Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $285.00

Reg. Registration (5/28-8/23): $300.00

Late Registration (8/24-9/30):$315.00

Fridays 10:30am-11:30am

Class Description: This is a multilevel class designed to enhance and reinforce learning from the leveled classes. It is not a prerequisite to advance to the next level.

This is a conversation focused class. The instructor may use reading, writing, and other means to provide opportunities to build conversation skills.  

**This class is only an enhancement to the leveled language classes. Registering for a leveled language class is highly recommended.

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description: 

This is an introductory course designed for students who have never studied French before or who studied it many years ago. The goal of this class is to provide members with a basic knowledge of French, to facilitate comprehension and to encourage communication through in-class work, dialogue, and at-home preparation. Cultural aspects of French society are an integrated part of this course.

Course Outline: Lessons will include these aspects of French grammar:

   § Alphabet

   § Accents and pronunciation

   § Numbers

   § Time

   § Date

   § Formality and levels of language (vous and tu) 

   § Noun gender

   § Use of present tense and immediate future 

   § Negative sentence structures 

   § -er verbs 

   § Etre, aller and avoir verbs 

   § Pronoun “on” 

   § Stress pronouns (moi, toi, lui, etc) 

   § Indefinite and definite articles (un, une, des, le, la, l’, les)

   § The expression « Il y a »

   § Placement and agreement of adjectives 

   § Asking and responding to questions (est-ce que)

   § Irregular descriptive adjectives

By the end of this class members will be able to:

   § Greet people appropriately and conduct basic introductory conversations

   § Tell time and ask about dates 

   § Describe everyday objects, basic activities and likes/dislikes

   § Describe oneself and others

   § Converse about work, home and leisure activities 

   § Engage in register-appropriate basic conversations 

Prerequisite: The typical French 1 student has never before studied French or has not used or studied the language for so long that it’s necessary to start over.

Book/Materials:  TBD

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description: 

This class builds upon the foundations established in Level 1. The goal of the class is to enable students to achieve a higher level of understanding and ability to communicate in French while covering some of the more intricate aspects of French grammar. Comprehension and communication are achieved through in-class work and dialogue as well as at-home preparation. Cultural and social aspects of French society are an integrated part of this course.

Course Outline :  We will study Unités 5 through 8 in the required textbook.  Lessons will include these concepts of French grammar and culture :

   ·Irregular verbs including venir, prendre, mettre, sortir, partir, dormir,vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, suivre, voir, connaître, savoir, ouvrir, lire, dire, écrire

   · “Depuis” and the present tense

   · Distinction among the definite (le, la, les, l’), indefinite (un, une, des) and partitive articles (du, de la, de l’, des)

   · Expressions of quantity

   · Idiomatic expressions with être, avoir, aller, faire

   · Use of “il faut”

   · Direct / Indirect object pronouns (le, la, les, lui, leur, me, te, nous, vous)

   · Affirmative and negative expressions ( souvent, encore, deja, ne…jamais, ne…plus, ne…rien, ne…pas encore)

   · Passé composé with être and avoir

   · The imperfect tense

   · Use of the passé composé and imperfect in past narrative

   · Reflexive verbs

   · Irregular adjectives

   · Tourism and entertainment in France

   · Eating habits and shopping for food

   · University studies

   · Attitudes and values of the French people

By the end of this class members will be able . . .

   ·to converse more easily using the concepts reinforced from French 1

   ·to narrate events in the past—a vacation, one’s childhood, last weekend, an accident

   ·  to communicate in a variety of situations such as buying food in the supermarket, ordering in a restaurant, talking about themselves and family, making introductions, making appropriate responses in social situations, describing where one lives, discussing various forms of entertainment.

Prerequisite: Completion of French 1 at La Causerie or equivalent

Book/Materials: TBD

Optional Reference Books (not required): A French-English dictionary such as Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary (Paperback), Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN: 0004707117 (or any HarperCollins French-English dictionaries) and 

Bescherelle: L’Art de conjuguer 12,000 verbes (Verb Conjugation), Publisher: Hatier, ISBN: 2218717166. 

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description: 

This class builds upon the foundations in Beginning French 1, 2 and 3. It introduces more intricate aspects of French grammar, practical vocabulary, cultural, historical and social aspects of the French speaking world. The ultimate goal is to enable students to achieve a higher level of understanding and ability to communicate in French. Oral communication will be increased from the previous level. At-home preparation is expected. This course is conducted entirely in French.

Prerequisite: French 4 students should have completed French 1A ,1 B, 2 and 3 at La Causerie or possess equivalent levels of proficiency from other pathways.

Student Description: Students in this course should have completed French 3 or its equivalent, having attained an overall foundation in French grammar as well as a comfort level to participate in everyday conversations. Students should be comfortable in a class conducted entirely in French and have vocabulary that is broad enough to engage in class discussions.

