Bonjour!

Studying French at De Anza College is a great way to

  • Develop valuable career skills
  • Expand your access to careers in France and the French-speaking world
  • Engage with the French community and communicate better in your global travels

view of Louvre museum in Paris

The French Department welcomes students of all abilities. Our courses enable you to accelerate your learning in an environment that fosters collaboration, communication and open dialogue to help you learn in a structured way. 

Already Know Some French?

You may be eligible to skip certain lower-level courses. This is called "clearing" a prerequisite.

Plan Your Progress

We offer several quarter-long French courses that build practical communication skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking – in the French language.

Fall Quarter Winter Quarter Spring Quarter
FREN 1: Elementary French (first quarter) FREN 1: Elementary French (first quarter) FREN 1: Elementary French (first quarter)
  FREN 2: Elementary French (second quarter) FREN 3: Elementary French (third quarter)

These courses fulfill General Education requirements, are transferable and meet a requirement for the A.A. degree in Global Studies.

  • We currently do not offer FREN 4, FREN 5 or FREN 6.
  • For detailed course descriptions, visit our Course Information webpage
  • Check classes, times and instructors for each quarter by consulting the class schedule


Understanding Prerequisites

Each course in French is designed to prepare you for the next one: Most students should take FREN 1 before FREN 2, and FREN 2 before FREN 3. These are called prerequisites.

If you already speak some French, or studied French in high school or another college, you may be eligible to skip one or more classes in the sequence. This is called clearing a prerequisite. You must follow the clearance process so that we can accurately assess your ability – and support your success!

In general:

  • One year of high school language instruction is equivalent to one quarter at De Anza. For example, if you took French 1 in high school, you may be eligible to start with French 2 at De Anza.
  • If you skip one or more levels at De Anza, you will not receive college credit on your transcript for the courses you skipped.

Visit the World Languages Prerequsite Clearance webpage for detailed instructions and a link to the required form for requesting a prerequisite clearance.

Merci! 

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