FREN W1205

In-class participation, vocab quizzes, 1 class-long presentation (in our class it was in groups of 2, but the number of classes she reserved for these presentations and the cap on the number of students allows for groups of 3), 1 10-minute final presentation during class time

I don't even remember. There were some Tests? And Compositions? Quizzes are usually ungraded and he gives you the opportunity to correct your compositions (the one or two that he actually returned were pretty thoroughly annotated). We had two take home tests with notes allowed (but no outside help). All the tests were fair and not too tricky or cruel. As I think everyone else has mentioned previously, he will never ever return your grades, ever. Just do your best, I guess (Samuel is also very kind and it is very possible to get an A).

Standard language workbook + oral exercises every week, some mini essays that he lets you edit as much as you like, completely reasonable tests throughout the semester.

I had Mme. Jouanneau-Fertig for two courses and am currently trying to get into another class with her. She's one of the best teachers I've had in my college career. She's very structured; she has a syllabus, and she sticks to it closely. In every class she has us review the syllabus and points out any interesting things we should keep in mind, such as quizzes, presentations, and film-viewings. Unlike in her Review of French Fundamentals class, Mme. J-F talked to our ridiculously small class (6 people with the cap at 12) in French 95% of the time, which is understandable given that you can only take this class once you've at least taken Intermediate I. In my class, we either finished/ tested out of the French requirement or were taking Intermediate II. As this was my first French class that was not grammar-intensive, I was taken aback by all the grammar and vocab I had to recall, and I was initially frustrated my progress in it. However, because of all the talking we did in class (it was inevitable since there only 6 of us), as well as the interesting various points of discussion, I definitely improved in speaking. Madame is very good at coaching us. Madame is a very fair grader. She would take notes while we talk to the class and then later point out what was great and what we need to work on. There are also vocab quizzes, which personally bogged down my grade a little, but t…

One of the best! He's funny, competent, charming, and super approchable if you ever need help. I know he had some health issues this semester so classes were canceled pretty often (like, more than 4 times) which was fine with me, but we still managed to finish the entire course book without any stress or cramming at the end of the semester. The course was accelerated, but unlike Accelerated Elementary it was a lot less grammar, and we spent many days in between just talking about French movies or watching French news or something. Samuel is a stickler about pronunciation (especially gender agreement) and overall I think my pronunciation improved a LOT in his class. In-class worksheets are very helpful and I always felt like review was pretty thorough even though the course moved very fast. We had short homework assignments on a nearly-nightly basis, which I did pretty rarely, so I got really good at answering on the spot in class. It never seemed to be a problem, which is great! Because of the nature of Intermediate French I, the first part of the semester was just review of Elementary French II so that was a really nice time. Even though the second half of the semester was harder, Samuel is a more than capable teacher who makes class a joy. After having taken French since September and feeling really nervous for my second intensive semester, I was so impressed by my own abili…

Having recently finished undergrad, this is the second, and last review I will write about a professor at Columbia. I am thrilled to say that this will be in stark contrast to my first review, which was more of a scathing critique, really. Vincent Aurora is the single best professor I have had the fantastic fortune of encountering at this school. I was not looking forward to an accelerated french class, 4 times a week for 2 hours every day. Needless to say, I was only taking it in order to fulfill a requirement. What I discovered in that classroom was, however, what most students dream of finding at college. He was the single most enthusiastic, energetic, hilarious, witty, thought provoking and absolutely engaging professor I have ever had. There simply aren't any negative things I could say about him or the class. Be prepared to work a little more than you expect to, try to be moderately prepared for class, but other than that, you're gold. A colour I am shocked he has yet to be designated. If you get a chance, I implore you, no, I *beseech* you, to take a class with this man. I don't believe that there is someone else out there who could teach a language with as much natural fluidity than this person. He is genuine and reasonable and his anecdotes keep you as focused as you'd be if you were having a bit of a chat with your friend. I learned more french than I ever thought wa…

For the most part, a joke. Who assigned 3 credits to this class? But there is one oral presentation on a topic of your choice. For the final, you just have to talk to her for 3 minutes about anything you want to.

Weekly homework in the workbook (never graded), 4 compositions, and 5 tests (2 of which were take-home because we missed a few classes because he was sick). He assigns some reading out of the textbook, but never very long and if you don't do it it's no big deal because you will most likely read it together in class anyway and talk about the vocabulary and then the text itself.

There is quite a lot of reading and listening, and the class moves VERY QUICKLY. Take it if you have a decent amount of time daily to devote to it. Go to his office hour!!! A few short essays throughout the semester 4 tests 1 final (25%)

Professeur J-F was always extremely organized and excited for class, so much so that she would always try to start a few minutes early. Be warned: in this class punctuality and attendance are a significant consideration in your grade. The course was structured so that each week had a theme, and we always stuck to the syllabus. This was efficient, but it also meant that we never got to discuss anything interesting. In fact, we barely got to talk to each other, except to read a list of simplistic questions back and forth. I do not feel that my French improved, and my grammar certainly deteriorated. The best way I've found to describe the class is that it's like a middle school language course. There's lots of boring day-to-day vocab, and she has all of these little activities planned out. She does most of the talking, and frankly, doesn't have much of interest to say. And we got a lot of pretty useless handouts, but not enough to justify the $20 she collected from us at the beginning of the semester.