This class will meet 9 times per week: 5 hours will be in a Master class with your professor; 3 hours will be in a small group session with an assistant; 1 hour will bring together both sections of Intensive 001 for a special Monday evening session with both professors and the assistants.

Text:
French in Action, Pierre J. Capretz et al. Second Edition. Textbook + Workbook Part 1.
(Also xeroxed materials to be distributed in class.)

Master Class: This will be taught each weekday at 9 or at 10 in Taylor D. The course will be organized around French in Action print, audio, and video materials. We will be learning French in context using authentic materials. A typical sequence of lessons will be structured as follows:

A video presentation--entirely in French--introduces each unit of work (une leçon). You will work through this video with your professor's help. Don't expect to understand everything. Don't panic. Don't feel overwhelmed. We're looking for global comprehension only. (Your comprehension level will always surpass your production level and we'll make it very clear exactly what you're expected to learn.)

Before the next class you'll go to the Language Learning Center in Denbigh* (see details below) to prepare the text work-up (mise en oeuvre) i.e. you'll listen to a recording of the video dialogue and work through this material, repeating phrases and answering simple questions. You'll be imitating a native speaker, trying to capture the pronunciation and intonation patterns.

In class the next day your professor will ask you many of the same questions before you move on to studying the new vocabulary and structures presented in the chapter. After class you'll return to the Language Learning Center with your workbook (which ties in with the audio program) and you'll work through the lesson, reviewing what was presented in class, and doing oral and written exercises.

The next step is to turn to the hard-backed textbook for more extensive reading and writing practice. Here you'll find the script of the video more or less reproduced along with clarifications and cultural notes. As part of your homework you'll be asked to read through the lesson and then provide written answers to the text work-up (mise en oeuvre) at the end of the chapter.

Lastly you'll re-use the material in a creative manner both orally (role-playing, improvisation, and later in conversations) and in writing (compositions and written dialogues).

No matter what the homework assignment may be each day you should review the material covered in class, learn thoroughly all new structures, and be sure to memorize spelling of new vocabulary.

Small Group Sessions: Meeting 3 times per week, these sessions will be spent with an assistant who is a native or near-native speaker of French. Working in a smaller group of students than is possible in the Master Class you'll have the opportunity in these sessions to practice your oral work. Early on you'll be dealing with structured exercises designed to have you respond quickly to questions in French. This kind of activity should help you to internalize structures and vocabulary and enable you to respond more automatically to any situation. (Certain of the exercises you will have encountered already in written form in your workbook!) From these rapid-paced communicative drills you'll progress to dialogues, role playing, skits, simulations, and, as the course progresses, to more open-ended activities such as discussions, interviews and mini-debates. The small group sessions will be scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at either 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. We will ask you for your time preference and will do our best to accommodate you. Once you've been assigned to a group, however, you must remain with that group for the remainder of the semester.

Monday Evening Session: This will bring together both sections of Intensive 'Baby' French 6.30 to 7.20 p.m. in Thomas 224. Most Monday evenings we will present a new video. The remaining time will be devoted to other activities including presentation of skits you've prepared in your small group session.

Assignments and Testing:

Schedules on the web will be updated on a regular basis and will detail what we will be studying in class and what your homework assignments will be for each evening. During Semester I we will cover the first 26 chapters of French in Action (i.e. half of the textbook, all of the workbook). In Semester II you will have a new grammar book and workbook. You may be lucky in finding a second-hand textbook in good condition instead of buying a new one. However the workbook each semester--since you have to write in it--cannot be resold, nor should you think of purchasing a used one.

There will be regular quizzes, a final written examination (self-scheduled), a final oral interview with a professor, and a final skit that you will prepare with other members of your little group. Your final grade will be calculated as follows: quizzes 35% (we'll drop your lowest quiz grade); final written exam 30%; oral exam 10%; skit 10%; participation (in all class sessions, non-graded homework etc.) 15%.

You may wish do your lab homework in the Language Learning Center where you can record your responses and listen to them if you choose to use audio-cassettes rather than the on-line version. You should ask for French in Action, Lessons 1+2 (and so on--there are 2 lessons per cassette) and give your course as French 001 Intensive.

If you prefer to work on your computer (or a Language Learning Center computer) all audio materials will be available on the web in digitized form and accessible via the LLC page where you will find full instructions.

During the first few days of the semester you should make a point of visiting the Language Learning Center and asking the assistant to give you a tour and show you how the equipment works, what LLC procedures you should know, and what additional resources are available to you (video and computer materials, French web-sites, satellite recordings--usually subtitled--of the French news etc.etc.)

Take advantage of every opportunity to listen to and speak French. There will be showings of French movies for instance (movies are subtitled), and later in the semester you will be able to take advantage of the "Table Française" in Haffner for lunch and/or dinner one day per week. We want you to learn as much as you possibly can and to have fun doing so! This course does involve a lot of hard work but also lots of laughs. We hope you'll have a real sense of achievement at the end of the year when you look back and take stock of all you've accomplished.