This course is designed to improve your oral skills in the French language, both speech and comprehension. It meets twice a week for an hour and a half, during which active participation is required in order to pass the class. In the course of the semester we will study vocabulary units specific to a topic, review grammatical rules as needed, and explore audiovisual materials taken from native French sources -- all in order to use them as basis for group work, skits, discussions, games, etc. You will also independently give two presentations.

Prerequisites: French 102 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.
Attendance/Participation: This is a Pass/Fail class. No written paper or homework is to be turned in; hence attendance and participation are the basis for your grade. You may miss up to TWO classes during the semester. Only absences due to serious illness, family crisis, or university-sponsored non-social activities will be excused. So come to class, be ready to be talkative, and take the lead in conversation; bring your creativity, and your sense of humor, and we will all learn while having fun!
Homework: Although no formal homework is to be turned in, you are expected to complete the following: research on discussion topics, oral comprehension assignments, presentation preparation, and reading vocabulary lists. See also Forum Participation.
Oral Presentations: Each student will have two oral presentations to complete; one will be 15 min. long, and about a Francophone historical figure or event of your choice; it will occur on the 26th or 28th of February. Details about the second presentation are to be discussed in class.
Forum Participation: Barring technological glitches, we will make extensive use of a class discussion forum, where each week you will interact on the forum about news items seen on French media, as well as post a blog entry and respond to at least three other blogs from fellow classmates; details about content are to be discussed in class.
Final Exam: There will be no final exam; instead the class will meet during the examination time scheduled for this class: Thursday, May 8th, 10:15am-12:15pm in Brooks 104B.
Resources: The students will be able to use the services of a free French tutor at the language lab (Gruening 609) at hours yet to be determined.
Disability Services: The Office of Disability Services implements the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and insures that UAF students have equal access to the campus and source materials. I will work with that office (203 WHIT, 474-7043) to provide reasonable accommodation to students with disabilities.