Chinese Advisory Placement Test

The first advisory placement test for Chinese (Mandarin) for the Spring 2013 semester will be given on Friday, January 18 from 1:15-2:30 in the Arts Building, room 211.  Find out what this placement test is ... and what it isn't, by clicking here.  

Then select the appropriate class and register for your Chinese class for Spring 2013 right away. Chinese language classes will be offered at the Ocean, Downtown and Chinatown campuses!

Chinese (Mandarin) Advisory Placement Test: Friday, December 7, 1-2 in Arts 211

The last advisory placement test for Chinese (Mandarin) for the Fall 2012 semester will be given on Friday, December 7 from 1:00-2:30 in the Arts Building, room 211.  Find out what this placement test is ... and what it isn't, by clicking here.  

Then select the appropriate class and register for your Chinese class for Spring 2013 right away. Classes will be filling up quickly at the Ocean, Downtown and Chinatown campuses!

Something "extra" for Students of French, German, and Spanish

From the European continent, where just about everyone speaks at least one foreign language, here's a fun and informative site for students of French, German, and Spanish, called Extra from the Channel4Learning.  In a series of videos, you will meet 4 students living in, variously, France, Germany, and Spain.  Activities accompany each episode.  If you click on the "18" in a circle, you will find a link to transcripts for all episodes, all languages.  Or you can click here.

Here are some sneak previews:

Spring 2013 Schedules for Day/Evening/Saturday Classes are now Online

Classes begin on January 14 - Register Early!!!  Right Now!!! This way> Don't Delay, classes fill up!  Take a placement advisory test to find the best level of class for you: Chinese. French, German, Japanese, Spanish. 

Spring 2013 Day Schedule

Spring 2013 Evening/Saturday Schedule

Bonus!  New Language Classes are at New Locations:

Downtown: Chinese, French, German, Italian, 

Japanese, Russian, Spanish 

Chinatown/North Beach:  Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Spanish             

    

Mission: French, German, Italian & Spanish 

John Adams: Russian, Spanish 

Ocean: American Sign Language (ASL), French, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Pilipino, Spanish

Spring 2013: Expanded Course Offerings at the Downtown, Mission, Ocean and Chinatown/North Beach Campuses

Good news for Spring 2013!  There will be expanded offerings of foreign language courses at the ever-popular Downtown Campus, the Mission Campus, the main Ocean Campus, and the brand new Chinatown/North Beach Campus, where (tentatively), Chinese, Japanese and Spanish classes will be offered. Classes will no longer be offered at the Castro Campus (Everett Middle School).  Check back here or go to the Foreign Language Departmentwebsite toward the end of October for details and class schedules.  

Resources for Students of Spanish 1, 1A/1B

If you didn't purchase iLrn, either with the textbook, Plazas, 4th ed., or from the publisher ($113.00 for 18 months' use), there are still abundant materials to access to complement Plazas.

First stop: study tools for Plazas, 3d ed.  Content-wise, it is quite similar to the 4th ed.  Here you can access auto-pruebas (self-corecting chapter quizzes), crossword puzzles, flashcards and more.  Use the drop-down menu in the upper left hand corner to browse by chapter.

Next, check out the Spanish Language and Culture site from Barbara Kuczun Nelson at Colby College , with numerous activities related to all your grammar questions, plus culture videos, music, and much more.

Study Spanish is a free, online tutorial that makes grammar easy to grasp.  Here's the thinking: "When most people think of "grammar", they don't get very excited.  But grammar can teach you something in minutes that might take days to figure out by immersion alone.  

 
Finally, have some fun with Mi vida loca from the BBC.  an interactive video drama and Spanish course, takes you on a mystery adventure to Madrid and beyond in 22 episodes, around 10 minutes each, covering basic learning points for beginning learners of Spanish. 

Students of French: Check out these Resources for French 1/1A, 1B

Here are some resources your fellow students in French 1 have been utilizing this semester as learning support:

First, if you haven't purchased iLrn access either in the bookstore or independently, you can still access the chapter quizzes for Horizons.  Click here, choose the appropriate chapter and then access both grammar and vocabulary quizzes.

