Undergraduate French 2024-2025

This intensive language course is designed for students who have little or no previous knowledge of French.

This course involves intensive language study. Upon successful registration to this course, you are expected to complete a short online entry test on MyAberdeen to ensure that you are registered for the most appropriate course for your language ability. You will not be able to access the course site until you have completed this short test.

It is strongly recommended that you complete this test at the earliest opportunity as your timetable/course selections may be subject to change if your language ability would be better suited to an alternative course. You will be informed of this as soon as you complete the test.

The short entry test does not count toward your overall grade for this course.

It is recommended (subject to individual entry test results) that:

• Students who have no experience of French register for FR1028: Beginners French Language 1
• Students who have studied French to National 5 level (or equivalent) register for FR1029: Qualified French Language 1
• Students who have studied French to Higher level (or equivalent) or above register for FR1029: Qualified French Language 1
• Students who have extensive experience of French, students who have not done French for a long time, students who encounter a technical issue during their entry test or have queries should feel free to contact Dr Clémence O'Connor (clemence.oconnor@abdn.ac.uk).

This course is intended for students who have studied French to Higher or equivalent level. It will enable them to consolidate and extend their knowledge of French, written and spoken.

This course involves intensive language study. Upon successful registration to this course, you are expected to complete a short online entry test on MyAberdeen to ensure that you are registered for the most appropriate course for your language ability. You will not be able to access the course site until you have completed this short test.

It is strongly recommended that you complete this test at the earliest opportunity as your timetable/course selections may be subject to change if your language ability would be better suited to an alternative course. You will be informed of this as soon as you complete the test.

The short entry test does not count toward your overall grade for this course.

It is recommended (subject to individual entry test results) that:

• Students who have no experience of French register for FR1028: Beginners French Language 1
• Students who have studied French to National 5 level (or equivalent) register for FR1029: Qualified French Language 1
• Students who have studied French to Higher level (or equivalent) or above register for FR1029: Qualified French Language 1
• Students who have extensive experience of French, students who have not done French for a long time, students who encounter a technical issue during their entry test or have queries should feel free to contact Dr Clémence O'Connor (clemence.oconnor@abdn.ac.uk).

This course introduces students to twentieth and early twenty first century French and Francophone culture and society, focusing on the occupation of France during World War II, gender issues, and the impact and aftermath of colonialism and decolonisation. Students will explore the socio-historical and socio-political context by engaging with literature, film, writing from the period and visual materials. Texts will be available in translation for those with limited or no knowledge of French.

This course builds on the work done in FR1028, providing students with an adequate command of French language to allow them the possibility of continuing their studies into level 2 and Honours. 

This course is intended for students who have studied French to the equivalent of Scottish Higher or beyond. Building on the work done in the first semester, it seeks to enable students to consolidate and extend their knowledge of French, written and spoken.

This second year French language course which runs in the first half-session is only open to students who have passed FR1529. It will improve their written, oral and aural skills, and is one of the two second year French language courses required to be allowed into the French honours Programme.

This second year French language course which runs in the first half-session is only open to students who have passed FR1528. It will improve their written, oral and aural skills, and is one of the two second year French language courses (along with FR2512) that has to have passed to be allowed into the French honours Programme.

The course introduces students to the history, culture and identity of contemporary France by examining key moments and themes in the development of France as a political and cultural entity from the Early Modern period to the present.

This second year French language course which runs in the second half-session is only open to students who have followed FR2002. It will improve their written, oral and aural skills, and is one of the two second year French language pre-requisite courses to be allowed into the French honours Programme.

This second year French language course which runs in the second half-session is only open to students who have followed FR2012. It will improve their written, oral and aural skills, and is one of the two second year French language pre-requisite courses (along with FR2012) that one must have passed to be allowed into the French honours Programme.

The course introduces students to the history, culture and identity of contemporary France by examining key moments and themes in the development of France as a political and cultural entity from the Early Modern period to the present.

This course will involve critical study of key political, cultural and social changes in contemporary France, focusing on the ways in which the French political system has responded to phenomena such as postcolonial migration, religious pluralism, feminisms, regionalism and changing perceptions of the family and sexuality from the 1980s onwards.

This course  advocates for greater multiculturalism in how we approach cultural responses to the climate and biodiversity crisis. We will use a range of French-language film, fiction, poetry and theory (though ironically, in English translation!) to investigate environmental themes, genres and strategies in French culture. The focus is on how these texts represent the human subject in relation to the environment of which it is part, shaping diverse narratives of change and agency.

This third year French language course which runs for the whole term is only open to Francophone Erasmus students during their residency at the University of Aberdeen.

This third year French language course which runs in the first half-session is only open to Francophone Erasmus students during their one half term residency at the University of Aberdeen.

This Junior Honours French language course, whose pre-requisites are FR2502 or FR2512, runs over the full session and is only open to Single and Joint Junior Honours degree in French students. 

