Information for users French Online is an interactive video-based course intended for use any students and independent learners on the Internet. The first-insitial course is divided into fifteen lessons of one week duration for a total duration of fifteen weeks. This duration can be lengthened by classroom teachers or independent learners, but not easily shortened, given the amount of material covered. The beginning of each lesson is always a set sequence, from simple recognition of language in a video dialogue to written and spoken production of variations on that language. After this ordered beginning, a number of activities are offered to the student in which the language learned is used in understanding new texts or videos or in creative production (conversation or writing).
To successfully use this course, you should be a motivated student with a sincere desire to learn about French language and francophone cultures, and be comfortable with computer technologies. The time commitment will typically average 6-8 hours/week. (See Who Should Study French Online for additional information)
Conditions of use French Online is intended for two groups of users:
Independent adult learners. These users will have full access to content pages and interactive exercises at no charge. Class management-related tools will not appear to them (grade book, Learning Dashboard). For full benefit, independent learners should partner with other learners for conversation and communicative writing practice.
Students enrolled in classes. These students will be associated with an instructor-led class (subject to payment of a modest course fee) through the Opening Learning Initiative and will have full access to class-related course tools. Instructors anticipating structured use of French Online as a primary or secondary text should sign up for an instructor account, set up their own section of the course, and consult with the institution on appropriate student fees.
Who should study French Online? The French Online course shares certain characteristics with many online or distance-delivered courses, and as a result may not be appropriate for all students. Here are a couple of thoughts on what you might need to succeed.
You should be a self-starter. In spite of our best efforts to furnish opportunities for communication in these courses, you will have substantially reduced human contact during your studies. You will need self-discipline to complete the lessons on time and successfully. There are continuous self-check exercises, but you need to be able to recognize when you have (or have not) studied and practiced sufficiently. Seek out as many opportunities as you can to practice on your own, whether it be by watching movies, going to language tables or conversing with native-speaker friends or other students of the language. For class-based students, there are required weekly activities, including a class meeting, a 20-minute meeting with a peer tutor or the instructor, and an evening chat session, but the essential component is your own motivation. Independent learners should find others like them for practice and consider paying a tutor to augment these materials.
You must also be comfortable with technology. If you essentially dislike computers, you should not use these materials. In spite of the fact that there is training in the course for all the technologies used, you need to be comfortable with common technologies coming in (word-processing, e-mail, browsers) and be open to learning others.
Most of all, you must have a real desire to learn the language. Acquiring a language and familiarity with another culture can change your life, but it takes a willingness to pass through a difficult period when you are awkward, when you make lots of mistakes, when your ideas don't come across, when you may feel that native speakers of the language are underestimating your intelligence. This course should not be mistaken for an easy way to pick up language credit, or some magic potion. It is undoubtedly more difficult than a standard classroom course, but with dedication by the student can lead to the attainment of similar goals.
Resources for Students TV5 A good on-line French-English/English-French dictionary. Word processing language tools – Make sure you familiarize yourself with the spell and grammar-checking tools available in Microsoft Word or the program you are using. La phonétique A source for French phonetics. Bonpatron.com A site that helps correct text written by French learners. Use the French interface. France 2 A place to watch French news on a regular basis. French Media on the Web The French embassy list of media sources from France. Newspapers, radio, television. Radio Canada Lots of Canadian French-language media. Typing French accents cheatsheet Page hosted at the Modern Language Resource Center, Carnegie Mellon. Type and listen to French and Québécois A good text-to-speech synthesizer for additional French pronunciation examples. Type and listen to French Another text-to-speech synthesizer for additional French pronunciation examples. Mixxer A site for people looking to find someone to Skype with in the language they're learning. All conjugations of any French verb Type in any French verb to see a printable display of all its conjugations. tv5.org Another beginning French course One of the exercise types we use in French Online is to have you chat with both other students and with native-speakers of French. If you are taking this course for credit at an institution, your instructor will let you know what chat resources they wish you to use. If you are taking this course as an independent learner, you can use some of the chat services listed below. http://www.sharedtalk.com/ Hosted by Rosetta Stone, but easy to use and very active for many different languages, including French. http://www.icq.com/icqchat/chatroom.php?c_id=57 http://french.about.com/mpchat.htm http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/TextChat.asp
We wish you the best of luck in your french studies and don’t forget to keep visiting this site for more useful information! For more information or comments, please don’t hesitate to let us know.