Another favorite is Phonetique, which helps students of any level of French work on and learn, for example, the difference between "ou" and "u", or try some fun tongue twisters.  This site is recommended by CCSF French instructor Isabelle Motamedi. 

Français interactif.  Don't miss this one!  There are lots of videos that follow students studying in Lyon, France, covering topics that complement those you are covering in Horizons.  

plus, on the right hand side of the page, you can access Tex's French grammar site, to help you with many aspects of introductory French grammar.  

Last, but not least, and not just for fun, but that, too, the BBC presents, Ma France, a series of 24 interactive videos, complete with downloadable scripts, option to view with or without subtitles in French and English, as well as activities for each video.  Check out the card game!  And here's a short video to get you started:  How not to get lost!

Ma France - Great Interactive Site from the BBC

Students of French, check out Ma France from the BBC.  It is packed with interactive video units that cover many of the very topics you are studying and learning about in your French texts.   Each video also includes transcripts, the option of English and/or French subtitles, or none, and a comprehensive quiz.

Here's a sample, just a taste, to get you started:

Chinese: Advisory Placement Test - December 7 (tentative)

The last advisory placement test for Chinese (Mandarin) for the Fall 2012 semester will be given (tentatively) on Friday, December 7 from 1:00-2:30 in the Arts Building, room to be announced.  Find out what this placement test is ... and what it isn't, by clicking here.  

Boren Scholarship Information Session: Tuesday, August 28, 12:00

• Are you interested in world cultures and languages?
• Would you like to study in Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, or in the Middle East?
• Is your GPA 3.6 or higher?
• Are you a U.S. citizen?

If you answered yes to the questions above, then you should think about applying for a Boren Scholarship. Maximum scholarship awards are:

• $8,000 for a summer program (special initiative for STEM students only; 8 weeks minimum)
• $10,000 for a semester
• $20,000 for a full academic year 

Want to learn more?

A Boren Awards information session will be held on August 28, 2012 from 12 noon to 1:30 pm

In the Rosenberg Library, Room 301

For more information on the Boren Award, contact Sue Light, Boren Advisor, at laurasue12@sbcglobal.net or Jill Heffron, Study Abroad Coordinator, at jheffron@ccsf.edu or visit www.BorenAwards.org

The Language Center will Open on Thursday, August 16 at 10:30 a.m.

Students taking foreign language classes at CCSF will be glad to know that the Language Center will open at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 16.  The Language Center offers support materials for all credit foreign language classes at CCSF.  iMac computers with high-speed internet access are available for you to access your online language learning materials.  And there's much more, so come on in and check it out!

The Language Center - Summer 2012 Hours

The Language Center will be open limited hours during the summer session from July 2 through August 3 as follow: 

Monday - Thursday:  9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 

Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (noon) 

Staff members will be available to assist students with locating and using materials for their particular class.  Classes will fill up early, due to limited offerings, so sign up now!   Click here for a link to a listing of Summer Session foreign language classes. 

San Francisco International Film Festival - 4/19-5/3

If you're taking a foreign language at CCSF, try to check out the film offerings at the San Francisco International Film Festival, now presenting various world cinema films at different venues around San Francisco.

Here are some previews of a few selected entries:

From France comes The Intouchables:

 A paralyzed Parisian millionaire and his assistant, a Senegalese rowdy, strike up an anarchic friendship in this update of ’80s buddy movies like Trading Places, starring François Cluzet and “the French Eddie Murphy,” Omar Sy. A cultural sensation in France thanks to its raucous take on racial and class divides.  


And Japan offers I Wish (Kiseki): 

Hirokazu Kore-eda returns to themes from his 2004 Nobody Knows with this moving and insightful study of two brothers, divvied up by divorced parents, who dream of reuniting their family through a bullet-train line. A children’s film with a touch of adult supervision, I Wish miraculously holds a lifetime’s range of experience.




Germany weighs in with a three-part drama/mystery Dreileben: 

All three films of Dreileben’s character-driven crime drama trilogy are set in and around a small town by the Thuringian Forest. This opening entry taps into the Grimm nature of the setting. Two protagonists as green as the leaves face more romantic trouble than they can handle, while a murderer lurks nearby.

