Year One
Modern French Language 1
You will deepen your understanding of French grammar and syntax with the help of tutors experienced in facilitating the transition from A-level to university-level competence You will learn appropriate technical vocabulary and handle complex structures You will develop the skills required to produce authentic and accurate translations of written texts in both English and French Finally writing in formal French introduces you to the structures and methods used to debate ideas on contemporary issues You will increase your reading and comprehension skills and develop your ability to exploit texts for vocabulary idioms syntax and grammatical structures Working with a native speaker in small groups you will discuss topics on contemporary French and Francophone culture and society using audio video and written resources
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The Story of Modern France
Why is modern France so deeply invested in the past? What are the milestones in the creation of modern France? How have notions of France and Frenchness been shaped through the stories told about them? These are some of the questions you will explore through close reading of primary sources from major periods and events in French history You will explore a range of written visual and audio-visual materials from the student posters of May 1968 to prints dating back to the French Revolution and from stories of Charlemagne to films and texts reflecting France’s ongoing preoccupation with its (often controversial) recent past Equipped with these foundations you will be well prepared to study further aspects of French and Francophone culture in the later stages of your degree
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A selection of optional modules (one of which may be an approved outside option in another department or the Language Centre)
Intermediate Year
Modern French Language 2
You will consolidate and develop the productive and receptive language skills acquired in your first By the end of the module you should have appropriate knowledge of vocabulary and syntactic and grammatical structures to produce written French in two prescribed genres You will develop your skills in translation to and from French with a focus on specific translation problems and increase the accuracy with which you use grammatical structures In spoken French you will comprehend and produce structured spoken French on a range of topics of contemporary significance in the context of simulated scenarios
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A selection of optional modules (one of which may be an approved outside option in another department or the Language Centre)
Final Year
Modern French Language 3
You will consolidate and develop your ability to write and speak confidently and at a level of intellectual sophistication in correct French By the end of the course you should be able to produce a structured written argument on a given topic in French that is grammatically correct idiomatic varied in vocabulary and grammatical structure and in an appropriate register You should be able to translate from French to English and English to French accurately using your detailed knowledge of grammar vocabulary and idiom and employing an appropriate register You will strengthen your skills in pronunciation and intonation and demonstrate these through fluent oral presentation and discussion of an intellectually serious topic
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A selection of optional modules (one of which may be an approved outside option in another department or the Language Centre)
Optional modules
French Presidents and the Media
Gender and Representation in French Media since 1970
Sex and Sexuality in Contemporary French Writing
The City of Paris and the Modern Imagination
The Left and Trade Unions in France
The Right in France from the Dreyfus Affair to the Present
Colonial Memory
Slavery and After Writing the Francophone Caribbean
The Medieval World and its Others Gender Race Religion
Violence Religion and Revolt in Renaissance France
The French Revolution
Bestsellers of the Nineteenth Century
French Cinema and Society from the First to the Second World War
Representations of the Holocaust
Crises of Identity in the French Novel
Introduction to French Linguistics
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