For information about careers, graduate studies, and alumni case studies, check out our Careers pages. But just as important, here’s what recent students have to say about their experience in the department.
“The French Department at Carleton is the best of the best!…”
“教授们很鼓舞人心，非常渴望帮助学生提高法语技能.”
– Funto Akindona ’20
“I never thought I would spend as much time in the French Department as I do…”
“This department is hands down one of the best, if not the best, at Carleton. The professors are super nice, encouraging and so supportive throughout the whole process. In fact, I may even minor in it because of the experience I have had so far.”
– Amie Salem ’20
“我很难用语言来形容我在菲律宾十大彩票平台修完法语辅修课程后收获了多少……”
“From the moment I stepped into my first French 101 class, 我知道，该部门不仅致力于提高我们的语言表达和理解能力, but to empowering us to start asking more interesting, critical questions. What does it mean to be Francophone? How is language used to connect and to other? Does the idea of self change depending on what language we use to describe it? 在接下来的课程中，法语教授不断挑战我对文化的先入为主的观念, politics, and society through gripping assignments. One sweltering Parisian day, 由于无法向同事充分表达我思想的复杂性和细微差别，我深感沮丧, I gained a sliver of insight into the experiences of my parents, 是谁——像其他数百万人一样——移民到一个新的国家，学会了跨越不同的语言和生活经历来驾驭生活.”
“In their utmost commitment to experiential learning and expanding perspective, 教师们为我提供了终身的工具，使我能够恭敬而有意义地与广大的世界接触, hybrid world around me. Though I may not use the language itself day to day, 我发现自己经常利用我在部门的经验来与同事沟通, friends, and strangers..”
– Chris Lee ’20
“在菲律宾十大彩票平台学习法语为我打开了比我想象中更多的大门……”
“在菲律宾十大彩票平台学习法语为我打开了比我想象的更多的大门. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with students from all over France, and a few of them have even become some of my closest friends at Carleton. The French department also offers incredible study abroad programs in Paris and Senegal. 我在大二的时候去了巴黎旅行，除了提高我的法语和吃世界上最美味的食物之外, I stayed with the kindest, most wonderful host family.
“The department also has a new program in Senegal that I hope to attend next winter. There, I’ll get to explore the way countries rebuild themselves after colonization. 比出国留学的机会更好的是我和我的法国教授建立的关系. 我和教授们的关系对我来说很重要——我曾和他们共进午餐, had dinners at their houses, and count on them for personal and academic support as I continue at Carleton and beyond!”
– Eva Druskin ’19
“学习法语为学生提供了理解我们这个复杂世界的新视角……”
“学习法语为学生提供了理解我们这个复杂世界的新视角. Through the study of French literature, film, poetry, art, song, and other media, one can foster an appreciation for the beauty of diversity. From the Caribbean to Indochina to West Africa and beyond, 法语的学习为好奇的心灵提供了一个门户，通过这个门户，人们可以开始欣赏不同的法国侨民的美丽.
“At Carleton, 学习法语不仅仅是了解基本的动词变化和巴黎的图片. 菲律宾十大彩票平台的法语教授让学生有能力深入了解全球法语国家的文化……更不用说在巴黎和法语国家的惊人留学机会以及crêpe校园之夜!”
– Nick Leeke ’18
“我选修了一些涉及有争议但很重要的问题的课程，改变了我的思维方式和看待世界的方式……”
“Learning a new language from scratch is never easy, especially in Carleton’s demanding academic environment. However, French classes at Carleton are so interdisciplinary, fascinating, and eye-opening that I felt that my effort has been worth it. 我修了《菲律宾十大彩票平台》、《网赌十大靠谱信誉平台》和《菲律宾十大彩票平台》等课程，这些课程触及了有争议但很重要的问题，改变了我的思维方式和看待世界的方式.
“I also found the French department to be extremely supportive. 教授们在课堂上非常鼓励，在办公时间对任何问题都很耐心. French assistants and my fellow French friends also helped me to learn. Towards the end of my time at Carleton, I realized that I have gained much more than the language skills through studying French.”
– Moliang Jiang ’18
“My first class at Carleton was FREN 101, Elementary French. I remember feeling overwhelmed. The first trimester was challenging, but the encouragement and support I received made all the difference….”
