Department of Modern Languages French
French is the second official language of Canada, spoken by some nine million Canadians. It is also an important international language and, in addition to increasing your employment opportunities, knowing French will contribute to your appreciation and enjoyment of travel to the many parts of the French-speaking world.
Outcomes & Objectives
Langara College's French instructors are dedicated to helping you build a solid foundation in the language and develop your ability to understand, speak, read and write French. During the time that you spend with us, you may expect to gain a solid basic foundation in the structures and vocabulary of the French language.
In the more advanced courses, you will also learn more about how people communicate in many different social and cultural settings and will explore some of the history, art, music, and literature of the French-speaking world.
I started studying French in October, 2013 when I was still living in Brazil because of my plan to immigrate to Quebec. However, I fell in love with the language and even though I ended up moving to Vancouver two years ago, where French is not widely spoken, I decided to continue studying this beautiful language.
Programs
Credits from French courses can be used to fulfill requirements of many of our programs.
Related programs of interest include:
Transferability
All our French courses are university-transferable. Please check the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer website for specific transfer details at www.bctransferguide.ca.
UBC
All questions regarding the UBC Faculty of Arts language requirement should be directed to the Arts Advising Office.
The Department of French, Italian, and Hispanic Studies at UBC may not grant transfer credit for levels which are repeated within five years of obtaining the initial qualification.
SFU
For Simon Fraser University, the general rule is that all our courses count for unassigned first year credit, and you will need to take a placement test in order to continue. This SFU test may allow you to continue in second or even third year in some cases.
For other B.C. institutions, our courses often have a direct transfer credit assigned. If this is not the case, you need to submit your transcript to the receiving institution and request individual evaluation.
Placement tests
A placement test is available for students who have spent time in a French-speaking environment or who have previous French, but are unsure of their level. Please read the Langara Calendar and try to determine which course you wish to request and then contact any French instructor. You may also request a test by emailing french [at] langara.ca (french[at]langara[dot]ca). The test can be returned directly to an instructor.
We do not have suitable courses for native speakers of French who have done all their studies in French and can write French perfectly.
Opportunities
Career opportunities
In Canada some nine million people speak French. As the second official language of Canada, French opens the door to many jobs with the federal government or with companies which have dealings with the French-speaking areas of our country.
French is also still one of the working languages of diplomacy and is used in several international organizations.
Immersion programs, regular high school, and colleges and universities offer many opportunities for employments as teachers.
The French are renowned for fashion and food, and French is often useful to those interested in careers in these areas.
In addition, tourism and airlines offer many openings for qualified multilingual employees. French is spoken by about 500,000,000 people worldwide. There are French-speakers in Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, as well as in Canada and France.
Resources
General links to French learning resources
- Houghton Mifflin's French Language Resource Center
- University of York: French Grammar Central
- Some good interactive exercises and audio and video clips can be found on these two BBC sites
- Various online tools for generating lists of verb conjugations exist, including Verb2verbe.com.
- Many online French-English dictionaries exist also; Wordreference.com is one example.
- The Sounds of French - Phonetics: If you wish to listen to the pronunciation of French letter groups, you may like to visit this site. It is a good site. The letters are accompanied by images, so even if you do not "know" the word, you will see what they mean. There are some good spelling exercises too.
Resources for students studying
Francophone sites to explore
Note: these are mostly in French
- French News and Current Events
- Consult worldwide newspapers online
- Francophone Radio Sites: If you want the French National Radio, go and click on Paris.
- To listen to extracts of music by French singers you may go to the Discographie section of the Radio France Internationale page. By clicking on a singer's initial, you will get a list of available singers. Beneath the word passeport, click on Sélection disques. If the title has a RealAudio symbol, you can listen to it.
- The WebMuseum: Examples of impressionist artists, such as Monet
- Explore France by Region
- Discover Saint-Pierre et Miquelon
