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French Level I (1.5 hours)

10:30-12:00 a.m.

Instructor: ShannonTumanut

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 (vousandtu)

· Use of present tense

· Negative sentence structures

· -er, -irand -re verbs

· Etreandavoirverbs

· Pronoun “on”

· Stresspronouns(moi, toi, lui,etc)

· Indefinite and definitearticles (un, une, le, la, l’, les)

· Theexpression « Il y a ».

· Placement of adjectives

· Possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes,etc)

· Interrogative adjectives (quel, quelle, quels, quelles)

· Demonstrativeadjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

· Asking questions

· Imperative verb forms

By the end of this classmembers 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 inParis

· Talking or asking about family, work, home and leisure activities

Required Books and Materials Used:Vis-â– -vis, Beginning French, Fourth Edition, by Amon, Muyskens, Omaggio-Hadley, McGraw Hill Publishers.

Recommended Reference Books: Cassell’sFrench and English Dictionary(Paperback), Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Inc., ISBN: 0020136803 andBescherelle:L’Artdeconjuguer12,000verbes(verb conjugation), Publisher:Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166.

French Level 1A (1.5 hours)

10:30-12:00

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 1with 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 definitearticles (un, une, le, la, l’, les)

The following concepts will be practiced and expanded:

· Present tense of regular verbs

Essential irregular verbs and idiomatic expressions withêtre,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
- 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 theParismetro system with ease

· Be able to use an expanded idiomatic vocabulary based on expressions withêtre,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:Vis-â– -vis, Beginning French, Fourth Edition, by Amon, Muyskens, Omaggio-Hadley, McGraw Hill Publishers.

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) andBescherelle:L’Artdeconjuguer12,000verbes(Verb Conjugation), Publisher:Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166.

French Level II(1.5 hours)

9:00-10:30 a.m.

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.

CourseOutline : Lessons will include these concepts of French grammar and culture :

· Additional -er, -ir, and -re verbs

· Irregular verbs includingvenir, prendre, mettre, sortir, partir, vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, connaître, savoir, ouvrir, lire, dire, écrire

· “Depuis” and the present tense

· Distinctionamong the definite(le, la, les, l’),indefinite(un, une, des)andpartitive articles (du, de la, de l’, des)

· Expressions ofquantity

· Idiomaticexpressionswithêtre, avoir, aller, faire

· Use of “il faut”

· Direct / Indirectobject pronouns(le, la, les, lui, leur, me, te, nous, vous)

· Expressionswith« quelqu’un »and« quelque chose »

· Affirmativeand negativeexpressions( souvent, encore,deja, ne…jamais, ne…plus, ne…rien, ne…pas encore)

· Passécomposéwithêtreandavoir

· Pronouns “y” and “en”

· Reflexive verbs

· Irregular adjectives

· Holidays, gestures,Médecinssansfrontières, 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: Vis-â– -vis, Beginning French, Fourth Edition, by Amon, Muyskens, Omaggio-Hadley, McGraw Hill Publishers.

French Level III 1.25 hours

8:45 a.m -10 a.m.

Instructor: Hélène Perriguey-Keene

About the class : 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.

About the textbook : Vis-à-vis promotes a balanced four-skills approach to learning French through a wide variety of listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities, while introducing students to the richness and diversity of the Francophone world.

Course Outline :

Lessons will include these concepts of French grammar:

● use of the past tenses in narrative (passé composé and imparfait)

● direct and indirect object pronouns, y, en, stress pronouns, reciprocal pronouns (positions and

uses)

● adverbs of manners

● forms and uses of the (simple) future tense

● pronominal verbs (present, past, commands)

● forms and uses of the infinitive

● relative pronouns

● interrogative pronouns

● (present) conditionnal mood

● comparative and superlative form of adjectives, nouns, and adverbs

● indefinite adjectives and pronouns

● verbs: savoir, connaître, suivre, vivre, habiter, ouvrir, courir and rire

Lessons will include these communicative objectives:

● talking about city life

● describing past events

● speaking succinctly

● expressing what and whom you know

● talking about artistic and historical heritage

● emphasizing and clarifying

● expressing actions

● talking about how things are done

● talking about love, marriage, the human body, and daily life

● reporting everyday events

● expressing reciprocal actions

● giving commands

● talking about jobs and professions

● talking about banking and finances

● talking about the future

● linking ideas

● making comparisons

● talking about leisure-time activities

● getting information

● being polite

● speculating

● talking about quantity

By the end of this class members will be able to . . .

● use essential advanced grammar structures in speaking, reading, and writing.

● express hypotheses.

● be more comfortable using past narrative structures and time references

● construct grammatically correct sentences in the present, past, and future tenses.

● enumerate and sequence data from brief oral passages.

● write strings of related sentences and short paragraphs on learned material.

● respond in brief phrases and some sentences to questions about familiar topics.

● demonstrate sensitivity to cultural behaviors and expectations.

● be more adept at understanding and interacting with a native speaker.

Required Books and Materials Used: Vis-à-vis by E. Amon, J. Muykens and A. Omaggio Hadley; Fourth Edition; Publisher: McGraw-Hill Company; Student Edition: ISBN-10: 0073535427; ISBN-13: 9780073535425

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.

Detailed content: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073535427/443656/Contents.pdf

French Guided Conversation -- Level IV

11 a.m.-Noon

Instructor:HélènePerriguey-Keene

CourseOutline : 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 toreactivate,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…

· bemore 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.

French Grammar - Level IV

10 a.m - 11 a.m.

Instructor: Hélène Perriguey-Keene

Course Outline : The goal of this class is to do a comprehensive French grammar review for those who have already acquired a foundation in French through contextual or communicative approaches, but who need to review and expand upon what they already know. It is geared specifically to English-speaking students from the intermediate to the advanced levels.

Grammar points reviewed throughout the year include:

● Le présent; l’impératif

● Les articles; quantités, préparations et substances; omission de l’article

● Les pronoms objets directs et indirects; les pronoms y et en

● Les pronoms disjoints; forme des pronoms dans certaines constructions idiomatiques

● Les adjectifs et pronoms démonstratifs

● L’interrogation directe

● L’appartenance

● La négation

● Temps principaux du passé de l’indicatif

● Les participes présent et passé

● Le futur et le conditionnel

● Le subjonctif

● L’infinitif

● L’expression de la condition

● Du discours direct au discours indirect au passé

● De la transposition à la narration au passé; temps rares et littéraires

● Les pronoms relatifs

● L’expression du temps; la concordance des temps

● Le passif et les tournures passives

● La comparaison

Required Books and Materials Used: Vis-â■~@~S -vis, Beginning French, Fourth Edition, by Amon, Muyskens, Omaggio-Hadley, McGraw Hill Publishers.

Also recommended: a French dictionnary (Larousse or Petit Robert)

French Café Conversation -- Level V (one hour)

11:00-noon

Instructors : Cyprienne Simchowitz and Mannant

CourseOutline : 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 . . .

· engagein dynamic conversations achieved through the exchange of ideas and information.

· use professors’ corrections as they moderate the discussions in order to perfect language usage

· researchand 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

Recommended Reference Books:Collins Robert French CollegeDictionary(French/English-English/French). Publisher: Harper CollinsPublishers, ISBN: 0060892005and Bescherelle: L’Art deConjuguer 12,000 Verbes, Publisher: Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166and Le Nouveaupetit Robert dictionnairede la languefrançaise(French-French), Publisher: Le Robert, ISBN: 2850368261