Learning French: A Rendezvous With French-Speaking Cultures

A global look at the French language and French-speaking countries around the world; learning a new language is an active process; beginning with surveying a few patterns and rules to jump-start one's understanding of French.

One major facet of the French-speaking world is that manners and politeness still matter; discovering a few essential phrases that will ensure one does not commit any faux pas; surveying the basics of numbers, articles, the alphabet and geography.

Continuing exploration of French manners and culture and building on earlier phrases; reflecting on several word families that help build vocabulary and make connections across the language; picking up common verb forms, adjectives and adverbs.

When traveling in French-speaking countries, the verb aller, which means to go, is one of the most useful; learn important question words; getting a chance to listen to a great deal of spoken French to help one practice their decoding skills.

Discussing what the weather is like in different parts of France; the times of the year, including seasons, months and dates; Professor Williams also introduces a few new verb forms to help one talk about preferences and things to do.

Examining the days of the week, times of day and typical French routines throughout the day; more verb forms help express what one wants to do, what one can do and what one has to do; gaining plenty of practice speaking and listening.