French, Italian, and Spanish Placement Tests
If you are planning to take an elementary French, Italian, or Spanish class and you are a new student, freshman or transfer student, or you have not yet begun the elementary language sequence on the Ann Arbor campus, you must take the placement test in order to register for the correct course. You must register for the class into which you have been placed.
If you have registered for a class prior to taking the test, you will still be required to take the test in order to verify that you are in the appropriate level class.
If you have already taken French, Italian, or Spanish 101-232 on the Ann Arbor campus, or if you have already taken the placement test once, you are not eligible to take the test again. For questions regarding the LS&A language requirement, please see a general academic advisor or call POINT-10 (764-6810).
Please Note: With the reduction in the number of classrooms throughout LS&A, departments must limit the number of classes offered between 10 am and 4 pm. There will be more classes open before 10 am and after 4 pm. Please take advantage of the opportunity to register for these classes and avoid the "Lottery" (see 2b below).
Instructions for students requesting overrides for French or Spanish 101, 103, 231, or 232.
Take me to the Fall Time Schedule
Elementary Language Courses
Students who intend to continue a language begun in high school must take the Placement Test to determine the language course in which they should enroll. French 102 is NOT open to students who have begun instruction in high school. It is strongly recommended that students who began French at another college or university also take the placement test. Students must check with the Course Coordinator for any exceptions to the Placement Test level.
101. Elementary French. Students
with any prior study of French must take the Placement Test. Credit is not
granted for more than two courses from French 101, 102, and 103. (4). (LR).
The sequence of French 101/102 presents the essential elements of French
grammar, vocabulary, and culture which are needed in everyday life to understand
French spoken at a moderate speed and to be understood by sympathetic native
speakers. Vocabulary and structures are practiced in class primarily through
communicative activities stressing listening and speaking. Authentic documents
are used to develop reading skills and culture. Cultural awareness and listening
skills are further developed through listening and video materials. Classes
meet four hours per week in sections of 20-25 students. Daily homework assignments
involve studying vocabulary and grammar, writing exercises or short compositions,
and practice in listening comprehension. There are several quizzes and tests,
as well as midterm and final examinations and speaking tests. Class participation
is graded. Cost:3 WL:
See statement above. Students with any prior study of French must take the
Placement Test.
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
103. Review of Elementary French. Assignment
by placement test. No credit granted to those who have completed or are
enrolled in 102. (4). (LR).
French 103 is a course for students with some prior language study in French,
and covers the same material presented in French 101/102. Entrance into
the course is by placement or with the permission of the course coordinator.
Because students are expected to be already familiar with some of the material,
the course moves at a rapid pace, and students will need to plan on spending
at least 8-10 hours each week preparing daily lessons. The objectives and
methods of instruction are similar to those of French 101/102. Frequent
quizzes (with both oral and written components) are administered to check
students' assimilation of material. There are two hourly exams, a final
and speaking tests. By the end of the course, students will have a good
working vocabulary and strong listening comprehension skills; they should
be able to express themselves in French (both in writing and orally) using
most of the basic structural patterns in the language. (Mangiafico)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
231. Second-Year French. French
102 or 103; or assignment by placement test. No credit granted to those
who have completed or are enrolled in 112 or 230. (4). (LR).
Students whose last French course was NOT at UM-Ann Arbor must take the
placement test. The sequence French 231/232 is built upon the work done
in French 101/102. It presents intensive and comprehensive grammar review,
study of finer points of French grammar structure, and the reading of journalistic
prose, short stories, and literary excerpts. Both courses include the use
of French movies and video. The proficiency gained by the end of French
232 should enable students to express themselves in French on subjects of
intellectual interest, to understand conversation on such topics. Classes
meet four times per week in sections of 20-25 students. Since communicative
skills are emphasized daily, regular attendance and active participation
are essential. Homework consists of grammar study, writing exercises, and
laboratory work, both audio and video. There are comprehensive course-wide
tests, compositions, and final examinations.
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
232. Second-Year French, Continued.
French 231; or assignment by placement test. No credit granted to
those who have completed or are enrolled in 112 or 230. (4). (LR).
In French 232, we will discuss several cultural themes (problems in society,
racism, immigration, cooking, health, socialized medicine, and World War
II France). You will continue to improve speaking, writing, reading, and
listening skills by reviewing vocabulary and grammar related to these themes
as well as through discussion of short weekly readings (advertisements,
literary excerpts, and short stories). Throughout the term, students will
listen to French songs, see several videos (from French television) as well
as two French movies. Classes meet four times per week in sections of 20-25
students. Since communicative skills are emphasized, daily, regular attendance
and active participation are essential and will be included in the final
grade. There will be three course wide tests, composition, and a final examination.
