The French Department of Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College has always been motivating students to participate in competitions and is always available to help, guide the students. Teachers have been very supportive and motivating.
1) Exchange Program to France:One of the highlights of the French department is the Exchange Program to Bretagne, France in 2015 and 2018 with Lycée St. Esprit. During the 15 days exchange program to France the students not only got an opportunity to visit France but also live with a French family to gain an authentic experience of the French culture. Students visited several monuments, churches, museums, academies during their visit.
2) Internships: Internships are a great part of hands-on learning experience. The department offers internships for 1 month to 6 months to students in the French Embassy in India.
3) Prof. V.G. Hatalkar Memorial Lecture: In the memory of Prof. V.G. Hatalkar the founder of the department, we conduct guest lectures. In the year 2019, Ms. Dnyaneshwari Talpade, Attaché, public affairs, education and culture at Bureau du Quebec had been the guest of honour. The theme of discussion was ‘Quebec et le français’.
4) Franc-O-Fun: Our departmental festival, Franc-O-Fun is an annual festival that motivates young students and encourages their novel ideas. From dance, dramas, songs to games, treasure hunt and music takes place under one roof.
5) Workshops: Translation workshop (French-English) was organized by the department that was conducted by Ms. Prema Maity (Translation manager at Capgemini) and a webinar in translation by Ms. Ragini Sekhar (MA in technical & legal translation, University Lille III, France and alumni of the department).
6) Alumni Series: Alumni Series gathers all the past students graduated from the department to talk about their voyage after completing their graduation in French. It helps students learn and explore more avenues.
7) French National Day celebration: We begin our academic year with the celebration of The French National Day. It is a blend of the Indian and the French culture. This year the students of the department put up stalls that served French cuisine. This experience then became a part of their third year professional French project (one of the six papers that the department offers) in the last year of graduation.
8) Remedial classes: Every semester the department conducts remedial classes for the students to improve their grammar and speaking skills and to boost their confidence. These extra classes also help the students to write better answers in French with exam point of view. We make sure that debates, discussions, games are conducted during remedial classes to break the monotony of regular lectures.
9) Poster Making Campaign:During the Covid-19 lockdown we made sure that the students remained occupied and thus we introduced a poster making campaign that spread awareness messages in French and in English.
10) Mask Making Campaign:Another initiative proposed by the college was the Mask Making Campaign. Our students actively participated in this campaign by making handmade and cloth masks for the safety of everyone.