Chinese Language Advisory Placement Test: Arts 212 on May 11 from 1:30-3:30

The Chinese Advisory Placement Test will be given in Arts 212 on May 11 from 1:30-3:30 p.m.  What is the Chinese Language Advisory Placement Test?  The CPT is used by the Chinese Program to assess students’ Chinese language proficiency level so that they may be placed in the appropriate language classes in our program at the CCSF.   For more information on this placement test, click here.  

Foreign Language Class for Summer 2012

Due to budget constraints, the offerings for summer foreign language courses will be limited.  However, some classes will be available as follow:.  Register early as these classes will fill up quickly!

		50085	CHIN 1A		M-F	10:00-12:00	ART 308	TSAO
		50922	CHIN 14A		M-F	08:00-10:00	ART 308	WONG
		50070	FREN 1A		M-F	08:00-10:00	ART 315	NAVARRO
		50747	FREN 1A	591	TR	05:00-09:48	ART 309	MORABITO
		52106	ITAL 1A		M-F	10:00-12:00	HC 206	CONCIN
		50924	JAPA 1A	001	M-F	09:00-11:00	HC 205	WRIGHT
		50358	JAPA 1A	501	TR	05:00-09:48	ART 316	TAKAMATSU
		50247	SPAN 1A	001	M-F	08:00-10:00	ART 310	VASQUEZ
		51592	SPAN 1A	002	MTWR	11:00-01:32	HC 205	FELIU
		50765	SPAN 1A	501	TR	05:00-09:48	CLOU 266	BARTHOLOMEW

x

Drop-In Grammar Workshops for German, Spanish, maybe French, Will be Back in R-205E

Students!  Drop-In Grammar Workshops will be back soon in R-205E:

If you could use an upgrade or reboot in your language studies, here’s another chance:

Spanish 1A:  Monday, April 23 from 11:00-12:00 noon

In addition, there will be at least two end(ish) of the semester, review materials and/or prepare-for-your-final sessions for German 1 and 2:

German 1: Friday, April 6, 1:00-2:00 
                      Wednesday, April 18, 2:00-3:00 
                      Wednesday, May 9, 11:00-12:00 noon

And

German 2: Monday, May 14 from 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Additionally, a Tu, Th session will be planned for German 2.  Check the Deutsch?  Na Klar! Blog (see the Language Center homepage, Language News, for a link) for updates.  

For French: please let Nancy or Stan know of your interest in scheduling a French grammar workshop and they will see what they can do to accommodate you.  

New additions to the schedule will be regularly updated on this blog.

French Film Viewing the Language Center - A Small Taste

Students of French, if your instructor permits Language Center credit for viewing movies, then be sure to check out one of the many French-language DVD's available in R-403.  Movies offer a window into a culture's soul, as well as giving you an opportunity to hear French as it is spoken in its "native habitat".  Here's a sample of some of the selections available, check them out in full in the Language Center:

First up:  Entre les murs (The Class): 

In an inventive adaptation of his novel about his experiences working in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Paris, François Bégaudeau stars as a replica of himself -- a passionate French teacher who presides over a classroom of diverse young minds. Not your standard drama or documentary but something in between, this Oscar-nominated film used three cameras during a largely improvisational shoot and features real students rather than actors.

Next comes a comedic farce:  La Placard (The Closet): 

A milquetoast accountant (Daniel Auteuil) is about to get fired from his job for literally being a bore. But at the last minute, a helpful neighbor (Michel Aumont) concocts a "new life" for him as an out-of-the-closet (read: intriguing) homosexual, and suddenly everything changes. Gérard Depardieu co-stars as a homophobic officemate who might be masking a few feelings of his own in writer-director Francis Veber's foreign language comedy.

Last but not least, here's a psychological thriller: 

Caché

  (Hidden): 

Winner of the Cannes Best Director Award, Michael Haneke's psychological thriller centers on wealthy French couple Georges (Daniel Auteuil) and Anne (Juliette Binoche), who begin receiving threatening videotapes and phone calls that threaten to ruin their relationship. Georges realizes who the perpetrator is but refuses to tell Anne. Yet childhood flashbacks reveal the mystery, a story that illuminates France's damaged relations with Algeria.

