Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Beginning

There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

Low Intermediate

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of one semester (or two quarters) of college-level French. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

An approach including, whenever possible, elaboration on the general context of civilization (lifestyle, clothing, etc.), literature, cinema, and Parisien references.

Historical Figures
-Joan of Ark and Anne of Brittany : Two women sacrificed for France
-Francois I and Henri IV : The end of one epoch (the last of the Valois dynasty) and the beginning of another (the first of the Bourbon dynasty)
-Napoleon I and Charles de Gaulle : A vision for the place of France in the world

A series of "Greats"
-Statesmen : Richilieu, Vauban, and Colbert
-Royal mistresses : A. Sorel, D. de Poitiers, G. d’Estree, Madame de Montespan, Madame de Maintenon, la Marquiese de Pompadour
-Explorers : Cartier, Bougainville, Charcot, P.E. Victor
-Scientists : Descartes, Pasteur, P. et M. Curie

The French Image
-The Sorbonne and its pupils : Robert de Sorbon, Heloise et Abelard
-Luxury : C. Chanel, Guerlain, Cartier