French Courses

Please see the Timetable Builder for the courses offered in the current session. To narrow your search, filter for "UTM - French" in the Department / Subject Area field (Step 2). For the full listing of all French courses, please see the Academic Calendar

French Studies Program Coordinator Contact: fre.pc.utm@utoronto.ca 

 

New course for the 2025-26 academic year!

FSL467H5 • Sights, Sounds, and Tastes of the Francophone World

This course invites students to explore sights, sounds, and tastes of the French-speaking world, including cuisine, cinema, arts, media, music, comics, and literature. Students will expand their oral and written French language skills to enjoy, share their understanding of, and reflect on Francophone cultural products, practices, and perspectives including through comparisons with students’ home cultures. This course may include an experiential learning component some semesters, with opportunities for field experiences (e.g., restaurants, performances) to discover Francophone sights, sounds, and tastes. When these field experiences are offered, additional costs and application processes may apply.

 

Topic Courses for the 2025-26 academic year!

FRE445H5 • Special Topics in French & Francophone Literary and Cultural Studies I

The War Novel in French 20th and 21st-century literature

This course explores approaches to the war novel in French literature from the 20th and 21st centuries. French novels take a critical approach to war, more than a celebratory one, especially when dealing with the tragic experience of civilians. They also combine national heroism and personal trauma to present a complex picture of the actual experience of soldiers in battle and resistants and spies facing moral dilemmas. Original novel forms are developed, deploying symbolism, social satire, irony, detective storylines, and unique blends of suspenseful fiction and documentary. Students will apply previous knowledge in literature, and their oral and written competences in French to the study of representative novels dealing with the experience of war and its aftermath, ranging from testimonial to fictional accounts. Particular emphasis will be placed on extending attentive reading skills as ways of reflecting on storytelling and its relationship to critical commentary, the creative power of language, and empathy.

FRE487H5 • Advanced Topics in Experimental French Linguistics

L1 and L2 French prosody – rhythm, intonation, and stress

This course offers an in-depth analysis of French prosody, focusing on its essential components – rhythm, intonation, and stress – and their role in communication. Students will examine how these features function in French and compare them with those of other languages (e.g., English, Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish). The course also addresses how prosody is acquired in a second language, providing practical tools and strategies to analyze and improve prosodic production in French as a second language.

 

The following new French courses will also be offered in upcoming academic sessions.

FRE385H5 • Decoding French Language Games

This course explores the phonological properties of French language games such as Verlan and Loucherbem. Adopting a comparative approach with standard French, particular emphasis will be placed on students' ability to identify and model phonological patterns of segmental and syllable structure modification using both descriptive and theoretical phonological tools.

FRE395H5 • Francophone Media and Global Culture

This course explores media and culture in the Francophone world through textual, graphic, musical and cinematographic content. Students will apply previously acquired knowledge in cultural studies, and their oral and written competences in French to the study of multiple cultural and mediatic forms including movies, graphic novels and songs. Particular emphasis will be placed on extending attentive reading skills as ways of thinking about texts, images and music, and on deploying these skills to better understand the relationship between different Francophone cultures within our contemporary world.