UPCOMING EVENTS

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• BJ091 French 3 (Intermediate, DELF B1)

  • Start
    09 Jan 2023
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  • End
    30 Mar 2023
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  • Schedule
    22 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom
  • Spaces left
    6

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  This lively French course will improve your ability to deal with an array of everyday life situations in French. This level is for students who understand simple, straightforward information and can express themselves in familiar contexts and take part in an everyday conversation on simple, predictable topics.

  Using interactive methods to ensure learner engagement and lasting progress, the course will help you develop your vocabulary, oral and written expression, comprehension, and pronunciation.

  Geared for learners with an intermediate knowledge of French, the 90-minute class will be held in French, twice a week for a total of 3 hours per week.

  Location

  Remote on Zoom: A Zoom link will be provided the day before the course begins. Be sure to check your email for it.

  About the Instructor

  Eric Popowicz is an experienced and engaging teacher of FLE (French as a foreign language) in both classrooms where he has created his own successful teaching methods and online. To future students, he says: “A language is so much more than a means of communication, it’s a secret passage to a country’s culture, its way of thinking, its approach to life. That’s why languages are so fascinating.”

  
  

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• BJ111 French Film Discussion

  • Start
    11 Jan 2023
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  • End
    29 Mar 2023
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  • Schedule
    11 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom - Exceptionally, the first class, January 11, will be a lunch held at La Coupole, 102 Bd du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris
  • Spaces left
    4

  Register

  Course Description

  For this advanced French course, you will watch a film at home (available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Canal Plus, Orange, YouTube and other platforms) before a lively and engaging discussion in class.
  

  Each week a new film provides a basis for an immersive lesson with authentic spoken language and cultural reference points. Watching films is entertaining and enjoyable which breaks psychological barriers that can arise in traditional language learning.
  

  If you love movies, there’s no more enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, improve conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of French culture.
  

  You can expect to view a wide range of films from the classic to the contemporary in many different genres. Here are the films tentatively scheduled for the winter trimester:
  

  A la Folie…. Pas du tout (2002). Thriller. Romance. Un film de Laetitia Colombani avec Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan, Isabelle Carré.
  

  Varda par Agnès (2019). Un documentaire par/avec/sur Agnès Varda.
  

  La Belle et la Bête (1946). Drame. Fantastique. Romance. Un film de Jean Cocteau avec Jean Marais, Josette Day, Marcel André.

  Papicha (2019). Drame. Un film franco-algérien de Mounia Meddour, avec Lyna Khoudri, Shirine Boutella.
  

  Le goût des autres (2000). Comédie dramatique. Un
  film d’Agnès Jaoui, avec Jean-Pierre Bacri, Gérard
  Lanvin, Alain Chabat.
  

  Le Jour se lève (1939). Drame. Romance. Un film de Marcel Carné, avec Jean Gabin, Jules Berry, Arletty.
  

  Mauvaises herbes (2018). Un film de Kheiron, avec Kheiron, Catherine Deneuve, André Dussollier.
  

  Le procès de Bobigny (2020). Un film de François Luciani, avec Anouk Grinberg, Sandrine Bonnaire, Juliette Lamboley.
  

  Léon Morin, prêtre (1961). Drame, romance. Un film de Jean-Pierre Melville, avec Jean-Paul Belmondo et Emmanuelle Riva.
  

  Asphalte (2015). Comédie dramatique. Un film de Samuel Benchetrit, avec Isabelle Huppert, Gustave Kervern, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.
  

  Hôtel du Nord (1938). Comédie dramatique. Un film de Marcel Carné, avec Louis Jouvet, Arletty, Annabella.

  Note: The first class, on 11 January, will be a lunch held at La Coupole, 102 Bd du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris. All other classes will be held online, and a Zoom link will be sent by email the day before the course begins.
  

  Instructor

   Valérie Brosbrann grew up in Paris and moved to the US in 1981 where she lived for 38 years in New York City, Washington, D.C and Boston. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University. She has been teaching French since 1986. She taught adults with the US State Department, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Afterwards, she taught at private high schools in Manhattan. She has taught all levels of French including Advanced and AP classes. She returned to Paris for retirement in 2018 and has been volunteering with WICE for four years.
  

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• BJ122 English Guided Discussion

  • Start
    12 Jan 2023
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  • End
    30 Mar 2023
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  • Schedule
    11 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom
  • Spaces left
    8

  Register

  Course Description

  This English Guided Discussion Group is open to people who have a strong intermediate or advanced level of English. Our group leaders suggest interesting topics and readings prior to each group discussion. If you enjoy reading, speaking, presenting, and engaging in diverse topic-centered discussions, this group is for you. In addition to learning and developing through guided conversation with other participants, you will also have the opportunity to get personalized constructive feedback. The group speaks only in English for one
  hour.
  

