French and Italian

Overview

The Department of French and Italian offers majors and minors in French and Italian, with an online sequence for French. The department hosts study abroad and scholarship opportunities for students of both languages.

• French Lower division sequence: FR 601, FR 611C, FR 317C.
• French Lower division online sequence: FR 406, FR 407, FR 412K.
• Italian Lower division sequence: ITL 601, ITL 611C.

On this page:
French
Italian
Study Abroad
Department Scholarships
Courses
France-University of Texas Institute

French

French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with around 300 million speakers in countries like Algeria, Belgium, Canada, France, Gabon, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Switzerland, Tahiti, and Tunisia.

In 2017, a report by the New American Economy found that speaking a language other than English is one of the most desirable qualities on the job market, leading to additional opportunities and higher pay.

Also, French is the primary or secondary language for many international organizations, such as Doctors without Borders, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Olympic Committee, and the Red Cross.

Learn more about how studying French can benefit you!

French Government: 10 Good Reasons to Study French

UVA’s Articles on the Benefits of Studying French

Italian

Italian is an official language of Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, and Vatican City. It has approximately 67 million native speakers and 13 million additional fluent second-language speakers. Italian is an official language of the European Union, as well as being the working language of the Holy See. Italian is an important language of culture: Renaissance Italy had a huge influence on the Western World, and the language continues to be influential, especially in the fields of music, fashion, and film. 

Study Abroad

The department hosts study abroad opportunities in Lyon, France and Rome, Italy. 

Rome Study Program

Lyon Summer Program

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Not interested in studying in France? Through UT’s partner programs, you can study French in Morocco (UT, CIEE, & IES), Cameroon (SIT), Madagascar (SIT), Senegal (SIT), Switzerland (SIT), Tunisia (SIT), Belgium (IFE), and Canada (Fulbright Killam Exchange).

List of study abroad programs in France

Department Scholarships

• Solange Boutin Plangman Endowed Scholarships for Lyon Summer Program

• Rome Study Program - Upon acceptance, students may apply for scholarships from the College of Liberal Arts and the UT Study Abroad Office. 

Undergraduate Course Offerings

The current university course catalog can be found here.
The current university course schedule can be found here.
Syllabi for university courses can be found here. 
These courses are typically offered in the fall semester:
French Courses (FR) 
Italian Courses (ITL)

French Courses (FR)

• FR 601C Beginning French
  An intensive beginning course with an emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• FR 406 Introductory French I
  Emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing at the novice level of proficiency. Designed for students with no prior coursework in French.
• FR 407 Introductory French II
  Emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing at the novice to intermediate levels of proficiency. Designed novice level proficiency and prior French coursework.
• FR 611C Intermediate French
  An intensive intermediate course with emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• FR 412K Intermediate French I
  Emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing at the Intermediate level of proficiency. Designed for students with Novice level proficiency and a prior beginning French course.
• FR 317C Enhancing French Skills
  Listening, speaking, reading, and writing course designed to provide additional preparation for upper-division French courses.
• FR 320E Advanced French I
  Designed to develop the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills needed for the analysis of literary and cultural readings in the French-speaking world.
• FR 322E Advanced French II
  Continuation of French 320E. Designed to develop the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills needed to analyze literary and cultural readings in the French-speaking world. 
• FR 324L Practical Phonetics
  A thorough review of French phonetics, with emphasis on improving production and understanding of spoken French.
• FR 325C Crisis and Conflict
  Focus on reading and interpreting texts dealing with historical and social conflicts as manifested in moments of crisis in French or francophone history.
• FR 325D Self and Society
  Focus on reading and interpreting texts involving confrontations between the narrative I and representations of various social groups.
• FR 342C French For Business
  Development of the ability to function in French in business-related situations, both orally and in writing.
• FR 364L Introduction To French Linguistics
  Introduction to the syntactic, phonological, morphological, lexical, historical, and applied aspects of French linguistics.
• FR 371L Advanced Written and Oral Composition
  Designed to guide students toward smooth and effective written and oral expression; weekly compositions on assigned subjects; periodic oral presentations.
• FR 390M The Sources Of Surrealism
  Intensive study of particular writers or literary movements.
• FR 392K French In Contact
  Examination of specific issues in theoretical, applied, descriptive, or historical linguistics.
• FR 392K Romance Syntax
  Examination of specific issues in theoretical, applied, descriptive, or historical linguistics.

Italian Courses (ITL)

• ITL 601C Beginning Italian
  An intensive beginning course with an emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• ITL 611C Intermediate Italian
  An intensive intermediate course with an emphasis on basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• ITL 320 Advanced Italian
  Examination of specific issues in theoretical, applied, descriptive, or historical linguistics.
• ITL 328 Composition/Conversation
  Focuses on idioms, grammar, syntax, and style.
• ITC 330 Mafia Movies
  Students will cultivate film literacy and be able to critically and creatively analyze a set of texts and understand them in their socio-historical context. Analysis of Italian culture.
• ITL 330L Introduction to Italian Linguistics
  Examine fundamental aspects of the Italian language including its structure as well as geographical, socio-cultural and communicative variation.
• ITL 348 Italian Drama Workshop
  Intensive analysis of one or several plays or short literary texts, with emphasis on diction, delivery of lines, and acting and staging. See video below.
• ITL 382 Gender/Genre in International Cinema
  Examines Italian films from the late 1960s to the present, focusing on conventions and hybridizations of genres such as comedy, melodrama, action, horror, and musical. These genres are explored through the lens of gender and sexuality studies, and Italian cinema culture is explored in the transnational context of globalized film industries.
• ITL 390L Question Italian Romanticism
  Intensive study of Italian Romanticism and it’s complexities. Explores national identity, neo-classicism and the construction of the myth of Italy by foreign writers.

ITL 348 Italian Drama Workshop  

France-University of Texas Institute

The France-University of Texas Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies is one of fourteen interdisciplinary centers (centres pluridisciplinaires) located in prestigious universities in the United States. 

UT-Austin was chosen for its strong and on-going relationships with several French universities and research centers, including Paris III, Paris X, Lyon-III, Institut des Sciences Politiques, Université Paul Valéry, Université Jules Verne, MICEFA, CNRS, EPHESS, ESCP, Ecole Centrale de Lille, INRA, and INA. Many professors and researchers from French universities and the University of Texas collaborate on various projects, and many students in Architecture, Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences and Engineering take advantage of the ties UT has with France.

The France-University of Texas Institute is sponsored by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Washington, the Consulate General of France in Houston, and the University of Texas.

Course Offerings for Summer 2023

French

FR f601C BEGINNING FRENCH-WB (First term)

FR w406 INTRODUCTORY FRENCH I-WB (Whole session)

FR w407 INTRODUCTORY FRENCH II-WB (Whole session)

FR w412K INTERMEDIATE FRENCH I-WB (Whole session)

FR f317C ENHANCING FRENCH SKILLS-FRA (First session)

FR n611C INTERMEDIATE FRENCH-WB (Nine week session)

FR f322E ADVANCED FRENCH II-FRA (First session)

Italian

ITL f601C BEGINNING ITALIAN-WB (First session)

ITL s611C INTERMEDIATE ITALIAN-WB (Second session)

ITL f320 ADVANCED ITALIAN-ITA (First session)

ITL f365 CONF CRS IN ITL LANG & LIT-ITA (First session)

 

Learn more about the department in this video:

Why Study Italian?
🇮🇹 Why study Italian? Check out this video and explore course offerings in the department here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-MiHi2z_lw

Learn French Online
🇫🇷 Learn French online, find out more