Section 010 - Contemporary French Culture. An introduction to
the critical reading of French literary and non-literary texts; a review
of French grammar; training in composition, conversation, and listening
comprehension. We will analyze short stories, poetry, short articles on
current events, and films. (Huet)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
Courses Taught in English (without language prerequisite)
240. French and Francophone Topics in
Translation. Taught in English. A knowledge of French is not required.
(3). (HU).
Section 001 - The Philosophical Novel. What can novels say or teach
about how to live? About ethical and political choices, about the pursuit
of happiness and about responsibility for evil? These are some of the central
questions called for by the French-language philosophical novels that will
be read and studied in English translation in this course. (No French is
required; students who can read French will be encouraged to do so.) We
will begin with several short works from the heyday of philosophical and
critical fiction in the years preceding the French Revolution, then continue
with versions of the genre down to the present day. Works studied will include
Diderot, Rameau's Nephew; Graffigny, Letters of a Peruvian Woman;
Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons; Denon, No Tomorrow; Balzac, The
Wild Ass's Skin; Camus The Fall; and Kundera, Slowness.
Three essays or experimental writing projects of moderate length; one oral
or written examination (depending on class size). Cost: 2 WL: 1 (Paulson)
Section 002 - The Computer and the Rainbow: Science and Literature.
This discussion course will move from the infinitesimal world of DNA and
genetic replication to the measureless realms of the expanding universe
and explore many scientific concepts that occur in literature, as well as
consider differences between `science' and `literature'. Science explores
and discovers `external reality' while literature deals with the world of
creation and imagination. Is it true that science discovers that which already
exists while literature creates that which does not (or might never) exist?
Chance plays an important role in science and we will explore literary texts
where chance and other scientific images are an important theme. The course
will be in English and there are NO SCIENTIFIC PREREQUISITES. Those wishing
to read the texts in French will be encouraged to. Grade based on regular
and active class participation, oral presentation and term paper. (Maxwell)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
244. Issues in Race and Cultural Diversity
in the Francophone World. Taught in English. A knowledge of French
is not required. (3). (HU).
This course is a first-year seminar. In this course
we shall study cultural productions and social issues related to race, racism
and ethnicity in French-speaking societies. At one level of the course we
shall discuss how discourses on race function within the general ideological
state apparatuses that reproduce a given social order. In this connection
we will also study the role of cultural diversity in the production and
circulation of discourses of existing ideology. At another level we shall
analyze how discourses on race, racism and ethnicity are inscribed in the
texts and films selected for the course. At issue here are the implication
of cultural diversity in different parts of the Francophone world. Selected
specific examples (of texts and films) will help us put in context our questioning
on these issues. This course is taught in English. MW 1-2:30 (Ekotto)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
Cultural and Literary Studies
270. French and Francophone Literature
and Culture. French 232. (4). (HU). May be repeated for a total of
eight credits.
Section 001: Les intellos et la politique - Un siècle d'engagement.
This course will explore the participation of the French intellectual community
in the twentieth-century political scene by focusing on a series of petitions,
beginning with Émile Zola's defense of Alfred Dreyfus in 1898 and
ending with the support of the "sans-papiers" by sixty-six filmmakers
in 1997. Issues of nationalism, colonialism, ideology, and human rights
will be examined in class discussions, debates, and an on-line discussion
group. In addition to these petitions, representative works by authors on
all sides of the issues will be read to determine how different genres (i.e.,
petitions, manifestoes, essays, poems, films, etc.) treat the same
topic. As a final project, you may choose to create two original petitions
(both pro and con) on any issue which interests you, to read and analyze
a supplemental text by one of the authors mentioned in the course, or to
debate a topic of your choice with another student. (Diehl)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
Other Language Courses
235(361). Advanced Practice in French.
French 232. (3). (Excl). May not be included in a concentration plan
in French.
In this course we will be dealing with some of the issues and problems facing
today's French/Francophone society through readings (press and textbook
articles), videos (documentaries, news program exposes, film) and CDs: What
is the "French Republic?" France and "the crisis of authority";
The European Union (Transparency and opacity of the governing powers); Unemployment
and exclusion; The "family" (traditional and new models); Young
people (suicide, violence, AIDS); Women (American and French feminisms;
a "backlash" for women in France?); Colonization and its sequels
(the "immigrants", France and Sub-Saharan Africa, Islam in France,
the Algerian tragedy); Racism and xenophobia; Fighting racism ("SOS
Racisme", hardcore Rap). This "cultural" approach will offer
us a jumping-off point for oral and written communication (respectively
50% and 50% of the final grade). Four individual oral presentations, a number
of short essays. Active class participation and regular attendance are expected.
(Viers)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability