Studying French at university is a strategic move that could lead to a rich career in a wide variety of fields including teaching, the civil service, translation, library science, communications, and marketing. Linguistics and cultural diversity are at the cutting edge of a rapidly globalizing world in which bilingual individuals are expected to play a crucial role. The undergraduate French degree program may also lead to studying French language and literature at the graduate level.
The French Studies program at the University of Waterloo includes language courses leading to proficiency in reading, writing and speaking French. While some courses deal with all of these skills, others are aimed specifically at improving conversation ability. There are also courses designed to provide knowledge necessary to conduct standard business practice in French.
Courses are offered tracing the development of French culture throughout the world in areas such as politics, music, and art. Courses in linguistics provide an introduction to a basic theoretic reflection on language and an opportunity for more advanced study in this area. Literature courses are offered covering all genres and all periods of French-Canadian and French literatures using many different critical approaches.