Required Textbooks:

A Short Course in Reading French, by Celia Brickman (available through the instructor only: cost is included in the cost of tuition)

Cassell's French Dictionary New York: MacMillan, 1962/1981), hardcover edition
(available at the Seminary Coop Bookstore).

Prerequisites:

No prior knowledge of French is required. However, a knowledge of basic English grammar is required as a prerequisite to this course. Students are expected to be familiar with the meaning of the following grammatical terms in English before taking this course:

noun, pronoun, verb, transitive verb, intransitive verb, tense (as in ‘present tense’ or ‘past tense’), person (as in ‘first person singular,’ ‘third person plural,’ etc.), active and passive voice (in verbs), direct object, indirect object, direct object pronoun.

Students who are not familiar with these terms should take a course in English grammar or study an English grammar book such as Jacqueline Morton’s English Grammar for Students of French prior to taking this course.

The Hyde Park Language Program has been providing superior language instruction to graduate students from the University of Chicago, the many seminaries in the Hyde Park area, the University of Illinois, Depaul University, and other educational institutions in the greater Chicago area, for over eighteen years. Thousands of students have taken our courses over the years in order to prepare for their graduate language examinations, to fulfill their graduate language needs and requirements, or simply to develop their reading ability. Our courses are focused on language for use in reading and research, and therefore emphasize grammar and written translation practice rather than conversation. Although our courses are designed for university and seminary graduate students, enrollment is open to any interested adult learners.


As of summer 2008, the Hyde Park Language Program offers courses in French only. Our French course is both highly effective and very rigorous. It prepares students—even those who have never studied French before—to high pass the University of Chicago graduate French exam. While clear and detailed language instruction is given during class time, much of the practice that is necessary to master and retain this instruction is done as part of homework assignments. Therefore, students should be prepared to do about an hour of homework each day during the autumn/winter and winter/spring courses, and 3 - 4 hours of homework each day during the summer intensive course. In the first half of the course, we cover the foundations of French grammar. As translation ability is gained, translation passages of increasing difficulty are assigned; during the second half of the course, we focus on extensive translation practice. A consistently high proportion of students—of all backgrounds—who take this course go on to achieve a “high pass” in the University of Chicago graduate French exam; and many also find the course to be an exhilarating intellectual experience.

The French course is taught three times a year, and each course is scheduled to end just prior to the next University of Chicago graduate French exam (all of which are administered on the 5th or 6th week of each academic quarter). The autumn/winter and winter/spring courses are taught once a week over a 12 week period, while the summer course is taught twice a week over a seven week period. The autumn/winter course begins in mid-October and ends at the end of January, in time for the U of C winter French exam; the winter/spring course begins at the end of January and ends the 3rd week in April in time for the U of C spring exam; and the summer course begins the 2nd week of June and ends in time for the U of C summer exam. Class size generally ranges from 15 – 30 students per class, and classes are generally held in the Hyde Park area.

* ACADEMIC CREDIT FOR NON-U of C STUDENTS:

Our courses do not, by themselves, extend academic credit to the students who take them, and there is no exam given at the end of the course. This is because the majority of our students obtain the credit they need by taking the University of Chicago graduate French exam. However, since many non-University of Chicago students take this course in order to fulfill the academic requirements of their own educational institutions, we have two alternative options for academic credit:

1) At the end of the course, a letter can be written confirming that the student has successfully completed the course. This letter can be written provided the student has fulfilled the following requirements:

a. He or she has come to all classes, or at least, has not missed more than 2 classes, for whatever reason.

b. He or she has done all the homework assignments, written and oral, in a timely fashion.

c. By the end of the course, his or her translations are considered by the instructor to be on par with the average level of the rest of the class.

2) An exam can be administered to the student and a number grade assigned. This exam can be administered by the instructor during the very last class of the course; or it can be mailed to the students’ home institution, which can administer the exam and mail it back for grading. A fee of $200 is charged to the institution requiring this exam.