French · Columbia University
I love this professor! She's funny and kind, and the workload is extremely manageable. She really cares about her students and tried to get to know us throughout the semester, and was willing to work with us at any point if we had questions. The class requires a lot of participation--she'll go around and ask you questions in front of everyone, but she's always very encouraging if you get something wrong and there's never any kind of judgement. I felt that my French improved a lot in this class and I'm planning to take another class with her!
Professor Jouanneau-Fertig is an amazing teacher! She is French, and her heritage allows her to give her students useful insight on the language and culture. Her class is extremely engaging, and conversation and student-driven. It is very interactive, and she has a great sense of humor, and is very accommodating. This class was a fun, enjoyable experience and I recommend her for anyone who wants to take this class!
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…
Best French class I've ever taken! I've already taken French for about 6 years, so I knew many of the lessons taught in the class. The professor obviously has a love of the French language and wants to spread its joy to you. She showed us pictures of the different regions of France and we even sung all together a French nursery song. She only allows English when clarifying something very difficult to say/understand in French. She works on all aspects of the language with everyone individually. Sometimes she goes around asking everyone to answer individually, but she never makes you feel bad if you get something wrong, she just keeps encouraging you until you get it right. The class is focused on tenses and grammar, but she does not test you on very unusual exceptions.
I was a French major, and I took this class during my last semester of college. After having studied abroad in Paris, this was the perfect way to consistently speak French back at CU and expand my vocabulary. This class is quite particular, since it has a more practical focus than most undergrad classes and since the class size is capped at a small number. As a result, my ability to comprehend and discuss current events (particularly related to economic policy) was stretched immensely. This class was especially useful to me because I had the opportunity to create my resume in French, practice interviewing in French and familiarize myself with French style and expectations in the business world, and master the job interviewing skills I was working on in English in French! As a result of this class, I would feel confident applying to jobs in France. Prof. Jouanneau-Fertig makes students feel comfortable speaking in class and she has a helpful and un-intrusive way of correcting errors. She also really tailors the class and expectations to individuals' needs and interests. (For example, there were several seniors applying to jobs, so she helped us tailor our resumes and cover letters to entry level jobs in industries that interested us.) Prof. Jouanneau-Fertig loves maps, and I feel much more knowledgeable about the geographic, economic, and industrial layout of the French regions…
This was an excellent course, the best language class I have ever taken. Prof J-F is truly engaged and engaging--its kind of impossible to space out when she is teaching because she is so charismatic. I feel much more confident in both spoken and written French after taking this course and I understand French grammar in much more depth. Overall I feel this course laid a very strong foundation to continue learning the language and really inspired me to write and express myself in French. The course was paced well because, it never felt too easy or too hard
I must say my French did not improve in this class at all. Madame J-F spoke English much more than she should have at this level. Her grading standards were also not clearly defined. If you don't have a good French accent, she will take that into heavy consideration with grading. She seems sweet, but overall, the class was not well done. The course definitely had a lot of potential, just not with this teacher. Take this class with Phillip Usher if you can - he is amazing!
LOVE this professor. She's very strict and a bit intense, but you will definitely learn. Also, she's actually quite nice and funny. Her grammar packets are also really helpful, and I basically aced the class by practicing at her packets.
I found this a fun class that was good for maintaining my current language level without doing a ridiculous amount of work. If you're looking to improve your grammar or oral ability significantly however, this is probably not the class. Class generally involved a light amount of reading, or watching a film beforehand, which we then discussed. Mme Jouanneau-Fertig was good at pushing everyone to speak and I felt she tried to use the occasion to really know you. All in, she's a good professor and a kind lady who goes out of her way to help her students, especially if they're going abroad to study or hoping to do graduate work in France. You won't see great improvement in your French from this, but that's not what this class was designed to do.
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.