Building on the skills gained during their first two years of study of French, this course will improve the students' French language skills in all four areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing, whilst increasing their grammatical and lexical knowledge, as well as their sensitivity to linguistic variety.

It carries 15 credits and is assessed by way of four equally weighted assignments. 

This Non-Honours Level 3 French language course, whose pre-requisites are FR2502 or FR2512 , runs over the full session and is open to students following a Designated Degree in French Studies, LLB (French or Belgian law) or any Degree with French language as a minor.

This course will improve French language skills in all four areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing, whilst increasing grammatical and lexical knowledge, as well as sensitivity to linguistic variety.

It carries 30 credits and is assessed by way of six equally weighted assignments.

This Non-Honours Level 3 French language course, whose pre-requisites are FR2502 or FR2512 , runs over the full session and is open to students on any Degree with French language as a minor.

Building on the skills gained during the first two years of study, this course will improve French language skills in all four areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing, whilst increasing their grammatical and lexical knowledge, as well as their sensitivity to linguistic variety.

The course, which carries 15 credits, is assessed by way of four equally weighted assignments.

This course provides an introduction to French cinema from the 1930s to the present day, exploring the social, cultural and aesthetic significance of a number of representative films by directors such as Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle and Céline Sciamma. We will study important movements and genres within French cinema, and we will look at how French cinema responded to some of the major historical events and social debates of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

This course, open only to mode B Junior Honours students working in a French-speaking country, complements FR3089 and aims to develop receptive and productive skills in French.

 

This course, open to Mode B students, provides an opportunity for students to build on their French language ability and cultural understanding of French society through either a placement, personal development project or volunteering activity based within any French speaking country during the first half session. Students work towards a range of personal, educational or work-related outcomes over the course of their time abroad. All external engagement activities require the approval from the student’s academic School and must be verified by the external organisation.

The course will examine the medium of Franco-Belgian comics, also known as bande dessinée. After providing an insight into the historical development of the field, it will consider the popular and academic reception of the medium and cover contemporary case studies.  

This course, open only to mode B Junior Honours students working in a French-speaking country, complements FR3089 and aims to develop receptive and productive skills in French.

 

This course, open to Mode B students, provides an opportunity for students to build on their French language ability and cultural understanding of French society through either a placement, personal development project or volunteering activity based within any French speaking country during the first half session. Students work towards a range of personal, educational or work-related outcomes over the course of their time abroad. All external engagement activities require the approval from the student’s academic School and must be verified by the external organisation.

This course will introduce students to the literature of Francophone Africa from the colonial period, the struggle for independence from the former colonial power and the aftermath of independence. The main themes will be: literature as historical document; the colonial experience; education and identity; alienation; irony and gender issues.

This course will involve critical study of key political, cultural and social changes in contemporary France, focusing on the ways in which the French political system has responded to phenomena such as postcolonial migration, religious pluralism, feminisms, regionalism and changing perceptions of the family and sexuality from the 1980s onwards.

This course  advocates for greater multiculturalism in how we approach cultural responses to the climate and biodiversity crisis. We will use a range of French-language film, fiction, poetry and theory (though ironically, in English translation!) to investigate environmental themes, genres and strategies in French culture. The focus is on how these texts represent the human subject in relation to the environment of which it is part, shaping diverse narratives of change and agency.

This Senior Honours French language course, whose pre-requisite is the Junior Honours French Language course, is run over the full session and is only open to Single and Joint Senior Honours degree in French students.

Building on the skills gained in their third year of study of French, this course will help the students' French language gain very high skills in all four areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing, whilst increasing their grammatical and lexical knowledge, as well as their sensitivity to linguistic variety.

This Non-Honours Level 4 French language course, whose pre-requsite is the Non-Honours Level 3 French language course, is run over the full session and is only open to students who are following LLB (French or Belgian law), any Degree with French language as a minor subject, or any other Degree with the addition of French to its prescribed courses.

Building on the skills gained in their third year of study of French, this course will help the students gain higher skills in all four areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing, whilst increasing their lexical knowledge sensitivity to linguistic variety.

This course provides an introduction to French cinema from the 1930s to the present day, exploring the social, cultural and aesthetic significance of a number of representative films by directors such as Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle and Céline Sciamma. We will study important movements and genres within French cinema, and we will look at how French cinema responded to some of the major historical events and social debates of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Candidates will write a dissertation of 8,000 words on a subject to be decided in consultation with the Course Co-ordinator, to be researched and written (under supervision by a member of staff) in the first half session of Senior Honours, and submitted at the beginning of the second half session of Senior Honours.

The course will examine the medium of Franco-Belgian comics, also known as bande dessinée. After providing an insight into the historical development of the field, it will consider the popular and academic reception of the medium and cover contemporary case studies.  

This course will introduce students to the literature of Francophone Africa from the colonial period, the struggle for independence from the former colonial power and the aftermath of independence.  The main themes will be: literature as historical document; the colonial experience; education and identity; alienation; irony and gender issues. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.