  Ce groupe de discussion guidée anglaise est ouvert aux personnes qui parlent anglais presque couramment (niveaux intermédiaire-avancé ou avancé). Nos animateurs proposent des sujets intéressants et des textes avant chaque groupe. Si vous appréciez la lecture, la communication, la présentation et la participation à des discussions
  diverses, ce groupe est pour vous. En plus d’apprendre et se développer à travers des discussions guidées avec d'autres participants, vous aurez également la possibilité d'obtenir des
  commentaires constructifs. Ce groupe de discussion guidée est un endroit idéal pour rencontrer d’autres passionnés de la langue anglais. Le groupe ne parle qu’anglais pendant une heure.

  Note: A Zoom link will be provided the day before the
  course begins. Be sure to check your email for it
  

  Facilitators

  The group will be led by several native English speakers of varying interests and backgrounds.
  

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• BJ131 French 4.2 (Advanced Intermediate, Delf B2)

  • Start
    13 Jan 2023
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  • End
    31 Mar 2023
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  • Schedule
    11 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom
  • Spaces left
    7

  Register

  COURSE DESCRIPTION
  

  This dynamic course will fine tune your abilities in an array of everyday life situations in French. Students at this level have the ability to express themselves on a range of topics. They are comfortable in most situations and have a strong vocabulary with few mistakes. Using interactive methods to ensure learner engagement and lasting progress, the course will facilitate your progress in vocabulary development, oral and written expression, comprehension, and pronunciation. Geared for learners with prior advanced-intermediate French, this course will be held in French once a week for 90 minutes.
  

  NOTE: This class will be held remotely. A Zoom link will be provided for students the day before the course begins. Be sure to check your email for it.

  No classes will be held the week of 27 Feb - 03 Mar. 
  

  ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
  

  Nathalie Allain is a native French speaker with a master’s degree in FLE (French as a foreign language) who is also fluent in English, German, and Japanese. To future students, she says: “In addition to textbooks, I like to make French come alive by using the language to discover the culture and history of Paris in one field trip each month.”

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• BJ132 French Guided Discussion

  • Start
    13 Jan 2023
  •  
  • End
    31 Mar 2023
  •  
  • Schedule
    11 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom
  • Spaces left
    7

  Register

  Course Description
  

  This French Guided Discussion Group is open to people who have a strong intermediate or advanced level of French. Group leaders provide participants with engaging weekly readings on a wide range of topics prior to each dynamic and fast-paced seminar.
  

  If you enjoy reading, speaking, presenting, and engaging in varied, topic-centered discussions, this group is for you. In addition to learning through focused conversation with other participants, you will also have the opportunity to get personalized constructive feedback.

  The French Guided Discussion group speaks only in French for 90
  minutes which gives participants an excellent space to practice.  

  Note: This course will be held remotely. A Zoom link will be provided for students the day before the course begins. Be sure to check your email for it.

  Facilitators

  Brice Dardel and Valerie Brosbrann are both native French
  speakers with extensive experience leading discussions.
  They alternate weekly sessions.
  

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• BJ272 English Film Discussion (formerly American Film Classics)

  • Start
    27 Jan 2023
  •  
  • End
    24 Mar 2023
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  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    Online via Zoom
  • Spaces left
    4

  Register

  Course Description

  Discover and discuss masterpieces of American and British cinema in this class for intermediate and advanced English speakers. You’ll watch a film at home on streaming, or borrow the DVD from your local library, before a lively and engaging discussion in class. You’ll be assigned one scene to watch at least three times! Every month you’ll view a film from an influential director so you’ll come to know the stylistic hallmarks of favorite genres and filmmakers.
  

  If you love the movies, this course is an enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, get comfortable with idiomatic expressions, improve your conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of American culture and cinema.
  

  The winter term will explore classic films by three European immigrants who made their directing careers in the United States. Here’s the tentative list:

  The Apartment (1960) by Billy Wilder with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine

  Casablanca (1942) by Michael Curtiz with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman

  The Shop Around the Corner (1940) by Ernst Lubitsch with Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart

  Note: A Zoom link will be provided the day before the course begins. Be sure to check your email for it.
  

  Instructor
  

  Ellen Feldman grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in cinema studies from New York University and has taught film studies at the State University of New York, Geneseo campus, and Brooklyn College.
  

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