{"id":5035,"date":"2026-05-11T09:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/FLD\/?p=5035"},"modified":"2026-05-08T01:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:19:00","slug":"review-of-french-grammar-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/FLD\/2026\/05\/11\/review-of-french-grammar-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of AST-15: French-Language Master Class: A Deep Dive into Advanced Grammar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo credit: Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Danielle Maxson, CT<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t consider myself a violent person, but studying French grammar sometimes tempts me to throw things at a wall. Why is that \u201cs\u201d at the end of this past participle but not that one? Why did they use \u201c\u00e0\u201d instead of \u201cde\u201d? And whose idea was it to reserve an entire tense for reading only and never use it in speech?<\/p>\n

As a French learner, I sometimes don\u2019t understand why the language works the way it does. It sounds beautiful, but since I\u2019m trained in Spanish, a much more phonetic language, French can seem impenetrable at times. Despite the similarities between the two languages, I often wish I had a roadmap to help me navigate the grammatical differences.<\/p>\n

So, in what was perhaps a burst of unfounded optimism, I decided to enroll in a French-based Advanced Skills and Training (AST) session at the 2025 ATA Conference in Boston. \u201cFrench-Language Master Class: A Deep Dive into Advanced Grammar\u201d promised an in-depth study of how to use the participe pass\u00e9<\/em>, when to use the subjunctive mood, and how to avoid several common mistakes made by native speakers of both English and French.<\/p>\n

AST courses are three-hour events intended for advanced-level study of a clearly defined topic. This course was advertised for anyone who can speak French at a B2 level or higher. I wasn\u2019t sure I met this requirement, but taking the class would give me an extended opportunity to practice listening comprehension while learning grammar, a topic I felt comfortable with in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, my working languages. I went ahead and signed up, then emailed the instructor to let her know she\u2019d have a nulle<\/em> in her class.<\/p>\n

So how did the course go? Here are my impressions, from the perspective of a French learner who\u2019s already studied other Romance languages.<\/p>\n

Excellent instructor<\/h2>\n

The course instructor, Grace Shalhoub, is a court-certified translator in France, and she\u2019s taught undergraduate and post-graduate English-to-French translation for over ten years. Her expertise in both teaching and French grammar was on full display. She spent three hours leading attendees through detailed explanations of extremely fiddly grammar points, answering questions clearly, and giving us review exercises to practice with. By the end of hour three, I had learned much more than I\u2019d hoped for.<\/p>\n

Grace taught the class entirely in French, so it was definitely for advanced students. As I had suspected, I wasn\u2019t quite up to the level of fluency the course demanded, but I was still able to follow along and understand most of it. The other students were all language professionals who use French as a working language, and some of them spoke to me about their impressions, which were all positive. One participant mentioned that Grace taught the class as if it were for native French speakers, not people who spoke French as a second language. The student appreciated this approach because it gave us all a chance to look at the grammar from a different perspective.<\/p>\n

So what did she teach us?<\/p>\n

Accord du participe pass\u00e9<\/h2>\n

When should the participe pass\u00e9<\/em> agree with the subject of its sentence? Before attending Grace\u2019s class, I had quite a lot of trouble understanding the rules around this topic. After attending the class, I know I\u2019m not alone. There are plenty of rules, and triggers for agreement seem to be everywhere.<\/p>\n

Grace started off simply, explaining the basic rules for agreement when the participe pass\u00e9<\/em> is involved. She then jumped into four types of special cases:<\/p>\n