French really broadened my horizons. The best example of this is the Paris Program, which was one of my best college memories. I’m from Montgomery, Alabama, so it was truly a boy meets world experience. 我很幸运能够在巴黎度过这个夏天，并在一家制鞋公司与一位定制鞋匠一起实习.
(我从学习法语中学到的)对细节的关注堪比查阅法律评论文章和法庭意见书中的引文. 那段经历为我现在的职位做了很好的准备，我现在是美国联邦最高法院第一位非洲裔法官的联邦法律助理.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama….
All that to say, you never know where Elementary French will take you.
– Chris Griffin ’17
“Thanks to [studying French at] Carleton, I have been able to work in several Francophone countries who need bilingual people!…”
目前，我在自己的公司Dietetic Wellness, Inc .从事远程医疗/远程营养工作.我一直用法语，因为我的客户既说英语也说法语. I am concentrating on nutrition for migrants and women — and on African cooking!
– Iyamide Olukoshi, ’14
“Everything about studying languages and cultures and literature is great! French classes trained me to analyze arguments, communicate clearly, and consider multiple perspectives on issues…”
When I wrote my comps … on 500-year-old French books, I learned a lot about those texts. 但我也学到了很多话题(比如人们如何看待个人和国家身份)，这些话题在当今世界仍然很重要, and that’s helped me better understand current events.
学习法语的时候，我最美好的回忆是和朋友们在巴黎吃美味的饭菜和冰淇淋! I’m sure the skills I learned as a French major — especially critical thinking, awareness of different cultural perspectives, and communication skills (in multiple languages!)- — will be valuable for any job I do in the future.
– Emily Epperson ’14
“I came to Carleton to get a liberal arts education … I didn’t plan to be a French major, but my first year at Carleton made that choice both inevitable and obvious…”
I had the great fortune to spend spring term of my first year in France, and then a full junior year abroad learning and exploring in Aix-en-Provence, France. I made life-long friends on these study-abroad programs — some of them Americans, 其中许多是法国人——我遇到了一些挑战并改变了我对世界的看法的人. While on campus, 我和我的教授们一起努力学习如何在一个充满挑战但几乎像家庭一样的环境中批判性地思考和写作. I cherish the support from my professors through that experience!
Since I graduated from Carleton 25 years ago, I’ve spent 15 of those years living abroad, with a roughly equal amount of time spent in Switzerland, France, China and Australia. My French is still better than my Chinese, but what I’ve learned through my studies and the years since is that studying language is so much more than learning the meaning of words and sentences; studying language gives you a deep window onto understanding a culture and a people. Once you see the world through that window, 你永远有一种完全不同的理解和联系整个世界的方式.
– Peter Everett ’97
“Studying French at Carleton fueled my love of the language, and studying in France was one of the highlights of my Carleton education…”
The French courses that I took, as well as the trips and excursions that were integral to the off-campus study program, helped me learn not only the French language but also French culture, exposing me to a different way of looking at and experiencing the world.
Learning French grammar and vocabulary in the classroom was important, but applying them outside of the classroom – with my host family, on the streets, in stores and restaurants, etc. – was invaluable and made learning the language in-country fun, challenging and rewarding. Both on and off campus, 在菲律宾十大彩票平台学习法语是一段值得纪念的经历，至今我仍很珍惜.
– H.D. Nguyen ’93
“I still feel that my liberal arts education serves me every day in my medical career. I’m now a professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of California San Francisco...”
Here in multi-cultural San Francisco, 我偶尔会对病人说法语……但我仍然发现语言和文学本身就是一种乐趣. They are still “useful” to me in that regard. Beyond that, is it “useful” to me to have learned languages I don’t get to use regularly? Absolutely.
I would say that it was from learning French that I absorbed lasting, deeply “useful” lessons about otherness, about openness, and about communication. I take these lessons with me to work on a daily basis. Every day, 我发现提醒我的学生和受训者在与病人交谈时不要使用他们已经熟练的医学语言是很有用的. Every day, 我治疗的病人必须挣扎着通过翻译讲述自己的故事，挣扎着在没有翻译的情况下过日常生活. Every day, 我治疗说英语的病人，他们正在寻找合适的词语来解释他们的症状和恐惧. I search for narratives, symbols, meanings, and double meanings. I understand there are different ways to interpret these.
So, thank you for an education that is still useful and beautiful to me.
– Jim Hardy ’88