LxC Undergraduate Comments

“I expected the LxC sessions to give me an opportunity to engage with the course material specifically in French, and to practice my language skills in an analytical context. The sessions met these expectations, as they helped me expand my vocabulary and become more confident discussing texts in French. I got much more out of them than I would have if I only had the English-language sessions to dissect and discuss the course material.”

“I think that the ‘regular’ weekly LxC sessions took a fundamentally different tack from the weekly French sessions, one that was a little broader and applied less direct attention to the text itself. The French LxC sessions were very helpful in unpacking the text in a comfortable, smaller discussion before applying the takeaways to a discussion of theory and history in the larger class.”

“Yes! Super helpful to get a foundation on the readings before the regular course– it almost helped that they were in French because we had to simplify the text and explain it in simple terms. I liked practicing and hearing my peers practice their French, because it reminds me that I am not alone in evolving my language skills.”

“I expected to use the LxC sessions to work on my Spanish language and engage with the history of the Renaissance in Spain. My expectations were met and exceeded.”

“Absolutely yes. Reading in a different language is stressful, especially when you are sharing the classroom with people who are going to be reading along in English and as such getting a better understanding of the text. Having a session where you can clarify any confusion you may have and close read is so helpful. This is especially true for the pacing of the class, since we rush through texts in another language it is very helpful to slow down and focus on certain passages every once in a while.”

“I think the LxC sessions enriched my understanding of particular elements of the course material and helped me practice my German. Again, going deeper into poems or films was helpful for better understanding both their art and their politics.”

“The most important part about the LxC is gaining the ability to express conceptual ideas that you may not necessarily get to with a normal language learning course. I would definitely say that I got the tools I needed to begin developing ideas within the French language.”