Syllabus French 3104
Commerical French
Professor Sharon P. Johnson
Fall 1999

Office: 317 Major Williams

home pages:
http://www.fll.vt.edu/johnson/310499/homepage.html
http://www.majbill.vt.edu/fll/johnson/310499/homepage.html

Office hours: 4:00 - 5:00 MW; 1:00-1:50 F; and by appointment.
Office Phone: 231-9859
Home Phone: 961-1262 or 961-7428 Please do not call me past 9:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m.
E-mail: spjohnso@vt.edu

Prerequisite: French 2106 or the equivalent.

Purpose:
In this skills-based course, Le Français des Affaires, students will learn to use appropriate technical vocabulary for different business contexts, work on translation, write professional correspondence, and view/read about current events related to world of business. Cross-cultural differences regarding the work place also will be a focus of this course. Students will summarize current articles either on issues in the fields of commerce, finance, economics or related to cross-cultural phenomena. Advanced students who are sophomores or juniors will be encouraged to take the Certificat Pratique de français commercial, administered through the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris in the Spring.

Required
Le Goff, Claude. Le nouveau French for Business: Le français des Affaires. Paris: Les Editions Didier, 1994.
Hinshaw, JoAnn. Radishes and Butter: Doing Business with the French. Cambridge: Schoenhof's Foreign Books, Inc., 1996.

Recommended: A good French/English dictionary, such as Collins or Harrap's. If you are majoring in French, consider buying a good French/French dictionary such as Le Petit Robert.

I take roll everyday and you are given oral participation grades regularly. I expect you to be prepared for class. This means you are ready with specific questions when you haven't comprehended some concept or vocabulary word in your assignments and readings. You are able to use the vocabulary within a given chapter, and you have completed and corrected all exercises assigned to you with the greatest accuracy possible. Any time you do not understand part of your assignment, it is important for you to ask me questions so that I may try to clarify any information you find confusing.

Notice that I grade on not only how often you might participate in class, but the accuracy or level of complexity of your French, and the degree to which you have thought about the texts we read. It is important to provide answers to grammar as well as to be able to state what the texts we read are about, what facets of the texts you are unsure about, as well as have more elaborate comments to make about the issues they raise (if they do not all are thought provoking...)

You should have one or two classmates' phone numbers, as you're expected to be prepared for class the next day. I also occasionally give take-home quizzes. If you plan on missing class, call a classmate the night before so he/she can take extra copies of those class assignments/quizzes for you. You can also check my homepage for each theme's assignments. Although I do not give make-up exams, late assignments are accepted, but are graded down each day they are handed in late (e.g. A to a A-; A- to a B+; B+ to a B etc.).

You'll have greater success in this course if you keep up with your reading, homework, and studying of vocabulary. Refer to your weekly grid to know what material you will be responsible for each week. It will help you organize and pace yourself.

I am very available to help you if you're having difficulties. If there is a lot of material you regularly don't grasp, you should look into a tutor or consider taking 3105 or 3106, and then sign up for this course.

Please mark the dates for your Contrôles on your calendar now. Do not count on being able to make up a test or on taking a test early.

You are allowed two "unexcused absences" during the semester. Reasons for missing class abound: work in another class, oversleeping, car problems, romantic turmoil, a special event you wish to attend, etc. Use these "absences" judiciously; for, you are only allotted two. Your "oral class grade" will be lowered one percentage point every additional time you have an "unexcused absence".

EXCUSED ABSENCES: You must phone me EACH DAY you are ill if you wish your absence to be considered "excused". If your car is unreliable, take the bus. If parking is difficult around campus, plan your time accordingly. "Excused absences" are for illnesses and personal/family tragedies. If extenuating circumstances arise, PLEASE let me know in general terms about these difficulties.

I take this policy seriously. All papers you write must be original, i.e. written only by you this semester. You are not to submit a rewritten paper from a previous course (which would have a professor's corrections). Asking tutors or more advanced French students for "help" on a composition is also unacceptable. You are allowed to consult dictionaries and other grammatical sources (Le Bon Usage, Le Français pratique, previous textbooks of yours). All work submitted with you name on it must contain your French and your level of expression, not someone else's.

The more contact you have with the French language, the better you abilities will be. In two weeks there will be an organizational meeting for one of our Clubs, Le Cercle Francophone. There is also another weekly French language table (Frenchship-La Table Française) which was meeting at the Expresso Corner on N. Main Street at 8:00 p.m. on N. Main St. (You do not have to be 18 or order anything to attend.) In addition, the French club often sponsors films and parties. If you live on campus, you can watch same-day broadcasts of French news. Off campus, if you have cable, you can also receive same-day French news on the International channel at 7:00PM. (The International Channel also offers French films on the weekends and other French-language programming.)