French Minor

To earn a French minor at LSU, one must complete Readings in French Literature, Intermediate Oral Communications, Adcanced French Grammar and Composition, and two electives of 3000 level or higher. I tested out of the Elementary and Intermediate French through a placement test prior to starting LSU, however, I opted to take Elementary and Intermediate Cajun French at LSU to learn the differences between proper French and Louisiana French. For my elective course I chose to take Advanced Oral Communication, French Culture and Civilization, and Louisiana French Oral History. My degree audit shows all the requirements for the minor which I have completed.

FREN 3058 - Advanced Oral Communication

In Advanced Oral Communications we continued to develop our listening and speaking skills. We followed Clair Miquel’s Communication Progressive du Français level B2-C1 fluency which brought my fluency level to “advance proficiency.” We learned expressions to be used in debates and interviews. We also learned expressions about emotions, opinions, work, and society. We had many in class discussions, presentations and debates. For our final projects, we had to write a skit where we used the expression we learned throughout the semester. My group chose to do a skit on about preparing for an upcoming interview.

FREN 3080 - French Culture and Civilization

In French Culture and Civilization we studied French culture and civilization from the prehistoric era to the 21st Century. We went through history looking at different forms of government, important figures, and philosophies. We read three pieces from various points in history which we analyzed through written submission and in class discussions. We gave two presentations throughout the semester: one about an artist and one about a historically significant building. For a final project we chose a subject to write a research paper on. I chose to write about Ann of France who acted as the French regent for her brother Charles VIII and her significance to the French monarchy.

FREN 3060 - Advanced French Grammar and Composition

In FREN 3060 we learn special problems in French grammar and syntax. We went over the indicative, conditional, and subjective mood and pronouns. After each exam, we were tasked with giving a brief presentation and writing a composition on either a piece of art or architecture.

FREN 2154 - Intermediate Oral Communications

Intermediate oral communications is a course to develop our listening and speaking competency. This course focused on learning different expression used by native French speakers and using them in conversation. We followed the Communication Progressive du Français B2-C1 workbook by Claire Miquel so by the end of this course we are considered to have upper intermediate fluency. Throughout the semester we did practice discussions where we would create a short dialogue in pairs and act it our in front of the class. The expressions we focused on were daily life, family and society values, traveling, professionalism, hobbies, and Christmas traditions. For our midterm and final project we worked in groups to create a longer dialogue using different expressions from the semester.

FREN 4100 - Special Topics in French Language and Literature: Louisiana French Oral History

Louisiana French Oral History is an upper level French course that taught how to professionally and ethically produce Oral History interviews in Louisiana French. We also learned how to transcribe Louisiana French Oral History and translate it into English. Throughout the semester, we were each assigned a different interview to transcribe. As a final project we each conducted and transcribed an interview with a native Louisiana French speaker. We did a presentation on our interviewee and highlighted important parts of our interview. All interviews can be found as part of LSU’s T. Harry Williams Oral History Center. I chose to interview my grandmother about the different remedies and healing methods used by the Cajuns.

FREN 2155 - Readings in French Literature

French 2155 is an introduction to interpretive reading of French texts. In this course, we developed our French skills through reading, writing and speaking. We read and discussed literary pieces from the Enlightenment period. To test our skills, we were require to write two papers in French analyzing the different texts that we read.

FREN 2201 - Intermediate Cajun French

In intermediate Cajun French, we continue to learn the structures and lexicon of French as it is spoken in Louisiana. We focused on old Louisiana folk tales. For our final project, we had to interview a native Louisiana French speaker and transcribe and translate parts of the interview.

Reading of Louisiana French Folk Tale

Rose Green (Interviewee)

FREN 1202 - Elementary Cajun French

In Elementary Cajun French, we learned basic lexicon and structure of Cajun French. We focused on items around the house and different foods. For our final project, we had to do a cooking demonstration in French with French captions. I chose to make “Pain Perdu” which is my grandmother’s recipe for French Toast. Since this course was taken in the spring of 2020, we did our demonstration through Youtube.