My experience with Dufresne was great. She is challenging, quick, and expects you to come prepared to class. She is also very accomplished at assessing where you are in terms of your comfort with the language, and is patient. She may appear to be a little harsh, but that's only because she wants you to participate and TRY!!! She won't penalize you for saying something wrong in class, it's the effort that counts. And trust me, you will speak in that class. My French improved so much in her class. She does assign a lot of homework, but most of it is pretty easy if you know the concepts and pay attention. Just stay on top of your assignments, DON'T MISS CLASS if you can help it, and go to her office hours. She can seem intimidating in class because she is forward, but in office hrs, she's , well, its just you and her. She is actually French, too, so she brings a great perspective. Exams are cool, you always know whats going to be on them. You read a novel in the class (all in French) and she walks you through it. Just try not to fall too far behind. Bon chance!

she is so hard. we had at least 2 hours of homework each night, if not more. i took french 4 at ucla and it was pretty easy, and then this class was ridiculously difficult. my main problem was that she spoke so fast and i never understood what she said in class, and when i would ask or go to her office hours, she would make me feel like an idiot for not knowing or understanding. on the tests, i would miss all my points from things like accents or switching masculine and feminine nouns, and i would miss all the points on a question that i actually got the right answer to. and her oral exams are difficult because she speaks so fast and will only repeat the question once. i would recommend finding another teacher if you havent' been to france or don't have an extensive french background.