Mes Cours (My Classes)

Classes so far have been going well. All USAC students are currently in a 1-credit placement test preparation course called Tremplin (springboard). We're split into two groups based on language level. I'm in the upper half. The first class, we did some fun introduction activities and group work. We finished by writing three 80-word stories in French, two true and one false. In the next class, we read the stories in small groups and guessed with stories were false. The professor corrected the stories so we could improve our writing skills and she could gain a better sense of our levels. The purpose of the class is to get us used to French again after winter break, as well as to give the professor an idea of where we are in case we place into the wrong class for our skill levels later on. I'm aiming to place into the C1 level. (The CEFR scale, or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, is A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, with C2 being the most advanced.) At the moment, I think I have a fairly good chance at placing into C1, as both my Tremplin professor and my Iowa professors have indicated I'm doing well. Starting around the first week of February, I'll be in French classes from 8-12 four days per week with other international students. These classes are through the host university, the Université Catholique de Lyon (UCLy).

This week, I also had my first sessions of Travel Writing and French Literature. Both of these are USAC electives, meaning only other students in my study abroad program take them. Travel Writing is taught in English. It's a combination of readings, writing about our experiences in Lyon/traveling, and going out into the city. French Literature is taught completely in French and involves reading a trilogy of Beaumarchais's plays, some of Victor Hugo's poetry, and Les armoires vides by Annie Ernaux. We also have to read something on our own over the course of the semester and write a 10-12 page paper and do a presentation about it (in French, of course). Both of these classes are two and a half hours once per week. On January 28th, I'll also start a 1-credit French Cuisine course, taught at a local restaurant. This class is three hours in the evening every other Tuesday, for five sessions.

While class sounds like a lot, it's typical for classes in France to have long hours. To make up for those hours, there isn't a lot of outside homework (or so I've heard). Only my electives should have work outside of class, which means I will have a lot less work to do than usual. On top of class, I'll still be an active member of Wilder Things Magazine and the Translate Iowa Project.

The view from my Tremplin classroom. UCLy's St. Paul campus used to be a prison, so there are older sections of the building, like the tower, as well as newer additions.