French for Reading Knowledge Online Course
Required: Karl C. Sandberg, Eddison C. Tatham. French for Reading. Prentice Hall, 2007. ISBN:
0133316033
Recommended: Jacqueline Morton. English Grammar for Students of French. Olive & Hill Press,
2009. ISBN: 0934034370
Collins-Roberts French/English Dictionary. Harper-Collins, 2012. ISBN: 0061962996
Course Description:
This course provides a concise overview of grammar as well as reading and translation practice for
graduate students and others who wish to read French. The course is primarily intended to help
graduate students acquire and practice tools they need to use French documents in their own research.
We focus on three main aspects of reading: (a) strategies for reading effectively, (b) use of grammar to
support understanding, and (c) the development of an extensive “high-yield” vocabulary that tends to
recur in written texts across disciplines and genres.
Coursework includes homework, textbook practice, quizzes, and translations. The course is self-paced
and you work one-on-one with the instructor. No previous knowledge of French is needed for this
course.
Practice aids :
Vocabulary lists in your notebook
DIY paper flashcards: http://www.flashcardexchange.com or other online
flashcard maker
Electronic flashcards
http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/view/329550
Le journal en français facile, Radio France International
http://www.rfi.fr/lffr/statiques/accueil_apprendre.asp
Sparknotes reference guides (French Verbs, French Vocabulary, French
Grammar)
WordReference www.wordreference.com
TV5 Monde: Available on UW-Madison campus:
TV5 Monde via http://datn.wisc.edu/
Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course,
please contact the instructor.
Unit 1
Chapter 1
Introductions, cognates, and faux amis
French film titles
Quizzes:
 Using a French-English Dictionary
 False friends
 Plural nouns
Unit 2
Chapter 2
Listening: « La Tour de Pise »
Practice exercises : identifying subject pronouns,
verbs, and definite articles
Unit 3
Chapter 3
Translation of poems : « L’Homme qui te Quiz :
 Vocabulary
 Noun-adjective groups
Unit 4
Chapter 4
Translation of verbial phrases
Essential vocabulary list 1
Quizzes :
 Using context
 Past participles
Unit 5
Chapter 5
Poetry translation: « Dualisme » by Paul Géraldy,
« Le Message » and « Déjeuner du matin » by
Jacques Prévert
Practice exercise: subject-verb inversion
Quiz :
 Possessive adjectives
Unit 6
Chapter 6
Prose translation : « Un mystère mathématique »
Quiz :
 Using context 2
Unit 7
Chapter 7
Quiz:
Noun-adjective groups with adverbs
Unit 10
Chapter 10
Prose translation from :
La belle au bois dormant, Charles Perrault
Unit 11
Chapter 11
Practice exercise : translating the imperfect
Listening: “Le petit pain au chocolat”
Quiz :
 Verb tenses
Unit 12
Chapter 12
Essential vocabulary list 3
Unit 13
Chapter 13
Prose translation from Journaux de guerre et de
prison, Louis Riel
Poetry translation, « En sourdine, » by Paul Verlaine
Unit 14
Chapter 14
Practice exercises with lequel and dont
Unit 15
Chapter 15
Prose translation from L’Etranger, Albert Camus
Unit 16
Chapter 16
Poetry translation, « Demain, dès l’aube » Victor
Hugo
Essential vocabulary list 4
Quiz:
 Verb recognition
Unit 8
Chapter 8
Essential vocabulary list 2
Quiz :
Subject pronoun review
Unit 17
Chapter 17
Quiz :
 Essential vocabulary
Unit 9
Chapter 9
Prose translations from :
Indignez-vous, Stéphane Hessel
Au centre du désert, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Maria Chapdelaine, Louis Hémon
Julie ou la nouvelle Héloïse, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
Unit 18
Chapter 18
Practice Exam
French for Reading Knowledge Exam
You can register for the exam here: http://catalog.dcs.wisc.edu/
When you take the exam you are given one hour to read and translate approximately one page of
French prose. The text selected will be generally compatible with your graduate degree program. You
are permitted to use a French-English dictionary which you must provide, and one additional
dictionary to aid in writing English - such as non-native English speakers may desire to use.
Handwritten notes about French grammar written in your dictionary are permissible, but additional
materials are not. You are given one hour from the time of first seeing the text to handing in your
translation.
Your reading ability is measured by the percentage of the text which you translate accurately and
coherently. Your translation will be rated with one of these three results:



Advanced (mastery of tense, idiom, vocabulary)
Adequate (use of language as research tool)
Inadequate (cannot translate basic meanings of the text)
For the exact requirements you need to fulfill, please contact your academic department. Each UWMadison graduate program determines its own standards for reading knowledge requirements. After
you have taken the exam, please contact the exam proctor to receive your results. When you pass your
department’s requirements, we will first notify you via email and then we will notify your department
of your exam result. We will not notify your department if you do not pass the exam.
Bonne chance!