MLFR 101 Discovering French I     (3 credits)

The following course is closed to all students who have taken more than one year of French in high school or college. If you are not sure or have any questions, you can take the placement exam here https://bentley.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdbapDTA8lEmkaV

This course is designed for students with no prior experience studying French or less than one year of high school study.  Through a communicative-based approach, students in this class will learn to understand and participate in basic conversations on familiar and everyday topics. There will be an emphasis on practicing words, phrases and simple sentences using practical vocabulary and basic grammatical structures. Students will be exposed to basic cultural practices employed by native speakers in order to understand appropriate interpersonal behaviors and communicative practices unique to French and francophone cultures. By the end of the course, students will be able to express basic needs and personal preferences and ask and answer simple questions both orally and also in writing.

Typically Offered: Fall

MLFR 102 Discovering French II     (3 credits)

Context and Perspective: Globalization

This course is designed for students who have taken the French Placement Test and were placed in 102 and have discussed this placement with a French professor. Students who have taken MLFR 101 in college are also allowed to take this course. Through a communicative-based approach, students will learn to understand and participate in conversations on familiar topics. There will be an emphasis on expanding vocabulary related everyday topics and on how to speak about present and past events. By the end of the course, students will be able to express, ask about, and react to preferences, feelings, and opinions through a series of connected sentences both orally and also in writing. They will also be able to rehearse appropriate interpersonal behaviors and communicative practices unique to French and francophone cultures.

Typically Offered: Spring

MLFR 125 Immersive Beginning French     (3 credits)

Cannot be taken if student has taken MLFR 101

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 201 Continuing French I     (3 credits)

Context and Perspectives: Globalization

This course is designed to reactivate and build upon knowledge gained through previous language study. Students gain cultural competencies/competency while using the target language. They also analyze the role of language and how it reflects and shapes the culture(s) in which it is spoken. All four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) are emphasized. Special attention is given to grammatical structures and the inclusion of original reading and/or viewing materials in the target language. 

Typically Offered: Fall

MLFR 202 Continuing French II     (3 credits)

Context and Perspectives: Globalization

This course further develops student’s language proficiency introduced in 201. In addition to actively using the target language, students deepen their cultural awareness and understanding through the study of videos and authentic texts. The course focuses on enhancing listening comprehension and oral proficiency, improving proficiency in writing and reading comprehension, as well as providing a more complex insight into language customs and lifestyles.

Typically Offered: Spring

MLFR 203 French Writing in Context     (3 credits)

Context and Perspectives: Globalization

This course, entirely conducted in French, aims at the study of contemporary French grammar and writing in context, integrating inclusive grammar, and dedicated to writing. This course allows students to strengthen their linguistics skills in French and combines multiliteracy with multimodal compositions in a variety of genres, including description, narration, expository and argumentative writing through the study of texts taken from real-world Francophone contexts with applied learning experiences.

Typically Offered: Once a year

MLFR 205 French Language Immersion     (3 credits)

Context and Perspective: Globalization

With a theoretical and hands-on approach, this intermediate course offers the opportunity for students to increase all four language skills (aural-oral/reading/writing/grammar) while at the same experiencing the culture firsthand. Students will attend classes every day and, under the supervision of a Bentley Modern Language Faculty, will visit various sites. These visits will offer the students a chance to appreciate the history and culture of the Francophone world. This course will fulfill the same requirements for Modern Language intermediate course depending on language placement. Therefore, it can fulfill Arts and Sciences language requirements, or LSM Global Perspective language courses, as well as Modern Language French minor requirements.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 206 Spoken Contemporary French     (3 credits)

Pre-Req; MLFR 202 (Intermediate French II) or permission of instructor.
Context and Perspectives: Culture, Change, and Behavior

Spoken Contemporary French offers intensive practice in oral expression and conversation while reinforcing and developing students’ grammar. Students refine their listening and speaking skills; expand their vocabulary; develop their ability to use critical thinking skills in French; develop advanced proficiency in reading and writing the language; and discuss literature, film, and contemporary issues (from climate change to French society) in French. MLFR206 is designed for students who have successfully completed MLFR 202 (or have received permission from the instructor) and are interested in improving their spoken French as well as their listening and reading comprehension. This course counts toward the French minor and the Language, Culture, and Business major. It also counts as an Arts & Sciences Humanities elective and can count toward the Liberal Studies Major (LSM). Finally, it fulfills the Context & Perspectives (Culture, Change, Behavior) focal area in the core curriculum.

Typically Offered: Once a year

MLFR 301 Contemporary Francophone Cultures     (3 credits)

Context and Perspective: Culture Change and Behavior

This upper-level French course in language and modern cultures and the French-speaking world (Africa, the Caribbean, Louisiana and Canada). Emphasis is placed on further developing oral skills, listening comprehension, and reading and writing proficiency through cross-cultural study of contemporary life, traditions, basic social structures and values. The course is especially useful for students planning future study or work in a French-speaking country.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 302 French for Business     (3 credits)

Context and Perspectives: Culture, Change, and Behavior

French for Business is designed for any student studying French with intermediate high to advance low abilities, regardless of their major field of study. The primary objective of this course is to optimize students’ professional profile, give them a better understanding of the job market etiquette in France and several Francophone countries. This course is designed to help students explore different aspects of culture and professional life, as well as business practices and values of the Francophone world. MLFR 302 may be taken as either an Arts and Sciences or an Unrestricted elective. It counts towards a minor in French for both B.S. and B.A. students, and it counts towards the LCB major.

Typically Offered: Once a year

MLFR 304 French Cinema     (3 credits)

Context and Perspectives: Culture, Change, and Behavior

French Cinema is an introductory survey of French cinema from its inception in 1895 to the present. We will pay close attention to the stylistics of cinema and the relationship between works of French cinema and historical and social crises in French society. A central theme of the course is the on-screen articulation of the relationship of metropolitan France to the French colonies. We will trace key points in this relationship, from the exoticization of the colonies in 1930s French cinema at the height of the French empire, to the links between the French New Wave and the decolonization of the empire. At the end of the term, we will address the resonance of these topics in certain transnational films today. 

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 307 France Across the Ages: Studies in French Civilization     (3 credits)

This course analyzes selected events of French history from antiquity to the late 20th century and contemporaneous changes in society and the arts, including works of art, architecture, music and literature as representations of the French cultural and social mindset. Through a detailed study of the changes in France's civil society and the creative works resulting from these transformations, students will gain an insight into French culture.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 308 Studies in French Civilization: 1830 - Present     (3 credits)

This course analyzes selected events of French history from the 19th century to the present and contemporaneous changes in society and the arts. Students will examine works of art, architecture, music, film and literature as representations of the French cultural and social mindset. The course is an analysis across disciplines of the fundamental artistic, literary and political changes of modern France. Through detailed study of the transformations in France's civil society and the resultant creative works, studentns will better understand French civilization.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 398 Experimental course in French     (3 credits)

Experimental courses explore curriculum development, with specific content intended for evolution into a permanent course. A topic may be offered twice before it becomes a permanent course. Students may repeat experimental courses with a different topic for credit.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 401 Directed Study in French     (3 credits)

Permits students to do special studies in language, literature or culture not offered as a departmental course.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years

MLFR 402 Seminar in French     (3 credits)

This course brings together advanced and native speakers of the same language to engage in the study of a selected topic using a critical lens of analysis.

Typically Offered: Every two or more years