Drop-In Workshops for Students of Beginning Spanish (1, 1A)

The Language Center (Leslie, Stan) will be presenting three more workshops this semester for beginning students of Spanish.  Depending on requests from students, the workshops may cover such topics as English grammar for students of Spanish, a rundown of materials available for learning Spanish at CCSF, and/or fielding questions that students may have regarding Spanish grammar.  It's a "create it yourself" workshop and will be in

R-205E (second floor of the Rosenberg Library, entrance near the water fountains) on:

Monday,February 27,  10 - 11 a.m.

or

Tuesday, February 28, 1 - 2 p.m.

or 

Thursday, March 1, 1 - 2 p.m.   

Drop-in Workshops for Students of German - Habt Ihr Fragen?

The Language Center (Leslie) will be presenting three more workshops this semester for beginning students of German.  Depending on requests from students, the workshops may cover such topics as English grammar for students of German, a rundown of materials available for learning German at CCSF, and/or fielding questions that students may have regarding German grammar.  It's a "create it yourself" workshop and will be in

R-205E (second floor of the Rosenberg Library, entrance near the water fountains) on:

Here's a Fun Tongue Twister to Try!  

Friday, March 2, from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.

or

Friday, April 6, from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. 

or 

Wednesday, May 9, from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. (prep for finals!)  

Two more workshops for students of German 2 will be scheduled for the last couple weeks of the semester, as students are preparing for finals.  One will be on a M, W, or Fr and one on a Tu or Th.  Check this blog for updates.  Bis dann! 

Drop-In Workshops for French: Grammar Tips and Resources for Students of French

The Language Center staff (Nancy and Stan) will be presenting two more workshops this semester for beginning students of French.  Depending on requests from students, the workshops may cover such topics as English grammar for students of French, a rundown of materials available for learning French at CCSF, and/or fielding questions that students may have regarding French grammar.  It's a "create it yourself" workshop and will be in

R-205E (second floor of the Rosenberg Library, entrance near the water fountains) on:

Thursday, February 23, from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.

or

Friday, February 24, from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.  

Chinese (Mandarin) Language Placement Advisory Test - 1/27 and 1/28

The Chinese (Mandarin) Language Placement Advisory test will be given in R-205 (former Language Center) on these dates only:

Friday, January 28 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

and

Saturday, January 29 from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

You must present a photo i.d. in order to take the test. 

Please click here for details regarding the Advisory test. 

Focus on French - New Horizons for French 1, 1A

After many, many years of using the Allons-y textbook, the French Department has adopted a new textbook for Spring for French 1 and 1A:  Horizons, 5th ed.  New here is an e-book and online support feature called iLrn.  (scroll down to textbooks to access this link).  Students who purchase the book new through the CCSF bookstore will receive a book key for registration.  Click here for a short tutorial on the registration process.   You will also need a course code, which your instructor will provide you.  The Language Center also has a list of these course codes.

What's included on the iLrn site?  Here's a brief rundown:

• e-book (complete text along with options for highlighting, sticky notes, in-text audio, vocabulary + audio and lots more)
• activities (including listening comprehension with recording function)
• self-tests (pre- and post-tests which include assessments for study areas, with targeted text and activities manual referrals) 
• video library (video for each chapter with pre- and post-viewing activities)
• practice (including Heinle grammar tutorials which cover a range of grammar topics; Heinle iRadio podcasts)

If you happen to purchase the book used, you can still find much some of these resources (self-tests, concentration, crosswords, flashcards) in the 4th edition. 

The Language Center will Open on Thursday, January 26 in R-403

The Language Center will be moving to its new location, just two floors upstairs in the Media Center.  The Language Center faculty and staff will continue their commitment to serving students who are taking credit foreign language courses at CCSF.  Orientations scheduled by your instructor will be held in R-205E, with student access at the end of the hall (next to the drinking fountains).  In the meantime, don't get behind in your foreign language learning: you  can access audio material for most textbooks on the Online Language Lab.  Ask your instructor for the user name and password or call the Language Center at 452-5555.