Choose Your Course Calendar:

Fall 2004, Thursdays, 5:30-8:30pm, FAC323

 From the HCCS Catalog:

French for Fashion Careers

A conversational introduction to the French language. In addition to basic oral communication skills useful for travel and the workbplace, as well as pronunciation practice, the course includes specialized vocabulary for the Fashion industry. 3 units min / 3 units max, Lecture.

I. Course materials

A. Required:

Entre amis, 4th edition, Oates & Oukada (textbook)

Parlons mode !, Jacobs (copy packet)

Internet access & e-mail

B. Recommended:

Any good French/English – English/French dictionary with IPA entries after each word

A notebook for note-taking and quizzes

Internet access & e-mail at home

II. Description & General Course Information

This class meets for three hours a week, for fifteen weeks, and it covers about the first five chapters of both the textbook and the copy packet. You are embarking on a journey – a journey that will allow you to live anew. It is very important that you keep up your part of the bargain! If you’ve never studied a foreign language before, it is not unreasonable for you to have to spend several hours a week studying for this class (for example, for every hour you spend in class, you should have room in your schedule for three spent studying, doing homework, doing computer exercises, etc.).

We will have lots of fun together, but let’s not forget that part of the academic experience of a cumulative course such as ours requires regular attendance and participation. If you don’t come to class or even just sit there when you do come, what you get out of this course will be far less than ideal. This is not a history class, where ‘getting the notes’ from someone else will get you by. There is no cramming in French. You HAVE TO BE THERE to get it. If you’re not ready to make the commitment that this course requires, then it’s probably best that you drop and take it again when you are ready.

III. Objectives

In French 1315 you will listen to, speak, read and write French, especially within the context of fashion. Vocabulary, language patterns and grammar are introduced and applied in the context of practical communication. The class includes dialogues, recordings, oral and written exercises, role-playing, partner or group work, and computer exercises.

IV. Multimedia Language Lab (FAC 305)

The Lab is located at the northeast corner of the 3^rd floor of the Fine Arts Center (the building in which our class is held). Plan to spend anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half there per chapter. Moreover, we are fortunate enough to be using a text series with many online activities. These can be done anywhere you can get access to the Internet; therefore, you may be able to do much of the computer work from home. The people who work in the lab are very helpful and friendly: ask them for help if you have any computer questions! If you don’t have Internet access at home, and you need a place to work, the lab is where you can go for any work related to language learning. We are in the process of updating the software library, and there will soon be more materials for French courses. 

V. Tests

There will be an exam after every two chapters (chapitre préliminaire & chapitre 1, 2 & 3, then 4 & 5). The final will emphasize chapters 4 & 5, but will be cumulative in nature. In summary, there are three written tests throughout the session, plus a cumulative written final. Tests sometimes have a listening portion, along with reading and writing segments.

VI. Oral Exam

At the end of the semester, you will take an oral exam on communicative topics covered during the course.  This exam will count for 10 percent of your final grade.

VII. Compositions

You will be assigned three compositions throughout the semester. These will range in length from one paragraph to slightly less than a full page. All compositions should be typed in a size 12 font, and double-spaced. You are encouraged to use spelling and grammar check on Microsoft Word: yes, later versions of Word can check spelling in French. All you have to do is adjust the language & dictionary in the program’s setup. Accents can be created by (1) changing the general Windows keyboard to International, (2) using the Windows character map, (3) using the control key and numeric codes, (4) or using the control key, apostrophe, comma, etc., plus the letter to be accented once in Word.

Refer to your computer owner’s manual, online FAQs, or tutorials for further assistance. There is also an area of the beginner’s French web pages of about.com with detailed instructions on how to create accented letters on your computer. For additional information, you can also consult the HCCS French pages at hccs.edu, then Central, Departments, Academic Development, choose Foreign Languages, then French next to the flag.

VIII. Final Grade

Class participation and attendance = 15%; Compositions (5%) and homework (10%) = 15%, Quizzes = 15%; Chapter tests = 25%, Oral exam = 10%; Final exam = 20%

IX. Make-ups

All test dates and assignment due dates are in the Vue d’ensemble. No make-up quizzes or late turning in of assignments allowed. You may make up ONE written exam after having provided a reasonable explanation (death in the family, extreme illness, etc.) for having missed it. It is also preferable that you let your instructor know you will miss a test via e-mail or telephone beforehand.

