Global Arc

This class develops the basic structures and vocabulary for understanding, speaking, writing, and reading in French. Classroom activities foster communication and cultural competence through comprehension and grammar exercises, skits, conversation and the use of a variety of audio-visual materials. Prerequisites: Princeton French Language Placement test.

The main objective of this course is to enable you to achieve intermediate communication proficiency in French. All four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing will be actively practiced in realistic communicative situations, through a variety of activities designed to help you strengthen newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures. You will learn to talk about events and people, construct narratives in French and develop reading and writing skills that will be a foundation for literacy in the target language. There is a wide use of authentic material from France and the Francophone world throughout the course.

FRE 103 is an intensive beginning and intermediate language course designed for students who have already studied French (typically no more than 2-3 years). Covering in one semester the material presented in FRE 101 and FRE 102, this course prepares students to take FRE 107 the following semester. FRE 103 is designed to develop the skills of listening, reading, and writing in French in a cultural context using authentic materials. Classroom activities include comprehension and grammar exercises, conversation, skits, and working with a variety of audio-visual and online materials. Prereq: Appropriate score on PU French Language Placement Test.

The main objective of this course is to develop your listening, speaking and writing skills, while allowing you to explore contemporary French-speaking societies. It offers a thorough review of French grammar and a wide range of communicative activities chosen to improve proficiency and give practice of newly acquired linguistic material. The course will build your confidence in French while giving you a foundation for the understanding of French-speaking cultures and exposing you to their rich literary and artistic productions. A wide range of authentic material will be offered, including films. Prerequisite: See Course Offerings

The main objective of this course is to examine what it means to communicate in a foreign language while helping students strengthen their linguistic skills and gain transcultural and translingual competence. Students will reflect on differences in meaning through the study of diverse cultural modules, including politics, art, current events, migration, and French and Francophone literary texts and films. FRE 107 is not open to first-year undergraduates in fall only. Prerequisites: FRE 102 or FRE 103, or special permission.

FRE 108 is an intermediate to advanced course that will take you on a journey through various periods of French/Francophone history and culture and offer an opportunity to reflect on important questions at the center of contemporary debates. Examples include: the role of the State, urbanism, pandemics and ecology, healthcare, education, race and identity. We have selected a wide variety of materials (films, videos, newspaper articles, literary texts, etc.) so you will develop your ability to communicate and write on a wide range of topics in French and gain understanding of French and Francophone cultures and societies.

Visions fantastiques: using this notion, this course explores and questions concepts that are at the core of our common human experience. Why is the fantastique such an enduring genre? What political, philosophical, or sociological messages does it convey? How do authors exploit perceived cracks in our reality? Through a survey of many kinds of fantastiques works, FRE 207 offers in-depth, small-group discussions and critical analyses of the themes they tackle (such as colonialism and identity, our relationship to time and to nature, science and progress, or madness and reason) along with reinforcement of advanced grammatical structures.

This course is a discussion-based seminar, taught entirely in French, integrating cultural and linguistic learning. We will explore the Francophone world, examining a wide range of topics and issues and interacting with guest speakers from the regions studied. The course will provide intensive language practice, with an emphasis on the acquisition of a rich lexical base for social, economic, political and cultural topics and consolidation of grammatical foundations. Topics will vary from semester to semester and may include environmental, educational, health, social, cultural and political issues as well as aesthetic considerations.

FRE/THR 211 will offer students the opportunity to put their language skills in motion by exploring French theater and acting in French. The course will introduce students to acting techniques while allowing them to discover the richness of the French dramatic canon. Particular emphasis will be placed on improving students' speaking skills through pronunciation and diction exercises. At the end of the semester, the course will culminate in the presentation of the students' work. Prerequisites: FRE 108 or equivalent. FRE 207 or 208 recommended as a co-requisite.

Civil war, the rise of a centralized government, colonization, overwhelming public debt and attempts at women's liberation: this class covers the tumultuous history that led to the French Revolution while providing advanced language training. We study period documents as well as literary and artistic material. Topics include: courtly love, Jeanne d'Arc, Versailles, Marie-Antoinette, the Enlightenment, the Revolution and Terror. Prerequisites: FRE 107, FRE 108, or equivalent.