Students ace intensive French language and business exam

Five students from Professor Séverine Ward’s Business French class recently took the challenging Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Exam and passed with a 100 percent success rate.

Aimee Ridella, Spencer Richardson, Chelsea Kobus, Marie Orttenburger and Caitlyn Fitzgerald successfully passed the exam. It measures writing, speaking, listening and reading proficiencies of students, and their familiarity with business terminology and French customs. To successfully pass the exam, students had to be adept with business terms, be able to draft and write French business documents and comment on current French economic issues.

Professor Ward has taught the Business French class since 2009, and offered students the opportunity to prepare for and take the CCIP exam. It stands as one of the most prestigious examinations and is recognized by most French speaking countries. The CCIP diploma gives them an advantage when pursing possible internships and job opportunities. “I made the course different, this one is the most relevant to the real world,” Ward said.

The students who passed the exam will now be recognized as “ready to work” for French speaking countries and will be more diversified for positions in the U.S. Ward said that having the general knowledge of a language is not enough to be competitive in today’s global economy and that students must be able to demonstrate their knowledge in cultural and business contexts.

“Having the diploma is very appealing on a resume; it guarantees an operational competency to communicate in French in a professional context,” Ward said.