Elementary French I
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Spring 2019 Course Syllabus LFR 101 Elementary French I Instructors Kathleen Caenen holds a Master Degree (cum laude) in Romance Philology, French and Spanish Literature and Linguistics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and a BA in Law from the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix in Namur. Teaching at Vesalius College since 2008, she has been a visiting professor on the Drew University Brussels Program and held the position of Resident Director for the BCA Study Abroad Program in Brussels for two years.From 2012 to 2017 Kathleen also held the resident directorship of the Brussels based Internships in Francophone Europe/ Institute for Field Education - (IFE) Programme. Furthermore she also used to work as an editor for the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, in the Parliament of the Brussels Capital Region and has been teaching Business French at Odisee Univer- sity College/ KULeuven since 2016. She is also working on her Ph.D thesis in Belgian Francophone Literature and Women Studies: “ L’évolution de l’émanicpation de la femme en droit belge, quels liens et quelles interactions avec l’image de la femme dans les oeuvres romanesques de Neel Doff, Marie Gevers, Suzanne Lilar, Lilane Wouters et Eliza Brune” under the supervision of Prof. Gullen- tops at the VUB. Contact Details E-mail: [email protected] Office hours and location: Professor Caenen: Tuesday and Thursday : 8h0-8h30 ( by appointment only) and 13h-13h30. Other possibilities exist as well on the same days or other weekdays (except Friday) but need to be arranged the week prior to the appointment. Emails will be answered anywhere between 8h AM and 16h00 PM. Any emails sent later will be answered the following day. Emails sent over the weekend will be answered the next business day. Messages sent through Canvas will not be answered. How to make an appointment? Ask in class or send an email a day or two prior to the appointment. Course Description and Course Methodology SHORT DESCRIPTION This course is an absolute beginner’s course, conform to the CEF Common European Framework for Languages, entrance level A1 and exit level A2. Students acquire an elementary knowledge of the French language, and will be able to communicate autonomously very quickly. These basic communication skills will be acquired by reading short dia- logues and small texts. Phrase structures and vocabulary will be practiced with the instructor and in small groups.Students will also work on small simple written texts. Students who have any prior French knowledge will not be accepted to attend this class. The instructor will send these students on to an appropriate level. Easy credit seekers will not be tolerated! LECTURES Classes will be taught in French progressively from the beginning and every student is expected to produce French phrases to his ability during classes. This may seem difficult, but don’t forget that you can always ask if you don’t understand. Gaining confidence while speaking French is far more important than worrying about the mistakes you might make. Classes will be taught twice a week, and class sessions are devoted to learning and understanding texts and new theory, new grammar or new vocabulary skills. Students will always need to prepare in advance by reading and listening to the MP3’s at home. Practical assignments can be found after each chapter in the handouts. Practical assignments will include a little bit of writing, but these as- signments will be mostly used to practice oral French inside and outside the classroom. Course content A) Grammar • L’alphabet, les accents, la cédille, la prononciation • Compter de 0 à 100, 10.000 • Les verbes irréguliers : être, avoir, pouvoir, connaître, devoir, aller, boire, manger, vouloir, faire, partir • Les verbes réguliers en –ER • Les verbes réguliers en –IR • Les verbes réguliers en -RE • La négation avec ne…pas/ ne…plus • Prépositions de position et de direction • L’adjectif possessif • Les pronoms sujet, y compris on • Tu et nous ( use and difference) • Il faut +infinitif • Le futur proche • C’est –il est • L’article défini, indéfini et partitif • Masculin et féminin, singulier et pluriel des noms (position et accord) • Masculin et féminin, singulier et pluriel des adjectifs (position et accord)) • L’heure et la date, les mois et les saisons • La phrase interrogative (question tonique, la question avec est-ce que, la question avec inver- sion), la question avec quel/quelle, qui, quand, comment, où, qu’est-ce que,pourquoi. • D’abord, puis, ensuite, alors, à la fin • Le passé composé avec avoir, le passé composé avec être ( aller, venir, (r)entrer, partir), les participes passés des verbes irréguliers étudiés, l’accord avec être et l’accord avec avoir. B) Vocabulary and textual content, • Presentations, talking about hobbies and preferences, hello/goodbye/thank you, nationalities, presenting someone else or a famous person, asking questions about one another. • Asking, giving and understanding directions to and from, being able to comment and give directions based upon a map, prepositions that indicate a place, • Food vocabulary, ordering