu
·
buy
groceries at the supermarket or farmers’ market
Required 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
Recommended Reference Books (not required): Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary (Paperback), Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN: 0-00-470711-7 (or any HarperCollins French-English dictionaries) and Bescherelle: L’Art de conjuguer 12,000 verbes (Verb Conjugation), Publisher: Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166.
French Level III 1.25 hours
(High Intermediate / Low Advanced)
Instructor: Hélène Perriguey-Keene
This class builds upon the foundations established in Level II, continuing studies in the same text that is not completed in Level II. The goal of the class is to enable students to achieve a higher level of understanding and ability to communicate in French while covering some of the more intricate aspects of French grammar. Taught by a native speaker, oral communication will be increased from Level II. At-home preparation is required. Cultural and social aspects of French society are an integrated part of this course.
Course Outline : Lessons will
include these concepts of French grammar and culture :
·
Passé compose and agreement of the past participle
·
Imparfait
·
Use
of the past tenses in narrative
·
Negative
expressions
·
Formation
of the present participle
·
Future and conditional and use in conditional sentences
·
Direct et indirect objects
·
Irregular adjectives
·
Forms and uses of the infinitive
·
Moving from direct discourse to indirect discourse—reporting what
someone said
·
Formation and use of the subjunctive
By the
end of this class members
will. . .
Required 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
Recommended Reference Books (not required): 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.
French Guided Conversation -- Level IV
Instructor: Hélène Perriguey-Keene
Course Outline : The goal of this class is to teach members to effectively and successfully manage conversations, moving from the controlled to the spontaneous as the book progresses. Class work is guided conversation. Homework takes members through a series of exercises that will prepare them to come to class well equipped to discuss the topic of the day. The strategies being used in this class will help members to reactivate, strengthen and build upon what they already know with the objective of attaining the higher level of language needed in more sophisticated interactions and discussions including literary and cultural.
By the end of this
class members will…
·
be more adept at engaging in spontaneous conversation and managing the
language in unexpected, unprepared situations.
·
have
a wider vocabulary and structure basis to be able to talk about a variety of
situations including cultural, political and social
· possess a basic vocabulary for expressing opinions, interjecting comments into a conversation and expressing disagreement
Required Books and Materials Used: No text required. Materials and resources for study will be provided by the instructor.
Recommended Reference Books:
French Grammar - Level IV
Instructor: Hélène Perriguey-Keene
Course Outline : The goal of this classis, with advance preparation, to review, practice and achieve the ability to discuss topics of interest with relative ease. The classes are structured to encourage dialogue. Homework, including work with an audio CD, is designed to have members come to class ready to put into practice what they have studied and to be ready to communicate with their fellow members about the topics while using the pertinent grammar points that they have covered at home. Grammatical points will be reviewed in class throughout the year while students explore literary and cultural aspects of French Life. Activities are designed to build upon and expand linguistic knowledge through readings and communicative activities.
Topics and grammar points reviewed throughout the year include:
·
Le commerce et la consommation:
The present tense of regular -er verbs; stem-changing
-er Verbs; the imperative; irregular verbs; nouns;
articles; voilà and il y a.
·
Modes de vie: regular -ir verbs; regular
-re verbs; negation; basic question patterns; reflexive and reciprocal Verbs;
irregular-oir verbs; idioms with être
and avoir; depuis + present
tense.
·
La vie des jeunes: Irregular -ir Verbs; Descriptive Adjectives; Il
/ Elle est and c’est;
possessive adjectives; Demonstrative adjectives; Adverbs; the comparative and
superlative of adjectives.
·
Les télécommunications: Irregular-oire verbs; Irregular -re verbs; the passé composé with avoir and être; basic question patterns with the passé composé; placement of adverbs with the passé compose; uses
of the passé composé.
·
La presse et le
message: formation of the imperfect; uses of the imperfect; the pluperfect;
choosing past tense; dates.
·
Le mot et l’image:
interrogative adverbs; expressing
time; interrogative pronouns; quel and lequel.
·
Les transport et la
technologie: object pronouns;
disjunctive pronouns;
possessive pronouns; demonstrative
pronouns
·
A la fac: present subjunctive; formation
of the past subjunctive; uses of the subjunctive; the subjunctive after certain
conjunctions; the subjunctive after indefinite antecedents; the subjunctive in
superlative statements.
·
La francophonie: prepositions with
infinitives; other uses of prepositions; the present participle; relative
pronouns.
·
Découvrir et se découvrir:
formation of the future and the future perfect; uses of the future and the
future perfect; formation of the conditional and the past conditional; uses of
the conditional and the past conditional; tense sequences.
Required Books and Materials Used: Contrastes: Grammaire du français courant, by Denise Rochat, First Edition (spiral bound). ISBN 0-13-110123-4
Recommended
Reference Books:
French Café Conversation -- Level V (one hour)
11:00-noon
Instructors: Cyprienne Simchowitz and Marie-Hélène Moulaert
Course Outline : The goal of
this course is dynamic dialog on a variety of topics chosen either by the
professor or the class members. The
professor will moderate discussions and correct usage with minimal explanation.
Topics of conversation will be given by the professor in advance thereby
providing members with adequate time to do any necessary research or other
homework in order to come to class fully prepared to be engage in conversation.
Members are welcome to suggest topics to be discussed at a future date. Any
handouts are to be given out in advance of the day of discussion to avoid the
reading of materials in class thus ensuring lively conversation.
By the end of this class members will be able to . . .
· engage in dynamic conversations achieved through the exchange of ideas and information.
· use professors’ corrections as they moderate the discussions in order to perfect language usage
· research and discuss topics of interest in French.
Required Books and
Materials Used:
Although no texts or manuals are required, regular reading of French newspapers
and magazines online is suggested, such as: www.lefigaro.fr www.tout.lemonde.fr www.lepoint.fr www.lexpress.fr
Recommended Reference Books: