French Course Enrollment

Advisory placement test

To help you decide which lower-division French course will best match your current skills and knowledge, consider taking the advisory placement test offered each quarter. You are not obliged to accept the placement indicated by the result of your test. Registration is held during the second week and the exam is held during the third week of each quarter (except summer). Consult the testing schedule for detailed dates and times.

Refreshing your language knowledge and skills

If it has been a while since you have taken French course work, you may wish to review your high school or college material before the quarter begins. You also may consult the following textbook used in first-year language classes:

• French Textbook—Jansma, K. & Kassen, M. (2001). Motifs: An Introduction to French. Harcourt College Publishers.

Other suggestions for study:

Grammar:
• Verbs: regular/irregular, reflexive, tenses (present, passé composé, imparfait)
• Advanced levels: tenses (future, conditional), subjunctive, compound forms (plus-que-parfait, past conditional, future perfect)
• Pronouns: subject, tonic, direct, indirect objects
• Relative clauses
• Agreement: nouns and determiners, subject and verb


Reading and Vocabulary:
At the intermediate level (French 2A), you should be able to get the gist of a text, even if you don't know all the words, by skimming, scanning, and intelligent guessing of meanings from the context. You should have an active vocabulary that enables you to talk and write about commonplace objects, people, everyday activities, family life, school and studies, shopping, travel, etc. You should be able to ask for and give information; make, refuse, or agree to a polite request; describe people, places, and things; talk about your likes, dislikes, interests, etc.; tell a story in the past; talk about your plans for the future; express an opinion and defend your point of view.

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