French 322-001 Translation   Fall 2009
MWF 1:50 pm - 2:45 pm  FAC 254 (updated daily)
Instructor: Nathan Love, Ph.D. (I.U.) 
Office: FAC 282 Office: 745-5909 E-mail: nathan.love@wku.edu
Office hours: M-F 10:15 am - 11:00am ; TR 9:30 am - 10:15 am & by appointment
Web page: http://www.wku.edu/~nathan.love
Blackboard: https://blackboard.wku.edu
Required books: none
Suggested book: Stylistique comparée du français et de l'anglais J.P. Vinay, J. Bardelnet
Recommended Web sites: Click to view. 
Recommended: good Fren-Eng/Eng-Fren dictionary, such as Oxford-Hachette

wku logo mod langs
Dictionnaire monolingue
Dictionnaire bilingue
Le Conjugueur
Pour écrire
Go to week 1

Go to week 5
Go to exam 1
Go to exam 2
Go to final exam
Go to grades


        F322 Translation is a course intended for those who have had some previous study of French, either three or more years in high school or F202. F322 counts toward fulfilling the French minor and major literature distribution requirement. Through coursework, experience abroad, and other cultural encounters, the Modern Languages Program cultivates communicative skills and cultural awareness that prepare students at Western Kentucky University to be more knowledgeable and sensitive citizens of the global community. There are no textbooks for the course. Please have a good French-English dictionary and, if possible, a French-French dictionary.
  The course goals, which follow in order of priority, clearly speak to the General Education Categories A II A and B.
    1. Development of techniques and strategies for translation
2. Grasp of the challenges and issues of translation
3. Greater knowledge of the structure of the French language
4. Greater knowledge of the lexicon of the French language and perhaps of the English language
5. Improved composition in French
6. Heightened sensitivity to nuances of structure and diction (style)
7. Heightened sensitivity to genres and corresponding styles
8. Preparation: become prepared linguistically to take more advanced French

Participation and attendance: class attendance is mandatory, and participation is essential; speaking French at every opportunity will help a student with speaking and listening skills. Participation will assure progress toward communication skills. Students are to check Blackboard (http://ecourses.wku.edu) or my Web page (http://edtech.wku.edu/~nlove/322transl/f322trans2009.htm) and stay abreast of announcements, assignments and changes in the syllabus frequently. In the event that it is necessary to miss class, it is the responsibility of the student to find out what was covered and to learn the appropriate material. Upon returning to class students are expected to be fully prepared: ready to participate, to turn in assignments, and to take quizzes or exams as scheduled. When/if you miss a class meeting, you can be relatively certain that you missed at least one quiz (see below). If absent, one should contact me before the next class meeting – not to explain or excuse the absence, but in order to find out what was accomplished and, especially, what is to be prepared outside of class, unless you believe that you know with certainty what was missed and have no questions about it.


Auditing An auditor is one who enrolls and participates in a course without expecting to receive academic credit. The same registration procedure is followed and the same fees charged as for courses taken for credit. An audited course is not applicable to any degree or certificate program. Regular class attendance is expected of an auditor. Other course requirements, which may be obtained in writing from the instructor, will vary depending on the nature of the course. Students interested in auditing a course should secure permission from the instructor and discuss course requirements prior to enrolling. Failure to meet course requirements may result in the auditor being withdrawn from the course at the request of the instructor. A successful audit will be recorded on the transcript with the designation AU. (from: Academic Requirements and Regulations, Undergraduate Course Catalog)


Assignments (or homework) will be posted on the timeline part of the syllabus below by means of a link on the date by which the assignment is due. Thus to know what is to be prepared for the September 2 class meeting, click on the link on "02 sept 09" below. (You will know when the assignment has been uploaded, as the date will appear in bold, and turn blue as a link upon passing the mouse over it.) There will be questions or assignments regularly posted on Blackboard or the Web page to be completed before the next class. This semester there will be an assignment from time to time in Blackboard's Discussion Board related to class participation.


