French

compiled by Georges Detiveaux

If you plan on taking French at Lone Star College–CyFair, you may wish to visit and bookmark these sites for your own reference.

Course-Specific Text Websites

http://www.mhhe.com/debuts

This is the website for the new French text Débuts. Students use this book and its website for all four semesters of French.

http://www.mhhe.com/debuts2

This is the text site for the second edition of Débuts, set for Lone Star College System use beginning in the fall of 2006. Along with the same kinds of web activities in the first edition's web area, with the purchase of a new textbook, students have password-protected access to premium course content.

Language Learning Sites: Grammar, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Reference & Culture

http://www.francophonie.hachette-livre.fr/

This site is an excellent online French – French dictionary. It’s a wonderful alternative to buying a printed one! When learning French, if you REALLY need to look up a word, try reading the definition in French, looking at it in a sentence, imagining a cognate, etc., instead of resorting to a dual-language dictionary! This might sound strange, but it will certainly do you good! English, bad… French, good! The quicker you become comfortable with and brave about dealing with French in an all-target-language environment, the better off you are.

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/

This is UT-Austin's first-year French area with great grammar explanations, exercises, and cool Franco-Texan characters in interesting dialogues. It's basically a whole textbook online for free!

http://w3.granddictionnaire.com/btml/fra/r_motclef/index1024_1.asp

Québec's official online dictionary! You can look up lots of things in any direction in French, English, and Latin! Vive le Québec libre!

http://www.louisiane.culture.fr/fr/index.html#SŽquence_1

This wonderful website contains lots of great information on la Louisiane, my place of birth, and home to about 230,000 speakers of French - the largest population of French speakers in the United States.

http://lexiquefle.free.fr/index.htm

My favorite site for first-year French students, this one has great interactive exercises on many of the vocabulary and grammar topics we do in class!

http://phonetique.free.fr/

Need a little more pronunciation practice? Look no further. This site has exercises on IPA, accents, sound discrimination, & the alphabet!

http://elsap1.unicaen.fr/KaliDemo.html

Have you seen 2001: A Space Odyssey? Imagine if HAL9000 was really Hélène-Neuf-Mille! It's an online version of vocal synthesis software. Type in any French word, phrase, or sentence, and hear it pronounced!

http://courseweb.edteched.uottawa.ca/Phonetique/pages/phonetique/intro.htm

This is an excellent site for learning more than you'd ever care to know about French phonetics. It includes sound (RealPlayer), and touches on prosody, vowels, consonants, liaisons, and enchaînements.

French in Houston

http://consulfrance-houston.org/

Here's the website of the French Republic's Consular offices in Houston. Among other things, they have a wonderful cultural calendar telling you about French-related events about town.

http://www.afdehou.org

The Alliance française is Houston's outpost of French and Francophone language and culture. They have their own language classes, and they sponsor many cultural events like movies, wine tastings, photo exhibits, etc. A student membership grants you access to their wonderful library! They've long been a great friend to college students of French from all area colleges and universities.

A Bachelor's in French in Your Own Backyard!

Fortunately, Cy-Fair is not too far from some wonderful universities, a few of which offer more advanced studies of French. Continue your studies with a B.A., an M.A., or even a Ph.D.!

http://www.class.uh.edu/mcl/

The University of Houston's Department of Modern & Classical Languages offers a B.A. in French to Houston's largest undergraduate French-major population, and it's home to some very dedicated and talented teachers!

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~fren/

Rice University's Department of French Studies offers the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in French Studies, a field that considers French in more of the humanities than the traditional literature or linguistics paths. After extensive renovations, Rayzor Hall now houses the wonderful Language Resource Center!

http://www.stthom.edu/academics/schools/artssciences/macl/french.html

University of St. Thomas is yet another great place to earn a B.A. in French without leaving the city. It's where you'll find a real grande dame, a Houston institution when it comes to French - Madame Rolande Léguillon, Program Chair and Professor of French. Bonjour, Madame!

You May Be Certifiable, but Are You Certified?

http://www.excet.nesinc.com/excetstudyguid/48%20French.html

This is the link to the French area of the Study Guide for the Examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET). Note: If you take all four of our classes and do well in them, it's impossible to fail this French test!

http://www.ciep.fr/tcf/

This is the website for information on the TCF (Test de connaissance du français), an internationally recognized means of demonstrating one's French abilities. In Texas, the exam is offered every year in Houston and Dallas.