Early Start French 1

section: L'alphabet As-tu des des soeurs?

Optional section: L'alphabet 14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?

Where have they heard the “ an ” sound in “blanc” before? As their “ear” for French sounds develops, pupils can distinguish this sound in words where it is spelt differently, e.g. in “vendredi”. This will develop their listening and speaking skills and help them associate the written word with how it is pronounced.

Young beginners do not need to learn about IPA, or see the symbols - which are used by few (if any) children’s dictionaries.

Teaching in the target language

In your French lessons, you can help children get used to responding to French by using, for example, French words of praise.

Without translating, you can make your meaning clear by how you say it.

Most chapters of the Teacher’s Manual and the online “Talking Dictionary” suggest ways in which you can begin to use the foreign language to manage games and activities. This includes simple phrases for teacher instructions, and vocabulary that will enable pupils to interact with each other and respond to you in French when taking part in language activities. This is simple but authentic language which can be used in many different classroom situations. These are starting points to help get started interacting in the classroom in French.

Talking points: Cultural awareness

This course is about France and French people as well as their language. Each chapter includes some “talking points” with background information about French life and culture.

This one on Louis Pasteur prompts discussion on rabies vaccination, and why Britain kept pets in quarantine when they had been abroad.

These are stimulated by the films and also the online presentations

Ch.1.9 on “Pets” looks at how France dealt with rabies. “Talking points” are designed to develop pupils’ awareness of similarities and differences between their own lives and those of their French counterparts. We bear in mind that young learners are just getting to know their local community and people outside their immediate family.

Many teachers naturally approach this kind of topic starting with the children's own experience. On this principle, we include activities where pupils look at the language they and their friends and family use in different contextsand at language used by other people in their community. This has particular richness in a multi-cultural locality.

These activities help draw out notions of how social conventions work and help children become aware that people might think differently about similar things - even something simple like greeting people you meet.

We aim to open children’s eyes to how much they share a common culture with their counterparts in modern France by discussing what is polite and accepted in their own society before talking about France.

We suggest how you might exploit the “talking points”, ranging from class discussions through to more in-depth project work.

Optional 14. As-tu et des Introduction

Using the films

Each film focuses on a small amount of new “core vocabulary”.

It gives pupils the chance to hear native French speakers using these key words, phrases and questions in a range of contexts. The film sections are paced so that pupils have plenty of time to listen to the sounds of the French language and to absorb the information visually presented on screen. There are opportunities for active viewing. Many sequences are timed so that pupils can join in and call out key words after they have heard them pronounced on the film.

Cross curricular activities

The primary school class teacher can more easily bring the language into children's work in other subjects; this is a major advantage of an early start to foreign language learning. Each chapter includes suggestions for activities which reinforce pupils' learning of French through other areas of the curriculum and give openings for real communication in French.

The idea is that foreign language learning does not have to be a discrete and separate part of an already full and demanding timetable. There are many ways in which the foreign language can be practised through subjects such as numeracy, data handling, PE, music and drama. Pupils' exploration of the similarities and differences between cultures can be enhanced through work in literacy, ICT, history, geography, art and design.

From the start, we also suggest you can include a small amount of French in the execution of daily routines. A little bit of reinforcement every day becomes part of a familiar ritual.

Question time

We recommend that you regularly make available a small amount of time for a “question time” - 5 to 10 minutes in which pupils can ask anything connected with their French lessons that they are not sure of. If children know that it is “safe” to ask about absolutely anything without worrying about whether their question sounds silly, you will gain valuable insights into how well they are progressing. Pupils will enjoy their French les- sons all the more if any “mysteries” are cleared up at an early stage, before they have a chance to inhibit further progress.

Assessment

Chapter 18 of the Teacher’s Manual offers ideas for informal and enjoyable ways in which you can monitor pupils’ progress. It includes a set of photocopiable self-assessment sheets for pupils. These will help you and your pupils see how much progress they have made and identify areas which may need revisiting.

The “can-do” statements can be completed by pupils asthey-go, or when they pass different milestones in the course. Some of the activities are for when pupils have worked through the complete pack; others will work just as effectively earlier in the course. We are particularly impressed with the potential of using video to record children’s progress in language-learning, reinforce their confidence by controlled playback - and have fun with creative cross-curricular projects that use their language for genuine communication.

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