Quizzes will be done in class, although most can be prepared for before class. There will at least one short quiz every class meeting. They will cover what has been assigned or recently presented. Quizzes over what is assigned will provide an indication whether the assignment has been completed and understood. Quizzes covering what has been recently presented during class will likewise provide an indication of your emerging skills, especially concerning grammar and listening comprehension. Some will concentrate on vocabulary, some on grammar, some on listening comprehension, some will even deal with speaking. Many will be done as small group activities during class meetings. Among other things, they prepare a student for exams. As with worksheets, quizzes are not busywork (none of us has time for that!); each one has a teaching or learning point behind it. Quizzes will be numerous; and may not be made up if missed. Since they will be numerous, you may well miss some or do poorly on others. Rather than drop a certain number of quizzes, your quiz average will be curved approximately ten percent to allow for the normal vicissitudes of life.


Student Engagement Activity : Traduction d'une page dans un livre français. All Student Engagement Activities, university wide, you can -- and really ought to -- record at the WKU SEAT page.


Exams: There will be no make up exams. If you should miss an exam, contact me at your earliest opportunity! The day and time of the final exam are established by the Registrar. Whereas there may be changes on the syllabus below, the day and time of the final exam are absolute. Please do not make plans, therefore, at variance with our scheduled final exam.


Expectations, in summary, are as follows. Students are expected 1) to study, do assignments, and prepare for class, 2) to attend class, contribute and participate during class, 3) avail themselves of resources, and to seek help from instructor when appropriate, including during office hours or by appointment, 4) to demonstrate knowledge and language skills in progress against what is expected, 5) to work, for instance, on pronunciation, listening comprehension and recognition of spoken vocabulary, 6) to submit by deadlines work required, 7) to turn in for a grade the student’s own work and, of course, not to permit work to be used by another for his/her graded assignments. 8) to stay abreast of announcements, assignments and changes in the syllabus at least three times each week. 9) to keep cell phones turned off and silent during class; to keep cell phones and other electronic devices capable of communication/data retrieval out of sight during all graded activities. The instructor is expected 1) to be prepared for teaching each class session, 2) to offer clear examples and explanations, 3) to encourage participation from students, 4) provide opportunities for you to hear, speak, write and read French and to offer, specifically, as much oral practice in class as possible, 5) to meet with students during office hours and by appointment outside of class, 6) to be fair-minded at all times, 7) to respect students, and their beliefs and opinions, 8) to challenge students to meet the course goals as fully as possible. (Click on statement on teaching to read my thoughts on the entire subject.)


Resources I can find more resources for anyone needing more than the Internet sites, handouts and a good grammar and dictionary recommended, and would be pleased to do so. For additional resources for individuals, click here.


Course Grade -- sources & weights:

grammar / translation exercises : assignments / quizzes 20%
student engagement activity 20%
exam 1 10%
exam 2 20%
final exam 30%

Academic dishonesty: “Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty may receive from the instructor a failing grade in that portion of the course in which the act is detected or a failing grade in the course without possibility of withdrawal” (from the 2006-2007 online student handbook). Acts of academic dishonesty include the use of a translating device to complete writing assignments and failing to turn cell phones and PDAs off before taking an exam. Student work may be checked using plagiarism detection software. See Western's statement on academic dishonesty in the 2006-2007 online student handbook for more information. See the same source for university policy on plagiarism ‑ "To represent written work taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of a student must be his/her own. One must give any author credit for source material borrowed from him/her. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after having changed a few words is also plagiarism." The use of online translation aids is strictly prohibited. Students enrolled may not assist one another on graded exercises.


Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services in DUC A-200 of the Student Success Center in Downing University Center. The phone number is 745-5004. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.


Changes: Changes to all matters above may become necessary, especially regarding the syllabus and/or the due dates of graded work. The instructor reserves the right to make such changes as he/she deems necessary. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain the most recent iteration of the syllabus either as posted on the Blackboard site for this course or as made available in the classroom.


GR= Grammar Topic; TR = Translation topic
1 lundi 31 août 09 Introduction et terminologie (surtout, parties du discours; exercice : parties du discours et analyse de la phrase) ; accents: fiche ; PPT ; logiciels en ligne ; TR : traduction mot-à-mot
2 mercredi 02 sept 09 GR : Article indéfini ; comment faire une traduction
3 vendredi 04 sept 09 exercices : parties de la phrase (fin); petites annonces ; jobs in classifieds

4 mercredi 09 sept 09 GR : Article défini
5 vendredi 11 sept 09 GR : Article partitif ; quantités : exercices , interactivité ; TR : unités de traduction (ppt) (liste); syntagme ; proverbes

