Welcome – Bienvenue & FAQ

This is an archived site …

… for a course at UBC Vancouver.

Beginners’ French I (FREN 101) and II (FREN 102) have been completely redesigned in 2012 (with slight changes in 2014/15), 2018, and Fall 2021.

Archived and current materials (description, syllabus, learning objectives):

(REST OF SITE LAST UPDATED: 2013-12-12)

Welcome to FREN 101/102. On this site, you will find the basic documentation for the course:

There will be fresh sites for term 2:

FAQ

QUESTION: what section am I in?
where is my class, and when?

Q: who is my instructor, and how do I contact them by email?
what are their office hours, and where?

Q: what is iLrn for?

  • FAST ANSWER:
    See the iLrn online exercises: guides
  • LONGER ANSWER:
    iLrn performs several functions in this course. It provides you with:

    1.  self-correcting online exercises, to give you regular—ideally, daily—French practice to reinforce what you’re learning in class
    2. online exercises for practice all term, including in the pre-exam revision period, and that you can redo up to three times
    3. an eBook, which means that you don’t need to carry your textbook around with you (NB: needs Flash, doesn’t work on iPads for example).
      → This may lighten your load and save your back. One of your two options for the required course materials is just buying the online version only (iLrn, inc. eBook), without buying the printed textbook.
      → This is cheaper than buying the iLrn (inc. eBook) + printed book package, and thus can save you some money.
      → It’s also more environmentally responsible, saving trees.
    4. extra resources for practice and revision. For more on them, and some tips on how to use iLrn more fully, see here.

Q: when do I have to do my iLrn online exercises?

  • you can do your exercises at any time before the end of the course: at the latest, by the final exam (14 December, 08:30 a.m.).This is to allow you to use them for pre-exam revision.
  • your exercises will ONLY be graded after the final exam (= in the afternoon of 14 December).
  • depending on your section, your exercises may have “due dates.” These are recommendations to help you plan and organize work. It is recommended that you do exercises a first time by that date. Once the date passes, you will still be able to do the exercises, at any point before the end of the course (14 December).
  • Some sections may simpy have a due date that is the end of the course (14 December).
    Some sections may have their exercises grouped weekly, with exercises due to be completed (that first recommended date) at the beginning of the week after you were covering the material concerned in class (ex. work covered in week 6, due date Monday of week 7).
    Some sections may have their exercises grouped daily.

Q: what information is needed for iLrn registration?
how do I set up an iLrn account?

  • ANSWER:
    1. You will need your “book key.”
    2. Go to Course materials: introduction to iLrn
    → READ THIS GUIDE FIRST AND KEEP IT OPEN IN ANOTHER TAB ON YOUR COMPUTER WHILE YOU ARE REGISTERING AT ILRN
    3. course = FREN 101
    4. course code = DGDCTM366
    5. and then join the right class (ex. Section 101)

Q: what’s my course code?

  • course code = DGDCTM366
  • You should also make sure to join the right class (ex. Section 101)
  • Read this introductory guide first

Q: what’s the language lab?

  • Where you do aural/oral practice (comprehension, pronunciation) and a test (dictation + comprehension), with a lab monitor to help and guide you
  • What you’ll do in your first lab (the others will follow a similar pattern):
    “A” groups (week of 16-20 September)
    “B” groups (week of 23-27 September)
  • When you registered, you should have registered both for a main class (sections 101-110) AND for a lab (labs L1A, L1B, L2A, etc., … L8B)
  • EXCEPT if you’re in section 901:
    you have no lab (as they only run earlier in the day and don’t fit with the evening-class schedule); instead, you have replacement assignments, from week 6-7 onwards. Your instructor will tell you what you’re doing.
  • Please read:
    About the language lab
    (what it is, where, when, and what you should bring with you)
    and
    the language lab schedule

Q: where is the language lab?

Q: when is my language lab?

The full list of items on this site (see also menu and “search” on your right / below):

  • the description and syllabus
  • the general weekly schedule, for all sections
  • information on the required course materials
  • a quick guide on how to register at iLrn (so as to acces your ebook and online exercises; the latter count for 10% of your final grade), and on how to complete the iLrn online exercises
  • iLrn further links: FAQ, user guide, etc.
  • information on the language lab (for all sections except 901)
  • links to UBC resources and further information: the SSC, the French, Hispanic & Italian Studies department, etc.
  • links for further information on French at UBC, in Francophone Vancouver, and further afield (ex. free TV online)
  • links for free French dictionaries online

All attached documents (ex. the syllabus) are in PDF so as to be openable using any software, hardware, and operating system. They open in new windows/tabs.

All external links open in new windows/tabs.

Further questions, uncertainties, comments, other issues:

  • please contact the course co-ordinator
  • please include “FREN 101” in your email subject-line, and your section-number

Merci d’avance!

Dr Juliet O’Brien
Co-ordinator, FREN 101 & 102
Office hours: Monday & Thursday, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. (exam period: by appointment)
Office: Buchanan Tower 728
Email: juliet.obrien@ubc.ca
She reads her email regularly on weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. and should reply within 24 hours, sooner depending on the urgency of the matter.