French and Francophone StudiesFrench 0120 is an intensive one-semester language course for students who have not studied French before, but who have met the language requirement in another foreign language. This course will introduce the basic structures of French as well as intensive work on speaking and listening, all of which will prepare students for Intermediate French. Due to the nature of the course, the first half will progress rapidly, with the more difficult material presented after the midterm period.
Class will be conducted entirely in French. You will be guided through a variety of communicative activities in class that will expose you to a rich input of spoken French, leading you from structured practice to free expression. You will have ample opportunities to practice your newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in activities that simulate real-life situations. The course will introduce you to French and Francophone culture through authentic materials including written documents, simple articles and literary texts, songs, films, videos, and conversations between native speakers. The course will also invite you to explore the Francophone world by completing an engaging, interactive project in the final stage of the semester.
By the end of this course, you should be able to meet a variety of day-to-day needs in a French-speaking setting and to handle a range of basic travel transactions. You will be able to engage in simple conversations on familiar topics such as talking about yourself, your friends and family, your daily routine, your studies, your travels, food, leisure activities, health and well-being. You will be able to speak and write in the past, present, and the future, make comparisons, and describe people and things in increasing detail. You will develop reading skills that should allow you to get the gist of simple articles and you will more readily discern information when you hear native speakers talking in a simple fashion about topics familiar to you.