French in Action

Infobox Television
show_name = French in Action


caption = Mireille Belleau and Robert Taylor at "La Closerie des Lilas"
genre = Educational television series
Romantic Comedy
camera = Single-camera
picture_format = Color
audio_format = Stereo
runtime = 30 minutes per episode
creator = Pierre Capretz
producer = WGBH, Yale University, and Wellesley College
executive_producer =
starring = Valérie Allain
Charles Mayer
Virginie Contesse
Pierre Capretz
country = USA
language = French
network = WGBH, PBS
first_aired = 1987
last_aired = Stil running
num_episodes = 52
list_episodes = List of French in Action episodes
website = http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html
imdb_id = 0092356
tv_com_id =

"French in Action" is a French-language television series course, developed by Professor Pierre Capretz of Yale University. The course includes workbooks, textbooks, and a 52-episode television series.

The series — the best-known aspect of the course — was produced in 1987 by WGBH, Yale University, and Wellesley College, and funded by Annenberg/CPB, and has been aired frequently on PBS since then, developing a cult following [ [http://fiafans.org/about/#comment-48 About the Cult of French in Action « Mystère et boules de gomme! » ] ] for its romantic comedy segments interspersed among grammar lessons.

The episodes

Each episode is half an hour long. The earliest episodes have four main elements:

* A classroom session, featuring Prof. Capretz explaining the basic ideas of the episode to a group of international students.
* An excerpt from an ongoing story, filmed especially for the series, and framed as a narrative that Prof. Capretz and his students are inventing in order to practice their French. The story focuses on American student Robert Taylor (played by Charles Mayer) and his French love interest Mireille Belleau (played by Valérie Allain).

* Clips from French films and television shows illustrating the new vocabulary words of the lesson.

* A brief Punch-and-Judy-style puppet show recapping some element of the episode's story.

In later episodes, the classroom section is omitted, and the episode begins with the excerpt from the ongoing story.

The series uses context and repetition, rather than translation, to teach the meanings of words; except for the first episode, and a brief English-language introduction at the beginning of each subsequent episode, the series is conducted entirely in French.

The episodes are divided as follows:

Part I

*1. "Orientation"
*2–4. "Genesis"
*5. "Families"
*6–7. "Portraits"
*8. "Genealogy"
*9–10. "Vacation in Brittany"
*11–13. "Encounters"
*14–16. "Getting Underway"
*17–18. "There are No Stupid Jobs"
*19–21. "Entering School Zone"
*22–23. "Fishing for an Invitation"
*24–26. "Bills of Fare"

Part II

*27–31. "All Manner of Transportation"
*32–35. "Residences"
*36–40. "Entertainment"
*41–42. "A Matter of Chance"
*43–45. "Think Vacation"
*46. "Getting Away"
*47. "What Variety!"
*48. "What Riches!"
*49. "What a Nightmare!"
*50. "More Variety, More Riches"
*51. "Parade and Review"
*52. "All's Well That Ends Well"

Controversy

In 1990, three students at Yale University filed a grievance claiming that the university's introductory French course was sexist in its use of the "French in Action" television series.cite news |title=Campus Life: Yale; Where French Course Is a Cause Celebre |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D8133EF937A35750C0A966958260 |work=The New York Times |date=1990-03-04 |accessdate=2007-09-26] In particular, the students objected to watching a scene in which the character Jean-Pierre harasses Mireille as she sits in a park and then being required to "pretend you were trying to pick up a pretty woman in a park". Some also objected to camera angles focusing on Mireille's legs or braless chest.cite news |title=Campus Life: Yale; French Course, Termed Sexist, Will Be Revised |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4D71531F936A25757C0A966958260 |work=The New York Times |date=1990-04-15 |accessdate=2007-09-26]

Its creator, Prof. Capretz, a French native who has taught at Yale since 1956, said [he] "wouldn't change any of it.". To teach French effectively, he said, "you have to make the students observe the language being used by native speakers, in real situations.".

In response, the French department at Yale determined that the course would be changed by developing supplementary materials to be used in the course. However, the television programs themselves were not altered.

Valérie Allain, who starred as "Mereille", later went on to become a softcore porn-star actress.

ee also

*Connect With English
*Fokus Deutsch
*Destinos

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0092356|title=French in Action
* [http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html All episodes as free streaming video] (USA and Canada Only)
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070405233323/http://www.fancyrobot.com/2003/03/french_in_actio.html Cult page over Valérie Allain and FIA] (Read only)
* [http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000521.php Cool Tools review of series]
* [http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/FiA/FrenchinAction.html "French in Action" for Teachers]
* [http://www.drowtales.com/drowforums/viewforum.php?f=61 Discussion forum devoted to the series]
* [http://www.fiafans.org New (July 2007) fan blog devoted to FIA]