Book/Materials: TBD

Recommended Reference Books:

A good recent bilingual dictionary (French/English- English/French):

-i.e: on paper: Collins, Robert French College Dictionary.

-i.e: online: https://www.wordreference.com

A book on French conjugation:

-i.e: on paper: Bescherelle: L’Art de conjuguer; La conjugaison pour tous.

-i.e: online: https://bescherelle.com/le-conjugueur-bescherelle

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description: 

Class Description:  Italian II is the second Italian class and will pick up where Italian 1 left off.   We will spend the first weeks of class reviewing the material covered in level 1 and then start our new material.

Grammatical Concepts:

   § Past tenses: passato prossimo, imperfetto and trapassato

   § Articulated prepositions (preposition + article contractions)

   § Indirect Object Pronouns

   § Agreement with direct object pronouns and the passato prossimo

   § The verb piacere

   § Reflexive and reciprocal verbs

   § ‘Have been verbing’ time expression

   § Adverbs

Vocabulary themes will include:

   § Pastimes/hobbies

   § Food/Restaurant

   § Clothing

   § Larger numbers

   § Mass media

Prerequisites: Italian 1 or equivalent

Students should be familiar with: basic pronunciation, gender and plural formation, agreement including articles and adjectives, present tense verbs both regular and irregular, basic sentence and question formation.  You should be able to hold a basic conversation in the present tense.

Books/Materials: 

***NOTE***  We are using new books this year.

The Ultimate Italian Review and Practice by David Stillman. (We will be using this book as a reference and for homework.  We will not be following it strictly in order.  I will also be providing a lot of other handouts that will be posted on our class page.) 

(Available on Amazon)

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Italian-Review-Practice-Premium/dp/1260453510/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1TCXJ01WBJ0ET&keywords=ultimate+italian+review+and+practice&qid=1685221511&sprefix=ultimate+italian+%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1

Italian Phrasebook for Adult Beginners.  ISBN: 9798840411216  

Learn Italian with Short Stories for Adult Beginners.  ISBN: 9798370453410 

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description:

Main Points of Grammar

   § Past Conditional Tense

   § The Subjunctive Mood 

   § "Volerci" and "Metterci"

Main Vocabulary Themes 

   § The environment

   § The performing arts

   § Social Issues

   § The Workplace

These subjects are tentative and may change to be useful for students who may be repeating the class.  

Prerequisite: Completion of Italian 3 at La Causerie or equivalent

The typical Italian 4 student has completed Italian 3, is able to participate in simple dialogue, and can generate questions in Italian language recognizable by a native speaker.

Book/Materials:  The Ultimate Italian Review and Practice by David Stillman.  

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description:  This grammar course is for students who have been introduced to the Spanish language but are still at a beginning level. Typically, students should have completed Spanish 1 at La Causerie or have taken several years of high-school Spanish, a couple of semesters of college Spanish, or have had an equivalent life experience (lived abroad, etc.) that gives them some pronunciation skills and a basic foundation of vocabulary.

Course Objective: Completion of the following chapters and topics

Grammar

Unit # 9     The progressive tense  pg. 95

Unit # 23   Prepositions  pg. 276

Unit # 24   Indefinite and Negative words and expressions   pg. 293

Unit # 4     The preterit tense  pg. 35

Unit # 5     The imperfect tense  pg. 49

Unit # 6     Preterit and the Imperfect  pg. 59

Unit # 7     The future ( 1st part. Talk about the 2 futures )   pg. 67

Instruction: The instructor will use English for grammatical explanations, will incorporate Spanish into drills and other exercises, and will assign homework. 

Prerequisite: knowledge of the material covered in Spanish 1.

Book/Materials:  Practice Makes Perfect, Complete Spanish Grammar, Premium 4th Edition

Early Registration (5/1-5/26): $418

Reg. Registration (5/27-8/14): $440

Late Registration (8/15-9/30):$460

Fridays 11:30am-1:00pm

Class Description: This upper-level grammar course builds on the foundations of what students have learned in Spanish 1, 2, and 3. The instructor will conduct the class entirely in Spanish and will resort to English for grammatical explanations only when absolutely necessary. Students at this level are likely to experience new doors opening to them in terms of their abilities to read short story length material and to speak a number of coherent sentences in a row. The instructor will assign homework from the book.

Course Objective: Completion of the following chapters and topics

Grammar:

Unit # 12   The passive voice and passive constructions  pg. 124

Unit # 16   The commands  pg. 175

Unit # 13   The Subjunctive Mood   pg. 131

Unit # 14   Subjunctive: adverb and relative clauses  pg 148

Unit # 15   Subjunctive: the imperfect and the pluperfect subjunctive   pg.162

Instruction: The instructor will conduct the class in Spanish and will resort to English only when necessary to make grammatical or usage points clear.

Prerequisite: Knowledge of the material in levels 1, 2, and 3 

Book/Materials:  Practice Makes Perfect, Complete Spanish Grammar, Premium 4th Edition