in a restaurant or a café, asking for information or help in these situations, asking the price, reading and understanding basic menus and recipes. • Travel vocabulary, booking a train or plane ticket, asking for help and information in these situations, booking a room in a hotel or hostel an being able to confront basic issues, holiday vocabulary, vocabulary for writing a short letter or a postcard, days of the week, months of the year and seasons, basic holidays. • Home vocabulary such as furniture and clothes ( basics) and the place of items ( underneath, above, below, in front of, behind,..) Course Prerequisites Decent knowledge of general grammatical concepts and terminology. Learning Objectives After this course, students will have the following French skills, and should be able to: • Understand basic French communication and be able to participate in everyday basic French con- versations. • Know the basic grammar and basic vocabulary to manage living in a French speaking environ- ment. • Read and understand basic French texts and compose simple written work. • Feel confident while speaking French in front of their peers. Course Materials 1) K.Caenen, Choix de Bruxelles, Vesalius College, 2015-16 (Version Spring 2019 on Canvas) 2) Audio MP3 ‘s made by the instructor with all the texts of the handbook (on Canvas) EXTRA READING USEFUL WEBSITES 1. A very good website in English to help you understand French, for beginners also, with videos, exercises and much more. Also check out the “ cool French” part, with tons of slang phrases. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/ 2. A good resource for beginners. http://french.about.com/od/beginning/Beginning_French_Lessons_and_Resources.htm 3. A very broad database with exercises for all levels an nearly all grammar topics. http://www.lepointdufle.net/ 4. Interglot Dictionary = www.interglot.com If you are interested in politics, history and the language divide you can find some extra information in the following books. They can be found in the VUB or ULB library or in the National Belgian Library ( the “ Albertina library” www.kbr.be, near the central station) If the book can be found in this library, the library code is also provided. ( ALB) 1. Geert Van Istendael, Le labyrinthe belge, traduit du néerlandais par Monique Nagielkopf et Marnix Vincent, préface Jaques de Decker, Bordeaux, Le castor astral, 2004, 277 p. ( bib. ULB) 2. Els Witte, Jan Craeybeckx, Alain Meynen, Political history of Belgium from 1830 onwards, Brussel, VUB University Press, Antwerpen, Standaard, 2000, 297 p. ( bib ALB : A2000 5. 730) 3. Benno Barnard, Martine Van Berlo, Geert Van Istendael, How can one not be interested in Belgian history? War, language and consensus in Belgium since 1830. Gent, Academia Press, Dub- lin, Trinity College, 2005, 151p. ( bib ALB A 2006 4.492 + Bib. VUB) 4. Els Witte, Language and politics : The Belgian case study in a historical perspective Brux- elles, VUB University Press, 1999, 239 p. ( bib ULB + bib. VUB) 5. Richard Hill, The Art of being Belgian, Brussels, Belgium and Beyond, Europublications, Brussels, 2005, 208 p. (bib. ALB A 2007 5.551) 6. Harry Pearson, A Tall Man in a Low Land, some time among the Belgians, Abacus, London, 2002, 245 p. ( ask the instructor) 7. Els Witte, Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, The interdisciplinary study of urban bilingualism in Brussels, Clevedon, Avon, England, 1987, 241 p. ( bib ULB) 8. Arend Lijphart, Conflict and coexistence in Belgium: the dynamics of a culturally divided so- ciety, Berkeley, Institute of International Studies, University of California, 1981, 171 p.( bib ULB) 9. Daniel Blampain, André Goosse, Jean-Marie Klinkenberg ...( et.al.), Le français en Belgique : une langue , une communauté, Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot, 1997, 530 p. 10. Olivier Mouton, Marie-Anne Wilssens, Frédéric Antoine, Marc Reynebeau, Belgium, a State of Mind, Tielt, Lannoo, 2001, 207 p. 11. José Ovejero, Bruselas, Brussels, Excritos, 2000, 303 p. Course Assessment The students will be evaluated on the basis of their performance as follows: Quizzes 25% Announced quizzes Oral French produ- 15% Announced dialogues, class preparation with the MP3 ced in class Class participation 5% Active contribution to the class. +> Answering or asking questions in French, +> reading fluency, +> correct pronunciation, +> participation in set exercises. You will be graded for class participation once before the midterm and once before the final. The grades are available through Blackbaud. Language Depart- 10% Poster and textual contribution, questionnaire ment Show & Tell Mid term exam 20% Week 7 Final exam 25% 20 % written exam, 5 % oral presentation (week 13 or 14) Total 100% Grading Scale of Vesalius College Vesalius College grading policy, in line with the Flemish Educational norms, is now as stated follows: % On 20 A 85-100 17-20 Excellent A- 81-84 16,1-16,9 very good B+ 77-80 15,3-16,0 % On 20 B 73-76 14,5-15,2 good B- 69-72 13,7-14,4 C+ 66-68 13,1-13,6 C 62-65 12,3-13,0 satisfactory C- 58-61 11,5-12,2 D+ 54-57 10,7-11,4 D 50-53 10,0-10,6 pass F 49 and be- below 10 fail low Your transcript will give you a letter grade.