French
Spoken on five continents, the official language of more than 30 countries, and used in many international organizations, French is a dynamic, thriving language. The French Department at Andover explores culture and identity in its courses through literature, art, current events, film, history, music, poetry, and theater in an immersive classroom setting. Emphasizing voices from a diversity of Francophone countries and exploring challenging histories of colonialism, we seek to use the French language to cultivate knowledge and goodness in students as they discover, understand, and interpret the world. We aim to foster a positive, inclusive, and collaborative learning environment for all students. We offer six course levels, from beginner to post-AP level. We facilitate off campus learning opportunities and provide additional support during conference periods, through the peer tutor program, at the club de la francophonie.
Andover French classroom in Samuel Phillips Hall.
Our Faculty
Meet our team! Claire Gallou is the Department Chair.
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Chantal Jordan
Elizabeth Poland
Nathalie Stephan-Wiles
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Benjamin Duclos
Instructor in German & French, Assistant Coach for Cycling and Indoor Track & Field, House Counselor [email protected]“I approach my role as educator not with the goal that those students I work with necessarily develop into world-class linguists, runners or cyclists, but rather into ethically sound and morally courageous global citizens who have the tools and humility to make a better world, one built upon knowledge and goodness.”
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Claire Gallou
French Instructor and Chair, House Counselor, Yoga Instructor, Academic Advisor, EBI Instructor, Teaching Fellow Mentor, Admissions Interviewer and Reader [email protected] view full profileDr. Gallou has been teaching French at Andover since 2007. She also serves as a yoga instructor, house counselor, academic advisor, teaching fellow mentor, and admissions interviewer/reader.
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Coach Pothel is an instructor, a coach, a dorm parent, and an advisor. He follows the tradition of what it means to be an independent school member of the faculty and finds passion in guiding students through this impactful part of their lives.
Andover students in Morocco for the Inside:Outside, Learning in the World program.
Sample courses
FRE100 First-Level French
This course is designed for those students who have had little or no previous world language experience and those who are not sufficiently prepared for the second-level course. The course emphasizes the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the cultural context of the francophone world.
FRE 401-402-403 Inquiry-Based Approaches to the Francophone World
This course is intended for students who understand, read, and write French well and already speak at a competent level, but would like to develop further conversational skills and acquire the vocabulary and idiomatic expression necessary to be able to discuss and write about major cultural and social issues. Students use literary texts, film, TV programming, and journalism to provide a basis on which to discuss and understand issues in the francophone world.
FRE621 Translation and Interpreting
Learn how to judge translations as well as produce them professionally with reliable tools. Translate a wide variety of texts such as news articles, literature, U.N. speeches, user manuals, and popular songs. Become an official TED translator for your term project as you create and publish subtitles in translation for a TED Talk of your choice.
The Workshop Goes French
Mr. Hughes's “(Re)creating Kerouac” group is exploring how “Jean-Louis” became the author later known as “Jack”.
The department offers
16sections
More than
150students of French at Andover
There are over
320 millionspeakers of French in the world
French is the
4thlanguage on the internet and the official language of the U.N. along with English
Student Organizations
Club de la francophonie
The club is run by students and can organize events and meetings.
Table francophone
Language tables meet every Tuesday at dinner time and invite everyone who would like to practice and listen to French in a casual atmosphere.
Affiliated Off-campus Program.
SYA (School Year Abroad) is an affiliated organization offering a five-week immersion summer program in Rennes, France. More at www.sya.org