X. Attendance and Participation

As these make up 15 percent of your grade, you are expected to come to every class prepared and ready take on the day’s lessons. More than two absences will result in your final grade being lowered by one letter. Exchanging phone numbers with one or two other students for times when you miss a single class is a very good idea. It is not your instructor’s responsibility to ‘bring you up to date’ on what you missed during your absence, nor is it his job to tell you if you’ll be ‘doing anything important tomorrow.’ Class will begin at the scheduled time.  Please be on time, as coming and going disrupt the class.  Attendance is essential and daily records will be kept.  In accordance with HCCS official policy, a student may be dropped for excessive absences. Consult with the instructor in case of serious illness or business reasons for absence. 

Students will lose points on the participation grade for every class missed over the allotted time. Absences will be counted from the first class day of the semester, no matter when the student registers or first attends. The student who earns an ‘A’ in attendance & participation has come to every class on time, always done his/her assigned work (computer work, compositions, workbook exercises, etc.), participates actively, and interacts with other students in a positive, encouraging manner. Participation goes far beyond answering when called upon: it also includes an upbeat attitude and a genuine willingness to actually speak some French and help neighbors do the same during group work.

XI. Reasonable Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Services Office, SJAC 102, 713-718-6164, at the beginning of each semester. Faculty are authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.

XII. HCCS Grading System

90-100 %          =          A

80-89  %           =          B

70-79 %            =          C

60-69 %            =          D

59 & below        =          F

XIII. Cell Phones, Beepers, and Other Intrusive Noise-Making Devices

Please have the common courtesy to turn off all cell phones and beepers before class. Their use disrupts the class and is QUITE RUDE. 

XIV. Policy on Academic Dishonesty

Students are expected to do their own work, unless an assignment is made specifically as a group assignment.  Plagiarism (handing in another person's work while purporting it to be your own), or cheating of any other kind will result in a grade of F for the assignment, quiz, or test in question.  For a second offense, the student may receive a grade of F for the course.

XV. Tips on Language Learning

“I guess I’m just not good at languages.” What a bunch of bunk! While any psycholinguist will tell you that it is certainly easier for a child to acquire language(s), there is no such thing, in my learned, professional opinion, as being ‘worse at languages’ than others unless parts of your linguistic apparatus (mouth, brain, ears, etc.) are somehow genuinely and severely malformed or injured. Even then, determination takes people a long, long way. Ask anyone who has learned another language after childhood, and you’ll see that no smoke and mirrors are involved – just dedication, perseverance, and a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them. There is no voodoo, magic spell, or incantation to offer you. The rewards of language learning, like any other important undertaking, are numerous.

Learning French is your chance to go places! Whether you’re just fulfilling a language requirement this semester or quite interested in long-term continuation of the language experience you begin here today, I don’t expect you to be a Navajo code-breaker: I only expect you to keep trying and to do so with an open mind. Please participate actively in this course: what you get out of it is in direct relation to what you put in! Learning a language is a serious commitment. Take the opportunity before you to surround yourself with French! Explore other ways to supplement what you do in class, especially by making French as present in your everyday life as possible. Rent a French movie once a week, and put paper on the screen to cover the subtitles. If you own a DVD player, change the language of your favorite movie to French. Check out your local Alliance Française and/or French consulate to see what kinds of other outlets are available to you. Label everything in your house in French with post-it notes! Change your web search engine to the French version, or use a French web-search service.

Even better still, use the French language versions of programs you use often. Buy (or download!) some French language music, and listen to it in the car, at the gym, etc. Eat at a French restaurant and order in French! Practice vocabulary and pronunciation in front of a mirror and watch what your mouth does when making those strange sounds! Make flash cards with vocabulary words on one side and a picture of the meaning (as opposed to a translation) on the other. Although you shouldn’t always run to the dictionary, keep a log of every word you end up wanting to look up (especially those you encounter repeatedly), and review it periodically: this will increase your vocabulary tremendously. Try guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words & phrases through context: your mind is capable of some very fancy detective work if you just let it.