FR 203Introduction to Phonetics of French

Units: 0.50
Faculty: Arts
Subject: French Studies

When it runs

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

An introduction to the French sound system with a view to understanding its general characteristics and elements of dialectal variation. Students will enhance their oral production in French, focusing on pronunciation, rhythm and intonation, and overall fluidity. They will learn to transmit spoken speech in a written form using the International Phonetic Alphabet. This course will also help students enhance their auditory and reading skills.

Prerequisites

Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
- FR192A - French Language 1: Module 1 (0.50)
- FR192B - French Language 1: Module 2 (0.50)

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

FR 403

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
Section	Class	Enrolled	Meets
LEC 001	4066	0 / 25	TTh 11:30–12:50
LEC 701	1576	16 / 9999	Online or by arrangement
LAB 101	4067	0 / 12	T 13:30–14:20
LAB 102	4068	0 / 13	T 09:30–10:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

81% liked it84% easy88% useful

From 32 ratings and 3 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

Very fun and interesting course!

Nov 2013 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW Flow Remove this
An interesting introduction to French phonetics. The course has a lot of memorization and the grading is split between written and oral assessments, which were pretty fair.

Aug 2025 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this
Useful/easy to the extent that you enjoy learning languages and plan to use french. My favourite course so far because it made me notice things in other languages I speak that I never considered. Do not fear the final oral exam as you are allowed to repeat everything multiple times. Also labs are pretty useless.

Jan 2024 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

3 posts and comments in 2 threads mention FR 203, September 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2017

Oct 28, 2017 Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments

“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”

u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”

u/Jackhofmann: “… FINE 476 FINE 680 FINE 682 FINE 690 FINE 694 FINE 695 FR 101 FR 151 FR 152 FR 192A FR 192B FR 203 FR 250 FR 251 FR 252 FR 255 FR 276 FR 291 FR 296 FR 297 FR 303 FR 351 FR 353 FR 363A FR 392A FR 393A FR 395A FR 424 FR 484 FR 600 FR 605 FR 606 FR 611 FR 681 FR 687 GBDA 101 GBDA …”

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Fall 2015

Sep 18, 2015 Taking an intermediate French course without prerequisites? 2 points, 7 comments

“I usually take courses to learn new stuff but I took the wrong electives the past term and it hurt my average badly as they were nothing but memorization. …”

u/mujura: “The highest you can take from high school French is FR 192B (if you have taken extended) and FR 192A (if you took core). If you don't have 4U french done, then you can take courses like FR 101. …”

u/tellmeyoursowon: “… FR 251/251/250A/203 are courses to check out if you'd like to continue in French. FR 250A was not open to native or near-native speakers however FR 300A is. Check out the courses on the French department website. …”

u/tellmeyoursowon: “… Les cours de conversation sont de petits groupes (4-15) avec un TA (anglophone, raaaarely francophone except for FR203). ll they want is to get some conversation going, even if it's half in English. …”