The course is divided into two sections, i.e., one linguistic and one more specific. The linguistic section (48h during the first and the second modules) involves written and oral exercises related to the structures and essential elements of morphology, syntax and lexis of French, with a view to helping students understand and discuss both orally and in writing some key issues of daily life as well as the current issues in France to take on a possible period of mobility to study in a French-speaking country.
I module (24h):
Particular attention will be paid to the following subjects:
- Phonetics and phonology, nouns, adjectives, articles, demonstrative modifiers, possessive and indefinite modifiers, numerals, personal pronouns, main prepositions, indicative with all tenses, imperative, declarative, interrogative and negative sentences;
- The perfect tenses in the indicative mood, the conditionals, the infinite, the agreement of past participle, Gallicisms, how to express the ideas of quantity, quality, temporality and spatiality;
II Module (24h):
Particular attention will be paid to the following subjects:
- The subjunctive mood in the present tense, how to express the idea of purpose, cause, consequence and concession, the passive voice;
- Conditional clause, direct and indirect speech, concordances, how to use tenses, connecting devices.
III Module (24h):
The more specific section is devoted to a reflection on some fundamental aspects of the history of the French language, the French economy and the politics, as well as a short introduction to the institutional system and constitutional law of the French Republic in its current configuration. Through the reading, the comprehension and the analysis of economic articles from selected newspapers and authentic documents, students will gradually familiarize with the financial terminology of French using a comparative and intercultural perspective.
Particular attention will be paid to the following subjects:
The history of the French language and culture
The geographical and political France
The Francophone World
The European Union
Paris economic capital
Art in France
Fashion in France
Communication in business
Economics and labor market
Writing a CV – Europass
Travelling to/across France;
Taking the Erasmus program in France.