The Capretz method, as it is called, aims at ''total immersion'' in the language, using print, audio and visual materials. But French in Action is best known for its series of 52 half-hour tapes, which are also broadcast by dozens of public television stations.

Soap-Opera Romance

In the videos, filmed in Paris, students follow the soap-opera romance of Robert, an American, and Mireille, a French woman. Each episode introduces a few phrases or concepts, which are reinforced by on-screen repetition, classroom practice, writing assignments and weekly tests.

Tracy Blackmer, a senior from Boston majoring in literature who initiated the complaint, and others say the course is ''blatantly sexist.'' In one oft-cited lesson, students observe Jean-Pierre, a pickup artist, harassing Mireille as she sits in a park. On a subsequent test of speaking skills, Ms. Blackmer said, students were required to ''pretend you were trying to pick up a pretty woman in a park.''

She said, ''Not only do you have to learn this, and repeat it in class, but you had to do it for a grade. And if you didn't you'd be penalized.''

In other lessons, professors are always portrayed by men and victims always by women, the protesters say; one scene shows a woman gagged and struggling.