Dr. Melanie Bowman taught French 211 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11:00am-12:15pm in Grainger. This course was a continuation of FREN 111. We furthered our study of the French language, as well as the culture of French-speaking people groups.
Throughout the course, we used an Imaginez Textbook, as well as an online VHL program. Each day, we had online homework through the interactive assignments on VHL. In class, we would go over the culture related homework, as well as practice speaking French. As this was an intermediate level course, we strictly spoke French for the entirety of the classes. Once class started, no one was allowed to use English. This course promoted the use of French as much as possible, even if we did not always use correct grammar or sentence structure when speaking. We worked on fine-tuning our grammar as we wrote three different essays throughout the semester. About once a week, we had a quick vocabulary quiz on our chapter. French 111 had a focus on learning the vocabulary, while French 211 took that further. The focus of this course being able to use the things we had learned to create conversation. At the end of each chapter, we had a test.
Throughout the semester, we wrote three essays, with two drafts for each one. In the essays, we had to highlight different sections – vocabulary words, verbs, adjectives, etc. – to show that we knew how to include all the various parts of speech in an essay. For our final essay, we were tasked with creating a cover letter for a hypothetical job from those we had been studying the vocabulary for. In my cover letter, I wrote to the Farmville Police Department, creating different skills and stories to back up the supposed experience I had related to criminal justice.
Most easily identified, this course gave me a better understanding of the French language. Throughout the semester, I was able to learn how to communicate in French with someone, even if my French vocabulary was still limited. In addition to the obvious language learning, this course taught me how to adapt and use what I already know to further my knowledge. At the beginning of the semester, I found myself frustrated very often by the lack of English in the classroom. On the very first day of the class, Dr. Bowman did not speak a single English word to us during the allotted class time. For the first month, I was leaving the class feeling like I had not learned anything and feeling like the class was a waste of time. No one in the class seemed to understand the professor. However, as the semester went on, I started making more of an effort to learn on my own, and as a result, the class became less frustrating. Some students continued to sit back and let the class pass them by, while they made no effort to learn on their own time. The class had not changed from the beginning to the end of the semester, but my mindset had. I realized that the only way to get anything out of the class was to take my learning into my own hands.
This is something that can easily be taken into other areas of my life. In other classes, in jobs, and in my community, I may not always be taught things in a way that makes sense to me. Sometimes I may need to take the things I do know and apply them to the situation, doing my best to further my learning on my own.