Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 21, 2005|Volume 34, Number 8

The newest incarnation of "Jules et Jim"
allows students to instantly compare
their French with that of the actors.

Celebrated language-learning
program enters digital age

Learning to speak French using the classic film "Jules et Jim" as teacher -- a revolutionary language-learning approach developed by Yale innovator Pierre J. Capretz 25 years ago -- just made a quantum digital leap with the release of a new interactive DVD-ROM.

Using François Truffaut's 1961 film as its basis, the "'Jules et Jim' Interactif" DVD-ROM combines the learning model of a video-based language curriculum with the power of interactivity, making this French language program appropriate for any student of French. "'Jules et Jim' Interactif" invites students to have conversations in French with Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner and other lead actors in Truffaut's renowned film about a doomed love-triangle.

The interactive version is the latest avatar of the language-learning model that has been evolving with available technology since it was first developed by Capretz as a teaching tool for Yale students. Capretz later adapted the model in the popular telecourse "French in Action" (produced under contract with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting). Distributed by Thomson Heinle, the leading publisher of French language-learning textbooks in the United States, the DVD-ROM is the first of its kind for use in any language course.

"Every 20 years or so, the constant evolution of technology reaches a point which makes possible a major revolution in language teaching as well as other fields. This was the case with audio, then video and now with the multimedia interactivity that modern computers can provide," says Capretz, who is the director of the Language Development Studio at Yale.

With the newly released interactive DVD, students are able to follow a written script as they watch selections of "Jules et Jim" and hear the words spoken. They can replay the dialogue utterance by utterance in order to understand it in the context of the film's actions. Exercises with each selection emphasize important elements of the language.

The software allows students to substitute themselves for one actor in a given scene and immediately play back the resulting dialogue to compare their French with that of the original actor.

In the "Ecritures" section, students find activities that focus on vocabulary and particular points of grammar. In activities that invite an answer, a link appears that automatically accesses a segment of the film where students can find the correct answers or information that allows them to discern the correct response. The various chapters of the program contain abundant cultural, historical and literary references as well as some film critique.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

University dedicates Malone Engineering Center

Biomedical engineering symposium also marked dedication

Celebrated language-learning program enters digital age

Coach is helping to steer city rowers to victory

Yale offers staff new incentives to car-pool

In Focus: Whitney Humanities Center

Tanner Lecture, related events focus on food and art of autobiography

Grant supports scientist's work related to nanomedicine

Scientists identify gene that plays a role in Tourette's Syndrome

Noted journalist Bob Woodward to deliver the Fryer Memorial Lecture

Show reveals 'journey' of reconstructive surgery patients

Career Fair to highlight jobs in federal government agencies

Troupe to present two nights of one-act operas

Novelist will read from his latest work of fiction

Exhibit traces roots of Tiananmen Square movement

Reparations for slavery to be among topics of conference

Talk, symposium examine how artists 'remade the past'

David Blight is speaker for library's next 'Books Sandwiched In'