Yaelle Azagury

Prof. Azagury is probably more difficult than other language teachers, but she's a good teacher. We covered 4 major topics of grammar and went through them carefully and did many examples. Class was pretty much the same every day which could got boring at times. The assigned homework exercises pretty much mirror the tests, so what's expected of you is not a mystery. I took this class to fulfill the language requirement, but I know others in my class were debating whether they should continue taking French after this course because it was difficult.

First of all, how do you even go about pronouncing her name? I don't even know. But once you get past the fact that you have no idea how to address her, she's way nice. Not to mention honest. A little too honest, sometimes. Oh, and don't be concerned if you don't know how to speak French or if you can't understand French - because she speaks in ENGLISH! She has a beautiful accent when she does speak in French, though. Plus, she teaches us French curse words, which is pretty sweet. This class isn't the best if you want to enhance your French vocab or pronuciation, but it's good to fine tune some minor grammar points. Take the clas if you just need to fulfill the requirement!

Prof. Azagury is pretty nice, an ok teacher, not amazing or anything, just ok. The class is basically as good as the people in it, since most of it is made up of class or group discussions. Somewhat interesting, very easy... good if you want an easy A.

Though freshmen may initially have the penchant to equate intellectualism with stuffiness, thus immediately disqualifying Professor Azagury for her youthful enthusiasm and exuberance, such thinking is decidedly incorrect. As one quickly learns, the best professors are those who are young enough to remain active in their fields and mutable in their views, while still possessing an impressive amount of knowledge on a given subject. That is precisely what Professor Azagury (or Yaelle, depending on whether or not she's around) embodies. The proof, really, is in the pudding: at the beginning of the first semester (which was, mind you, her first ever semester teaching), she did occasionally seem closed-minded about her interpretations. As time went on and the students proved their intellectual worth, however, she began to willingly acquiesce to another interpretation if it was able to discredit her own. Try pulling that off with the stuffy, old professors who are not fixed, but rather fossilised in their own views. Though some reviewers continue to harp on YaelleÂ’s supposed rigidnessÂ…well, only three people in the class really participated on a regular basis or attempted to contradict her arguments, and all of them (myself included) have written favorably about her flexibility on the website. So without any grounds for their criticisms, the other reviews are essentially null. Disc…

the previous reviewer is really off-target and unfair. yaelle is a sweet and funny person always willling to hold office hours and answer questions. her tests ARE hard, but the class is leniently curved. she provides lots of practice in class on grammatical concepts and she seems to understand individual students' weaknesses and strengths.

Yick. The seconds could not tick away fast enough a single day of her cursed class! Yaelle acts as though she encourages you to ask questions at first, but once you begin to produce these questions, she seems to have extreme difficulty answering them. She presents her answers in the same words with which she previously explained the topic. The trouble is - if you are asking the question, chances are fair that you didn't understand the first explanation of the topic, and thus her answer is no better than her original presentation of the material. When students had trouble with grammar points or concepts, especially when a few were having difficulty with the same ones, it would become apparent to Yaelle (in front of her class) that the students were not understanding her lecture and she got frustrated and moody. Finally she would just continue to get louder and more flustered until she was at a loss and would resort to: "It's JUST A RULE! You just must understand this to be this way." Which of course - is an unsuitable definition for any question in any course - French to basket weaving. You will NOT learn to speak any better in the class. We never spoke french!

As a French teacher, Professor Azagury might be better than she is as an English teacher. It's pretty obvious that English isn't her first language, and her comments are sometimes heavyhanded and unclear. She's nice and stylish but not a great professor. She's an arbitrary grader--she gives out a lot of A-'s with no explanation one way or another. Papers can be marked down because she disagrees with the thesis, even if it's argued well.

She is beautiful, talented and extremely knowledgeable. I loved the class. The only other review on this comp class, from last year, is still accurate. I took it Fall 2004 and there are still 5 short essays, pretty vast in their topics, and relating to random things, i.e. make a French resume, write about two photos, write about an important emotion you felt, etc etc...must discuss and speak in class to get a good grade. I got an A- and i deserved less b/c i wasn't in class at the beginning, but she understood my predicaments and was so kind that it scared me. I love this woman and the class was easy, enjoyable and a good way to keep your oral french skills going. Not difficult, a break from the heavy loaded french lit classes you have to take for majors. I recommend the class highly.

Here is what I have to say to the rest of the people who dropped out of lit hum first semester and now insist on writing bad reviews of Yaelle: back off! Ok, I'll admit that first semester was a bit tense at times, but I think that Yaelle really tried to change during the second semester. She is not a ridiculous human being, she does not make outrageous demands, she is very willing to speak with students about papers, and she really attempted to take the critiques from first semester seriously. That said, second semester gave Yaelle a chance to shine. She genuinely cares about the students and made every effort to encourage more discussion. Also, it is totally possible to improve your grades from Yaelle, as mine have improved a lot over the year. Yaelle's lit hum class was a pleasure- in addition to providing a solid base for the core.

Gods, how I have hated this woman's class. Simply put: in my opinion, Yaelle does not know how to teach well. The class is reminiscent of a bad cross between the Spanish Inquisition and that high school language class you know you hated. She'll spend long periods reading the grammar explanations directly from the text, and when you have a question, she says "WHY don't you understand?" as though you're just supposed to magically acquire the material. From what I hear elsewhere, French is a language that is spoken with clarity. She is rarely accessible and fond of assigning things at the last minute, changing dates of tests upon a whim, and just generally exerting control because she can do so. I mean, defending your dissertation is no excuse. You can't treat your students as though you expect them to worship at your divine altar. Yaelle is the worst instructor I've ever had at Barnard, and I am taking the next portion of this class at Columbia to escape her section. I highly suggest you do the same. Note to incoming BC French students: Yaelle is currently scheduled to teach both sections of Elementary French I in the fall. Run across the street; it's probably easier at Columbia anyway.