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Did you know that:

  • French is spoken as a first language by millions not only in Europe and North America, but also in the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and by millions more worldwide as a second or third language?
  • French is one of the official languages of 29 countries and several international organizations, including the United Nations?
  • France is home to the third largest Jewish population in the world?

The study of French is a tool for communication, but so much more, offering pathways to rich cultures with fascinating and complex pasts. In addition to acquiring linguistic skills, students of French gain access to captivating literary, philosophical and artistic traditions.

Knowledge of French language and culture thus offers many benefits to YC students planning to pursue diverse areas of study, from political science, international relations, business, law and medicine to history, Jewish Studies, literature, philosophy, or fine arts.

Read what YU professors, deans, rabbis and leaders have to say about the usefulness of studying French and the intellectual riches the French language makes available to you:
Why study French? (PDF)

If you have any questions about French at YC, please feel free to contact Professor Mesch at or at 212.960.5400, ext. 6868.

Please note that other foreign languages offered at YC are Latin, Classical Greek, Spanish, Yiddish, and Arabic. (Hebrew, in which we have ample course offerings, is not considered a foreign language at YC.)

French at YC

The French program at YC offers a broad range of courses for all, whether pursuing the major, minor, another course of study for which knowledge of a language is an asset, or the type of personal enrichment that only study of a language and culture can bring. Studying French at YC affords students the benefits of personalized language study within a small department, while allowing access to diverse courses in history, culture, theory and criticism.

Language classes from the introductory to advanced level help the student develop an active command of the language. Emphasis is placed on acquiring the four language skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing—within a cultural context, in order to achieve basic communicative proficiency.

Language classes at YC are taught by dynamic teachers who use innovative language teaching methods and the latest classroom technologies. Transitional seminars allow students to refine their linguistic, analytical and interpretative skills, and a range of advanced elective seminars allows students to explore a variety of intellectual interests while working with outstanding faculty.

Offerings change yearly according to faculty and student interest, and many courses are cross-listed with other departments. You can also fulfill many of YC's General Education classes with your French coursework, including satisfying the Foreign Language requirement with FRE 1101-1102, and, starting in the spring 2009, the Literature requirement with FRE 1202.

Students are encouraged to participate in YU's program in Paris and extracurricular activities on campus, such as film screenings and our monthly Table Française.

Programs of Study

Both the French major and the minor provide students with a global view of the language, literatures, cultures and interpretative traditions of France and the French-speaking world while simultaneously offering a multi-disciplinary orientation through which that study is linked to a broader context.

Our program is designed to be fairly flexible in order to meet the diverse needs of the YC student, allowing him to shape his program of study in consultation with faculty advisers.