French Course Offerings

French I

Introduces the French language; emphasizes all skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing in an integrated way. Includes how to greet and take leave of someone, to ask and respond to basic questions, to speak and read within a range of carefully selected topics and to develop an understanding of French speaking cultures.

French II

Enhances Level One skills in French and provides opportunities to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in an integrated way. Provides continued practice on how to greet and take leave of someone, to ask and respond to basic questions, and to speak and read within a range of carefully selected topics. Provides opportunities to increase understanding of French speaking cultures.

French III

Enhances Level Two skills in French and provides further opportunities to increase listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in an integrated way. Provides continued practice in previous topics and introduces intermediate grammatical structures and in-depth vocabulary; offers further opportunities to increase understanding of French speaking cultures.

French IV

Focuses on communication and increased proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing.  A survey of the history, literature and art of France is part of this course. Provides continued language development through exploration of familiar and unfamiliar topics. Multiple opportunities are provided for students to use the language through small group activities and projects.

IB French

This course is designed to prepare students for the IB higher level internal and external exams in French.  This course is offered to students who have successfully completed French IV. The course emphasizes the development of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in French. Students are exposed to the literature, culture and history of the French speaking world. Students focus on improving their ability to communicate effectively in French in a variety of situations and formats.

Advanced Placement French Language

This course covers the equivalent of a third year college course in advanced composition and conversation. This course seeks to develop language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) with extensive training in the organization and writing of compositions. The objectives are as follows: 1) to further develop the ability to understand spoken and written French in various contexts; 2) to further develop a French vocabulary sufficiently ample for reading newspaper and magazine articles, literary texts and other non-technical writings without dependence on a dictionary; and 3) to further develop the ability to express oneself coherently, resourcefully and with reasonable fluency and accuracy in both spoken and written French. Students are expected to take the AP French Language examination in May.