department
french

Eric est fantastique! If you have the chance to take Eric's class, take it. He is very sweet, outgoing, and super passionate. He wants everyone to succeed, and will offer extra time outside of class to help you learn the language. Of the dozens of professors I've had so far at Columbia, Eric stands out as one of the best and most caring. There's no one I would've rather taken a French class with!

Eric est fantastique! If you have the chance to take Eric's class, take it. He is very sweet, outgoing, and super passionate. He wants everyone to succeed, and will offer extra time outside of class to help you learn the language. Of the dozens of professors I've had so far at Columbia, Eric stands out as one of the best and most caring. There's no one I would've rather taken a French class with!

This is my first time writing a CULPA review, but if anyone deserves one, it's Laetitia Ndiaye. This was my last semester taking French for the language requirement, and I'm so thankful I lucked into having her as a professor. She's a grad student, so I'm not sure how much longer she'll be at Columbia, but if you have the chance, take her section of French! She is so kind and truly cares for students. She can also relate because she is currently a student herself. Of course, language classes require lots of homework assignments. I never felt like too much was assigned for one day. We did read a book that was incredibly difficult and time-consuming (La Place), but she helped us with it in in-class discussions. The reading was also spread out over several days, and I think every Intermediate II section teaches it anyway. For many of the assignments, we could redo it as a quiz on Courseworks until we got a score we were happy with. Other assignments were mainly graded on completion. Either way, she gave feedback on every single homework assignment. Some of the assignments were watching a film and preparing for a discussion. She had assignments neatly arranged in modules on Courseworks. Her class is the best online French class I've taken, and I'm sure her teaching style is just as good (if not better) in a classroom setting. She encourages participation by calling on people for answers, incentivizing people to pay attention. She is also patient if you do not get the answer correct. The final presentation was helpful for getting pronunciation down. She let us either work in pairs or by ourselves, which I appreciated. Doing group work is so terrible in college. It was in place of a final exam, so I am finished with my French class before my other finals began. Overall, I can't complain about her at all! Take her class if you have the chance.

Professor Holst-Knudsen is truly one of the kindest, most considerate professors I've had at Columbia. If you can get into one of her classes, you without a doubt should immediately stop reading this review and sign up because you won't find someone better than her. In terms of the class, Heidi makes an effort to, along with grammar and tense instruction, intersperse French culture, whether it be by means of movies, television shows, books, etc. And she doesn't overburden students with homework. The assigned homework is always clear and can be resubmitted again and again after online submission/grading. Heidi also doesn't believe in large, overbearing tests, preferring to give homework/quizzes on a regular basis, which ends up being a huge relief for students. She is thoughtful and extremely understanding in terms of late assignments. I personally have submitted compositions weeks late with no penalty. Lastly, Heidi did not give us a final exam. Instead, she gave us a final group presentation. This presentation brought the class closer together (even in an online environment), and worked really well to test our knowledge in a constructive way. Summary: Take her class!

Professor Holst-Knudsen is truly one of the kindest, most considerate professors I've had at Columbia. If you can get into one of her classes, you without a doubt should immediately stop reading this review and sign up because you won't find someone better than her. In terms of the class, Heidi makes an effort to, along with grammar and tense instruction, intersperse French culture, whether it be by means of movies, television shows, books, etc. And she doesn't overburden students with homework. The assigned homework is always clear and can be resubmitted again and again after online submission/grading. Heidi also doesn't believe in large, overbearing tests, preferring to give homework/quizzes on a regular basis, which ends up being a huge relief for students. She is thoughtful and extremely understanding in terms of late assignments. I personally have submitted compositions weeks late with no penalty. Lastly, Heidi did not give us a final exam. Instead, she gave us a final group presentation. This presentation brought the class closer together (even in an online environment), and worked really well to test our knowledge in a constructive way. Summary: Take her class!