6 lundi 14 sept 09 GR : Passif / on ; proverbes et dictons
7 mercredi 16 sept 09 GR : Passif / on ; TR : idiotismes ; proverbes et dictons interactivité ; proverbes Internet
8 vendredi 18 sept 09 TR : Idiotismes ; une lettre ; entretiens téléphoniques

9 lundi 21 sept 09 TR : le mot juste ; au restaurant ; deux lettres à traduire
10 mercredi 23 sept 09 GR : Pronominaux ; GR : Le présent ; lettre à mettre en anglais
11 vendredi 25 sept 09 GR : Le présent ; TR: faux amis 1 ; lettre à traduire en français

12 lundi 28 sept 09 GR : Le passé 1, 2 ; TR : faux amis 2 ; TR : substantifs en français ; article de journal
13 mercredi 30 sept 09 TR : transposition ; l'article de journal revisité
14 vendredi 02 oct 09 révision ; annonces

15 lundi 05 oct 09 examen 1 format et corrigé
16 mercredi 07 oct 09 GR : négation 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 ; TR : interview

17 lundi 12 oct 09 GR : Le conditionnel, le futur
18 mercredi 14 oct 09 GR : pronoms personnels ; TR : adaptation culturelle : l'argent de poche (anciens francs), un exemple en ligne , lettre française, poids et mesures
19 vendredi 16 oct 09 TR: doublets ; GR : les temps grammaticaux ; le français des affaires

20 lundi 19 oct 09 GR : pronoms objets ; exercice 1 ; exercice 2 ; exercice 3 ; exercice 4 ; TR : mise en relief

21 mercredi 21 oct 09 GR : adjectifs, qui changent de sens ; TR: adjectifs et substantifs ; GR : pronoms objets ; exercice 1 ; Vautrin pronoms
Last day to drop a full semester course with a W. Last day to change a full semester course from credit to audit.
22 vendredi 23 oct 09 GR : aspects verbaux : inchoatif ~ duratif ~ ponctuel ; TR: séquences de mots

23 lundi 26 oct 09 TR : amplification ; GR : certains verbes au passé ; adjectifs (révision)
24 mercredi 28 oct 09 GR : subjonctif , exemples , ptt et formation / fonction , exercice 1, exercice 2 ; TR : traduction en cours : anglais - français , français-anglais
25 vendredi 30 oct 09 révision ; TR : traduction en cours : anglais - français : « corrigé » ; français-anglais

26 lundi 02 nov 09 examen 2 format
27 mercredi 04 nov 09 examen 2 corrigé
28 vendredi 06 nov 09 GR : inversion 1, 2 & faire causatif ; TR : singulier-pluriel

29 lundi 09 nov 09 GR : interrogatif ; TR : niveau - registre ; registres et interrogation
30 mercredi 11 nov 09 GR : singulier-pluriel 2 ; TR: idiotismes (encore)
31 vendredi 13 nov 09 TR : philosophie (Descartes) ; portraits Giton et Phédon ; un Américain

32 lundi 16 nov 09 GR : prépositions 1
33 mercredi 18 nov 09 GR : trois verbes : devoir, falloir, pouvoir ; prépositions 2
34 vendredi 20 nov 09 GR : prose littéraire (Sartre : N.Y.) ; description

35 lundi 23 nov 09 GR : devoir 1, 2 ; TR : modalités

   25 nov - 27 nov Thanksgiving Break

36 lundi 30 nov 09 GR : prépositions 3 et 4 ; TR : faux amis 3
37 mercredi 02 déc 09 GR : prépositions temporelles, site ; verbe + infinitif + à, de ou rien ; verbes (in)transitifs ; interactivité

38 vendredi 04 déc 09 TR : temps grammaticaux ; interactivités

39 lundi 07 déc 09 GR : démonstratifs : adjectifs, pronoms ; TR : interactivité
Roster freeze date (no late adds or withdrawals for extenuating circumstances will be processed after this date.)
40 mercredi 09 déc 09 TR: prépositions 5 ; project due
41 vendredi 11 déc 09 présentation (honors) ; prépositions 6 ; révision

lundi 14 déc 09 Examen final : 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. (Vous pouvez apporter des dictionnaires, mais pas de notes.)

Changes to the foregoing may be deemed necessary by the instructor. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain the most recent iteration of the syllabus either as posted on the instructor's web page or as made available in the classroom.
 Course Grade | Quiz Grades | Exam 1 | Exam 2 | Exam 3

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