Tutoring Service

(If you are not a student in a UVa French class, but are interested in hiring a private tutor, please visit the following page on our site: click here)

The French Department staffs a tutoring service with regular hours of operation through the last week of classes during the fall and spring semesters. Students should sign up for tutoring on the sign-up sheet posted outside the French Department's office (between rooms 302 and 304 of New Cabell Hall). Tutors have different offices, so look for your tutor's office number on the sign-up sheet.

Please note: This is a service provided by the French Department, using what small funds we have available. The number of free tutoring hours we can offer is very limited. Therefore, students who need a great deal of help with the writing process itself--developing their ideas and organizing their compositions, for instance--should take advantage of the English Department's Writing Center in Bryan Hall.

What the tutors will do:

• discuss the students' writing habits; identify those that are useful; help the student to come up with new, more effective strategies for approaching writing assignments.
• guide students to address the writing topic assigned, according to the format assigned.
• guide students to outline and structure their writing assignments.
• identify problems of tone and register.
• identify areas errors in grammar and/or syntax which obscure meaning.
• identify patterns of errors.
• guide students to rewrite awkward sentences.
• identify areas where students should revise and correct errors.
• identify the need to check vocabulary for accuracy.
• guide students to use resources such as dictionaries and textbooks effectively.
• help students to master specific grammar rules.
• help students develop learning and studying strategies.
• help students practice dictations, "questions orales,"conversation, and role play.

What tutors will NOT do:

• Tutors will not proofread papers.
• Tutors will not help with the research required for a paper.
• Tutors will not contribute to the content of papers or other homework.
• Tutors will not correct papers.

Note to Instructors:

• If you have students who need help writing in French, or who need tutoring in French in general, let them know where to sign up.
• Tell the students you send for tutoring to bring a copy of the instructions you have given them, along with notes, outlines, etc.
• Instruct students to bring a copy of a graded writing assignment in French, along with a writing sample in English, if possible.
• If you have specific instructions/restrictions for tutoring beyond the basics delineated above, provide a brief written summary for both the student and the tutor.
• Because the hours of free tutoring we can provide are very limited, please consider sending students who need significant assistance with the writing process itself (developing their ideas or structuring a composition, for instance), as to opposed to help expressing their ideas in French, to the English Department's Writing Center in Bryan Hall.

Note to Students:

• REMEMBER: The Tutoring service will not proofread or correct your work.
• Students should take an active role in tutoring. For both writing and non-writing assignments, come prepared to explain what skills you need to develop and what tasks you need to work on.
• For papers and compositions, bring the assignment and instructions from your instructor to your tutoring appointment, along with any preliminary notes, outlines, drafts,or ideas you have. Also, if possible, bring a copy of a recently completed, graded writing assignment in French and one in English.

For more information:  Writing, Honor, & Community: A Guide to Compositions in the Department of French