Professor Werner is a great professor. His class is interesting, there is never much work, and he is a fair grader. Going to class is super important, but if you do the tests/papers are super easy. We had the option of writing a paper or taking a test for all three of the tests on the syllabus -- including the final! If you need to take French 12 for your major/minor, definitely take it with him.

Professor Werner was a really interesting teacher. His class is not unreasonably hard but he does not use CCLE or email, his lectures are NOT podcasted and if you want to do well on the papers and tests you MUST attend pretty much EVERY lecture. He also goes off on tangents sometimes and is hard to follow. He grades harshly on papers but his tests are super fair so if he gives you an option between a test and a paper choose the test. Overall I really enjoyed his lectures and his opinions/stories but not I would not take this class again.

Probably the meanest, oldest, and strangest man I have ever had a professor.
On a side note, probably also the most intelligent professor I've ever had.
Let's just say that I suffered, but I learned through my sufferings. I don't think I've ever honestly looked at French literature and poetry in so many different perspectives until I had professor Werner. He's tough, but tough it out, and it's rewarding.
Although I really like the other professors and the French T.A's in the department, professor Werner is blunt--which is good. He spells out exactly what he wants and points out exactly what is wrong with your writing and exactly what you need to do to improve it. He doesn't baby you like the other professors.
Also, he's pretty interesting. I honestly felt that because he's an American who learned French all on his own (and I think only when he was in his 20s), he was definitely more relatable in teaching the language and its literature rather than other professors who actually are French and from France (and so never went through the painstaking process of learning French).

I literally just got out of this class's final, and I'm so pissed off that I wanted to write this evaluation now.

This professor is arguably the worst in this department. I feel like the material in this class that we "covered" -- French poetry, French literature, and French theater -- is, in fact, fascinating and important; if someone other than Werner taught it, I might have actually enjoyed this class.

WHERE do I even begin? First of all, the guy is an ancient loon. He scuttles into the room and immediately starts talking, mostly to himself. I don't think he ever greeted my class. His lectures are formal, hyperbolic, REPETITIVE, boring (understatement), and uninteresting. A lot of the time, he'll make a joke or go on a tangent. He also tends to mumble, so it's hard to take notes. Some people who have reviewed him here have said that they can't understand his French because he talks so fast...I didn't have that problem because I took Brozgal last quarter (SHE'S AMAZING); however, I don't think I could understand him even if he talked in English the entire time.

To say that this man is condescending is like saying the Pacific ocean is sort of vast or that Facebook is used by a few people. He'll stop mid-sentence or mid-rhetorical-question during his lectures, which no one (save a person or two) ever pays attention to, just to say, "Hello? HELLO? Am I in the right classroom?" GOD, that makes me SO angry! It's clear that he's knowledgeable; he's no dumbass...but this doesn't give him the right to treat us like morons. He's arrogant. Also, this is less important, but I feel like I should mention that he types his tests on a typewriter and writes in accent marks with a pen before making copies. Seriously? Go to Best Buy and get a computer. If you need help, forget about contacting him via e-mail or phone. Talk to him in person, preferably one-on-one.

The reason why I'm really annoyed right now is that this past week, the week of our final, he didn't show up. Granted, he's sick, which is fine...I understand and hope he feels better. What I'm upset about is that he didn't send us an e-mail (or perhaps a carrier pigeon or a flare or a telegram, since he rarely uses a computer) to explain what we should expect on the final. We didn't go over or review anything in class for the final. People in my class had questions for him that are still unanswered. This guy is unaccessible and unreasonable. His tests are difficult and his lectures unfathomably dull. He doesn't take roll, which made it hard to force myself to go to class.

My point is that this guy is senile beyond belief and NEEDS to retire. He's one of those professors who seems to be here for his paychecks. He tries to play himself off as a martyr by saying, "I'm TRYing to make this interesting," but don't let that fool you. I'm not impressed, and I'm just happy this class is over. I'm going to make sure I never take a class with him again. Consider yourself warned.

Let me start by saying this man doesn't have a clue how to use email and doesn't have voice mail. Lectures usually were him trying to prove that he had memorized a poem and could recite it as fast as possible (making it, obviously, hard to understand). He was inflexible and quite honestly, for a French professor, I was surprised with how little French he spoke during class. He is extremely knowledgeable, I'm sure, but unfortunately you'd never know it. I'd avoid his classes if I were you...

you never know what grade you are going to get or if you will have a final exam or not...