Beginning

There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

COURSE DESCRIPTION/ DESCRIPTION DU COURS
Students are going to 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 dialogues and small texts, but also by listening to authentic conversations, reproduced in the classroom. Structures and vocabulary will be practiced with the instructor and in small groups.
Students are going to integrate their new french skills in their projects concerning French and
Belgian cultural elements, and thus also practicing their oral skills and their reporting skills. Students will also work on small simple written texts.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES / OBJECTIFS DU COURS
After this course, students will have the following skills, and should be able to:
- Understand basic communication and be able to participate in everyday basic conversations.
- Know the basic grammar and basic vocabulary to manage living in a French speaking
environment.
- Read and understand basic french texts and compose simple written work
- Feel confident while speaking French in front of their peers. And to enable students to produce correct written and oral language, the following grammatical material will be taught:
- conjugaisons des verbes au présent,
- l'impératif
- le futur proche
- les articles
- les adjectifs possessifs
- les nombres
- le genre, le nombre et la place des adjectifs et des noms
- l'article partitif
- le passé composé
- les pronoms compléments directs
- la négation et l'interrogation

METHOD OF LEARNING / METHODOLOGIE DU COURS
Classes will be taught in French 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.

Three types of homework will be given this semester. La préparation will have to be done after each class. This includes making exercises, make sure you understand the new grammatical material, repeating and studying the conversation explained in the previous class, learning your vocabulary, reading and preparing exercises for the next class, La préparation will not be graded, but some of the set exercises will be corrected collectively in class, and thus your préparation will influence your class work and be reflected in the assessment. THIS IS JUST BASIC STUDY WORK! DO IT, OR ELSE,.....

Les devoirs will be given after class every tuesday and are to be handed in the following Monday. Most devoirs will be written assignments or creative compositions, and all of the devoirs are graded. Devoirs have to be made on a CLEAN SEPERATE SHEET OF PAPER ( not a sheet that
has been gnawed on by mice,...) clearly indicating your name, course, and date. Only hardcopies
will be accepted. If you miss the deadline, you automatically get 0 for that devoir. No exceptions
will be made. If you are sick, notify the instructor as quickly as possible, and bring along a doctor's note when you come back to class.

Un projet will be given once per semester. Students will work individually or in small groups to present a complete project. Projects involve both a written report and an oral presentation. Subjects are varied and linked with French and Belgian culture ( La B-D, le cinéma, la cuisine française, les habitudes des Belges,.......). Original ideas from students regarding the subjects of these projects will be taken into account. These projects will involve research, talking in front of the class, team work and should be great fun. The projet will also be graded.

COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 Unité 1: Salut !
Week 2 Unité 2 : Enchanté !
Week 3 Unité 3: J'adore !
Week 4 Unité 4 : Tu veux bien?
Week 5 Unité 5 : On se voit quand?
Week 6 Unité 6: Bonne idée!
Week 7 Final exam

ASSESSMENT
The most important element in this course is the individual progress of the students and the effort
they put in towards learning French. Students are entitled to make mistakes and learn from their
mistakes, it's an essential part of language acquisition. Quizzes, graded homework, projets, and oral exercises assess the achievement of every student: correctness of sentence structures, spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, correct use of new grammatical material,.....
Announced quizzes will cover a limited amount of course material and are given at weekly intervals to ensure every student is keeping up with the course work. The worst grade of the quizzes is automatically dropped.

GRADE BREAKDOWN
Weekly Quizzes 30%
Prepared oral work(projects)10%
Graded homework(devoirs)15%
Class participation 10%
Physical attendance in class 5%
Final exam 30%
* Physical attendance in class is compulsory and recorded at every class. If you are sick, warn the
school and they will notify your teachers. You'll also have to bring a doctor's note when you
return to school. If you miss class for any other reason, send an email to your professor,
preferably in advance as to explain why you cannot attend class. It is your responsibility to keep
up with the course work and you should ask the instructor or your fellow students about homework, about the course you've missed, and ask the necessary explanations if you don't understand. If you miss an announced quiz, please notify the instructor in advance and we'll set up an alternative.

GRADING
The equivalence between points and letter grades is as follows:

A 85-100
A- 81-84
B+ 77-80
B 73-76
B- 69-72
C+ 66-68
C 62-65
C- 58-61
D+ 54-57
D 50-53
F 49 and below

Your transcript will give you a letter grade. The exams receive a number with the equivalent letter
grade, but the numbers are added in order to obtain the final letter grade. The numbers indicated hereafter come from the fact that Flemish universities must consider 50% as passing and, by a process of linear interpolation from the US 4-point GPA system, 85% and above is an A, and
anything below 50% is an F. If you want to calculate the course grade you only need to multiply the numerical mark for each assignment and quiz/ exam by the percentage allocated to each different part of the course and then add the results.

TO-DO LIST
Students are also encouraged to take an active part in any cultural or social event of their choice that involves speaking French or hearing other people speak French. Carry a small notebook with you at all times and write down words and expressions you don't understand. You can look them up in your dictionary or just ask the instructor. We will work weekly with the words and expressions you've noted in your daily life in Brussels.