French

Welcome & Bienvenue!

Want to take for a French class, declare the French Major or Certificate (Minor), plan for Study Abroad in a French-speaking country, contact a French Professor for advice, or learn about all things French at Williams? Click on the menu items to the right for detailed information! Read on below for an Introduction to French at William, and further down below for Recent Announcements & News (for Summer & Fall 2023)!

Introduction: French at Williams

The Williams French Program offers a diverse range of courses in French language and Francophone literature, film, and culture. Whether you want to improve your French language skills, prepare for study abroad in France or Morocco, or learn more about the Francophone literary and cinematic tradition, we encourage you to explore our courses and activities.

Taught entirely in French, our language courses accommodate all levels, from beginning to intermediate and advanced, and incorporate lively communicative approaches and technologies to help you improve your speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing. Taught by specialists in their field, our literature courses explore the riches of French and Francophone fiction—as well as cinema, art, politics, and culture—from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Revolution to the Nineteenth,  Twentieth, and Twenty-First Centuries, from Europe and North America, to Africa and the Caribbean. In addition to courses offered at Williams, we encourage students to study abroad with programs in France, Switzerland, Morocco, Sénégal, Martinique, Québec, and other Francophone countries.

The French Program regularly sponsors film festivals, invited speakers, political debates, and discussion tables. Each year, we host two Teaching Associates from France who take active teaching roles in our courses, offer individual help with pronunciation and writing, and organize extracurricular activities in French as heads of our French Club, including cooking lessons, group dinners, film and media discussions, political debates, radio shows, game nights, and karaoke…tout en français!  

Whether you are exploring French for the first time, plan to Major in French, or want to complete a French Certificate (Minor), we invite you to explore our courses, meet our faculty, and take part in our activities. Bienvenue! 

Sign-Up for our Email List

In order to get invitations and announcements for French Program and French Club activities, you must first sign up for the French Special Interest Group on Glow. Simply click here and add yourself to our email list. Once your name and email is added to this list, you will receive email invitations for French activities on campus. For more on the French Club’s cultural activities, click here or the menu to the right.

Summer 2023: French Placement Test (for Incoming Students)

If you’ve ever studied French before (in a formal class, at any level, for any length of time), you must take the French Placement Test, so we can determine the best class for you here at Williams. You will not be admitted to a French course unless you’ve taken the French Placement Test. For complete information, read our detailed webpage on the French Placement Test. But in short…

• The deadline to complete the French Placement Form and thus sign up for the French Placement Test is August 1 (2023.) If you miss this deadline, email the French Faculty.

• The window for taking the French Placement Test online is August 4-14 (2023).  It only takes 1 hour to take the test, and you must complete the test online during this window. Again, for more info, see our detailed webpage on the French Placement Test. 

NEW Visiting Assistant Professors of French, in 2023-2024!

We are delighted to announce that Professors Chase Cormier and Eric Disbro will be joining us here at Williams in 2023-2024! See our faculty webpage for more info about their teaching and wonderful new courses and fascinating research. Bienvenue à Williams, Chase Cormier et Eric Disbro!