French Resources

Resources at Middlebury College

• Research by Subject: French - Start your research here.
• LIS Links for Faculty - Shortcuts to library and technology pages used by faculty.
• Faculty Advisory Groups provide advice, feedback, and guidance to LIS on behalf of faculty. The French Department representative is Professor Brigitte Humbert.
• Have a question about LIS? Ask your liaison. The French Liaison is Joy Pile, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Davis Family Library Room 210, (802) 443-5140, pile@middlebury.edu.
• The Lexique site of FR205 presents concrete vocabulary with examples, images, and web activities.

Francophone Vermont

There are many francophone activities in Vermont:

• The Middlebury-area French Conversation Group meets officially for lunch the second Saturday of every month all year through, at 1 p.m. at 51 Main, in a cozy back corner with sofas and soft chairs. All abilities and ages are welcome. There is just one requirement: French language only! If you feel shy, you are welcome to just come and listen at first, then join in when you feel comfortable. There are beginners as well as fluent speakers in the group. The group receives a free beverage with lunch and free coffee after! If you stop by 51 Main any Saturday afternoon, you may find three or four members quietly chatting in French together, as many members enjoy meeting more than once a month. You will always find a large group on the second Saturday. For more information, please email carolechamberlain@myfairpoint.net.
• Channel 22 (cable) broadcasts RadioCanada from Montréal.
• Vergennes celebrates French Heritage day in July, with Franco-American music, French Canadian fiddling,  French response songs, step-dancing, clogging, re-enactors, French food, a fencing demonstration, the Bastille Day Waiter's Race, narrated English and French historical walking tours, and more.
• Va-et-Vient, a local francophone music group, often performs in the area, including at the College. Other French-language music groups that have performed recently at Middlebury College include Le Vent du Nord, Les Cowboys fringants and Gadelle.
• Chimney Point State Historic Site has a Museum of Native American and French Heritage.

Some historical facts:

• Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Champlain in 1609.
• In 1666, Pierre de Saint-Paul, Sieur de la Motte established Fort Sainte-Anne, a settlement on Isle La Motte.
• In 1755, the French constructed Fort Carillon on the Vermont/ New York border.
• The city of Vergennes is named after the Comte de Vergennes, who negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
• The nineteenth century saw a large influx of French Canadians, coming to work in Vermont factories and mills, and many of their descendants live in Vermont today.

For more information:

The French Settlement Of Vermont: 1609-1929
Regional Educational Technology Network