Department of French
Paper FR B3
Translation into French and French through audio-visual media
Language work in the second year develops comprehension of French, listening and writing skills by focusing on translation into French and listening comprehension. Paper B3 is compulsory for students who have taken Option B at Part IA in both their chosen languages. It is optional for others, but highly recommended for anyone wishing to continue with French at Part II.
Translation into French
In the two-hour examination for this element of the paper, students will be required to translate into accurate, idiomatic French no more than 400 words of modern English prose.Teaching
Teaching will be provided by fortnightly Departmental classes. In preparation for the exam, students will work during the year on a wide range of passages so as to encounter a variety of registers, structures, vocabulary and grammar points.French through audio-visual media
In a one-and-a-half-hour paper, you will listen to a passage of recorded material in French (normally a video recording), during which time you will be allowed to make notes. After an interval, the passage will be repeated, and you will be required to answer in writing a variety of questions. The questions and the answers are all in French.
This course will give you the opportunity to engage with French culture by exploring historical and contemporary issues; the aim is to help you develop the language by focussing on culture.
The course will focus on listening comprehension skills (as the material used will be mainly video based), writing skills (you will be asked to summarize and/or react to the film you will have been shown) and oral skills (the film will be discussed in class - topic-based discussion as well as discussions of the way the film is constructed).
Remember that a lot of multi-media material is available from the Call Facility and the Language Centre. Using this material is essential in order to improve your language skills - topic-based material is also a great way of finding out about topics you might never have had the opportunity to explore.
