Français élémentaire

Automne 2004

Prof.N. Zabegailo E-mail: ivashyunat@t-online.de

Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/n_zabegailo/

Office hours (les heures du bureau):

Tuesday (mardi): 10:OOAM - 11:OO AM

Thursday (jeudi): 10:OOAM- 11:OOAM

About the course.


The course is designed for beginning level students, with no or little previous knowledge of French. The students who have had some French in high school will have a small advantage (which they will have to share with the rest of the class) but only in the very beginning. My experience shows that the beginners often work harder in order to keep up with the class and soon enough, do better in class than the students relying on the previous knowledge (and not working enough). My strong advice (and also a requirement!) for all of you is to study consistently, keep with the pace of the class, not to rest too long on laurels if you receive them. Keep in mind that your good performance is important not only for your self-satisfaction, but for good results of the class as a whole. Indeed, you'll have to work, most of the time, in pairs or in small groups. Each of you may contribute to the success of the learning by active participation and good preparation.

About the textbook.

Today we learn foreign languages primarily to communicate with other people. The textbook "Premiers échanges" provides you with the opportunity to learn and practice a range of expressions most frequently used by native speakers, and to carry out a variety of communicative tasks, called functions. Imagine the simplest of situations: two people meet for the first time. They greet each other, introduce themselves, respond to the introduction , make small talk and say good-buy. Thus every communicative situation revolves around a set of functions. You will learn how to perform different language functions in a variety of situations. Grammatical structures are presented as they naturally occur in the set of expressions.

 

                                                                               

Requirements

 The textbook "Premiers échanges" is accompanied by the "Cahier d'activités orales et écrites" and the Student tape. You will need all of them for our classroom and home activities. I recommend  that the students purchase a bilingual  French-English, English-French dictionary.

I expect every student to participate actively in class-room activities and to speak French most of the time. You must come to class prepared -  not only having done all your homework assignements, but also ready to communicate in French with your classmates and  to be creative and enthusiastic about learning. Besides four hours of  weekly classwork,  you'll have to spend at least four to five hours weekly  doing your homework. You are also required to speak about one hour  per week in your Lab or Office (with your Secretary, for example). I'll evaluate your progress  based on   participation in classroom activities ,  performance in  the written assignements (activities in the Cahier, compositions, tests),  and  performance on oral and final exams. Each of the above components represents one third in your final grade. During the semester we'll have five 50 minute tests, one oral exam, and one three-hour final. Your Success in a new Company may depend on that! (JOKE).