French 4

  • Course Description

    This course is taught entirely in French. Students will advance their oral and written communication skills in French from paragraphs to strings of paragraphs of complex sentences, with emphasis on advanced level vocabulary acquisition and broadening their repertoire of grammatical structures with which to express themselves. Students will participate in oral presentations, class discussions, one on one interviews, and write original compositions. At level four, students will read authentic texts and news articles. Students are encouraged to do original thinking and to contribute to classroom discussions.

    Class Goals:

    • To improve and perfect Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational communication skills in French.
    • To learn all of the remaining grammar tenses and structures, not studied in levels 1-3.
    • To explore the cultures of France and the francophone world.
    • To use various genres such as poetry, plays, music, short stories and, film as a means of exploring culture.

    Suggested Pre-requisites:

    • Minimum grade of C or better in French level 3
    • Mastery of the present and past tenses, with working knowledge of commands and the subjunctive mood.

    This Year's Learning Topics by Semester:

    Semester 1:

    • Past tenses (Passé composé vs. Imparfait vs. plus-que-parfait)-presented as review
    • The subjunctive mood-presented as review
    • Le participe présent / gérondif
    • Les verbes pronminaux à sens passifPronominal verbs in the present and passé composé
    • Vocabulary from the works we read which include: Le petit Nicolas, Le Horla, La cantatrice chauve

    Semester 2:

    • Geography of French-speaking Africa
    • Form and placement of irregular adjectives
    • irregular Negations-presented as review
    • Relative Pronouns
    • Vocabulary from the works we read which include: African folk tales, poetry by various poets and Le petit Prince