Summer Newsletter 2011: French

This is an exciting year for French, and for non-English languages in general, as we move to our new home in Roger Williams Hall (named, by the way, for the theologian whose first publication was a manual for learning Native American language in the Rhode Island area). Our impressive new location on the fourth floor affords stunning views of the campus and beyond (as far as Mount Washington!), fresh new paint, and spectacular common and learning spaces. Venez voir! Come see!

If you’re still concerned about placement after having read the materials sent earlier or appearing in the Catalog, the best way to get situated is to attend the French open house during Orientation (stay tuned for details from the Dean of Students office). A lot of shifting goes on in the first week and generally people find a course that suits them well. Do not be shy! We strongly encourage you to continue your language study from high school; as they contemplate study abroad in their junior year and realize that foreign language proficiency really IS a priority, students often regret not having kept up.

There are many exciting possibilities for French. It’s too late to travel to Nantes with Professor Kirk Read, who will spend the autumn there with 25 students, but his replacement, Erin Curren, will fill in nicely for beginning and intermediate courses, along with professor Balladur and colleagues returning from sabbatical — professors Rice-DeFosse and Dauge-Roth. We also welcome our language assistant from Nantes, Marie Eon, who will help with classes and organize the weekly French Table in the “fish bowl” at New Commons (5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays).

We look forward to seeing you soon. We hope that the heat wave will subside by then, but there’s relief to be found in the new air-conditioned lounge.

Learn more.