UCL CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES
& INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Course Units 2015-2016
French for Art Historians
Prerequisite for entry
Successful completion of French Syllabus B at the UCL CLIE or a similar course and have experience of dealing with
relevant authentic material. The course is open to all students of this intermediate level who are interested in reading
French texts related to art history.
Course duration
20 x 2-hour classes.
Self-Study
80 hours in total.
Course codes
LCFA6801.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the course is to increase the student’s confidence and speed in reading French texts related to History of Art:
academic reading for intermediate (catalogues; art essays) through reading of authentic material and to help them
acquire the necessary skills for this specific use of the language.
Students will be expected to extract subject related information from a variety of authentic French sources to
complement their existing knowledge (using a dictionary as required). Students will also be encouraged to develop their
listening abilities.
Language learning skills, including autonomous learning and how to approach authentic material, will be enhanced.
Some transferable skills, such as listening to a foreign language (for exhibition tours or talks), will also be covered.
Functions
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reading all types of art history sources for depth and gist;
viewing art related videos for depth and gist to be able to follow the gist a lecture or guided tour.
Course Content
Main topics/themes to be covered
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the first part of the course will concentrate on descriptive and simple aspects (e.g. catalogue entries); the second
part on a more analytical and comparative approach (e.g. reviews, art history essays); the first term will
concentrate on French modern art and the second term on artistic movements and Contemporary art.

‘le Regard’;
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self-portraits and portraits;
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writings by French artists: Rodin, Matisse, Gauguin;
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introduction to drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture and catalogue description related vocabulary;
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excerpts from French art magazines; art critiques of current art exhibitions; exhibition catalogue entries;

general knowledge of art history.
Linguistic Structures
Grammar
Revision throughout the year of all basic French grammar with particular emphasis on:
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basic structure of the language;
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conjunctions and link words;
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subordinate clauses;
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relative clauses and relative pronouns: qui, que, ce qui, ce que etc…;

all verb modes and tenses: infinitive, imperative, conditional and subjunctive, past historic; identification of
infinitive verb form
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negative forms;
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adjective, comparative and superlative forms;
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adverbs;
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pronouns + en and y;
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punctuation;
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awareness of style and register.
Skills
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Reading for gist and depth all types of registers
Scanning information in reading and listening
Ability to summarize/synthetize and acknowledge key ideas;
Ability to extract main ideas and understand detail;
Listening for gist and depth;
Presentation and short reports.
Learning Resources


La Grammaire en Clair, Long and Rodgers, (Editions Nelson) Both exercise book and correction booklet
– ISBN: 9780174444206
Bilingual Dictionary (Collins/Robert)
A selection of authentic art-related material will also be used.
In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials available for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.