Cinephile: French Language and Culture through Film

The book will be printed in full color. Cinéphile: French Language and Culture through Film is a college-level French textbook for two semesters of the second year of college level courses. This text is designed for use in those courses that are taught immediately following a complete first year, where the student needs to review the linguistic concepts in the context of the whole language as well as to expand vocabulary and gain facility with listening, speaking, writing and reading French in real world situations. The textbook integrates the study of French language and culture with the study of films drawing on French language films not only for their ability to generate high interest among students but also for their range of cultural experiences, idiomatic expressions, interesting and real world situations, as well as, of course, having films themselves as important reflections of modern French artistic endeavors in their own right. The textbook is comprised of nine chapters, with each chapter centered around a different film. The films vary in content and genre (animated film, dramatic comedy, farce, romantic comedy, thriller, drama, adventure, etc.) and feature well known French filmmakers and actors. Films provide the springboard for the review of grammar and the expansion of vocabulary skills, as well as to provide content for French culture in the context of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Of course the films provide real world language models as well as high interest. The selected films thus mirror the progressive nature of developing linguistic proficiency and become more sophisticated in language and cultural content as the student progresses through the text. Each chapter also includes short authentic readings in support of the grammar and cultural issues as well as a multiplicity of exercises.