About Our Program
Enjoy personalized instruction in a dynamic atmosphere!
The French Department at San Jose City College is here to help you achieve your language goals, whatever they may be. Whether you are planning a trip to a French-speaking country, need to satisfy your language requirements for college, or whether you are simply interested in learning one of the most beautiful and widely spoken languages on the planet, then you should consider enrolling in one of our courses.
The SJCC French Department is a small program, but offers a full complement of language instruction. Our courses do not just focus on language instruction, also explore various aspects of French and Francophone culture. There is more to any language than simply the spoken word.
Our Courses
Click here to see official course descriptions.
If you have never studied French before -- or if it's been a while since your last venture into the language, French 1A (1st semester) may be for you. Focusing on greetings and salutations, basic sentence structure and subjects revolving around you and your immediate surroundings, this course is our most basic course.
After receiving a passing grade in French 1A, or if you have satisfied an equivalent prerequisite, then you may continue to French 1B (second semester). This course contines from where French 1A left off, and begins to cover slightly more advanced structures, and how to talk about events in the past.
French 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B (3rd through 6th semesters) include a review of the basic principles of French as we delve deeper into intermediate and advanced techniques, with a greater focus on writing. In these courses, more advanced tenses and moods are covered, encouraging students to talk about future and hypothetical events. Due to small class size, French 2A, 2B, 2A and 3B are held concurrently. Students in these classes meet together but higher-level students are expected to perform at a higher level than those in the lower levels, so a staggered grading scale is used.
French 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B satisfy both GE requirements and language requirements for transfer to UC or CSU. French 3A and 3B will transfer as GE credit , but will not satisfy language requirements for UC or CSU.
We also offer French Conversation courses (French 91A and 91B).
If you decide to enroll in a French course at SJCC, be sure to enroll in the appropriate required lab course as well. The lab courses (.5 unit) supplement the lecture courses. Lab is not required for the conversation courses. Please read this page to learn more.
