2.2 En ville Places in town
In this section pupils learn how to identify places that might be significant to children in a French town or in their home town. This is the first step towards being able to describe where you live, ask directions and give information about where places are.
Films to see
A1 - Shopping centre, supermarket, market
A2 - Restaurant, station
A3 - Zoo, theme park
A4 - School, beach
A5 - Baker’s, cake shop, swimming pool, café, museum
B1 - Describing my town
Part A: Places in town
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
le centre commercial le supermarché
le marché
le restaurant la gare
le zoo
le parc d’attractions
l’école (f)
mon école la plage
la boulangerie la pâtisserie la piscine le café
le musée
- the shopping centre
- the supermarket
- the market
- the restaurant
- the station
- the zoo
- the theme park
- the school
- my school - see note
- the beach
- the bakery
- the cake shop
- the beach
- the café
- the museum
Voici... [la gare]
This is [the station]
... à [Lille] il y a [un zoo] ...
...in [Lille] there is [a zoo]...
Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est [le marché]
What’s that? It’s [the market]
see Talking Dictionary
Planning your lessons
After showing the films, plan activities to familiarise pupils with a larger than usual number of new words before using them together with the structures: “voici ...” and “c’est ...”.
A warm-up session on noun genders will help remind pupils that they should try to remember whether to use “le” or “la” with each of these new words. They can also revisit “voici” and “c’est”, both of which were indroduced in Early Start French 1.
Activities
Warm up
You could open the lesson by looking at nouns pupils know already, perhaps using e-flashcards from Early Start French 1. Can they remember whether the rabbit is “le” or “la”, “un” or “une lapin”? As before, praise children for remembering the main word, whilst gently saying the correct article - see “How French works 1”. You could talk about strategies for remembering things that work for different pupils.
Watch films A1 and A2
❑ Watch film A1: “ Shopping centre, supermarket, market” followed by film A2 “Restaurant, station” to introduce the first new words for places in town.
Film A1
The shopping centre:“Voici le centre commercial”. This sequence freatures the Westfield Euralille shopping centre in Lille: “Qu’est-ce que c’est?”
“C’est le centre commercial”.
The supermarket - “Voici le supermarché”. We visit the large Auchan supermarket in Béthune: “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est le supermarché”. The market - “Voici le marché”.
It is a very rainy day in Saint Omer: “Il fait mauvais. Il pleut!” “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est le supermarché”.
Film A2
The restaurant: Zélie and Apolline are having lunch in the restaruant “Flunch” with their grandparents. (See Talking Point 1). “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est le restaurant Flunch”. “Voici le restaurant”.
The station - “Voici la gare”. We see two stations, firstly the station at Béthune as a commuter train travels to Lille and then we see inside the mainline station Lille Flandres in the centre of the city. “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est la gare”.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the first five e-flashcards one-at-a-time (or hold up paper copies enlarged from the pictures on the activity sheet). Click the sound button to hear the name in French, e.g. “le restaurant.” The children echo the word, taking care with the “key sounds”
paper flashcards). Say the name of each place as you show the picture, e.g. “le supermarché”. If you say the correct place, pupils echo the words; if you say the name of a different place, pupils remain silent.
Watch films A3 and A4
❑ When you feel pupils are ready, watch films A3 and A4 which introduce four more places.
Film A3
The zoo : “Voici le zoo”. Zélie and Apolline are on a visit to Lille Zoo. “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est le zoo”. The theme park: They then enjoy rides at the adjacent theme park -“Voici le parc d’attractions”.
“Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est le parc d’attractions”.
“Voici le parc d’attractions”.
Zélie and Apolline enjoy rides at the theme park in Lille
Film A4
The school - “Voici mon école. C’est l’école Jacques Prévert. Viens”. Louis introduces his school and invites us in to look around. We see children getting ready to go to lessons and the beginning of the school day. We see images of school life. “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est l’école”.
The beach - “Voici la plage”.
Aurore shows us the beach at Boulogne which is famous for sand-yaughting. We then see some of the amazing kites on display at the annual Kite Festival at Berck-sur-mer. “Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est la plage”.
Note: the music is “summer” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Use the “back” arrow to display the flashcards again, this time showing the text: click the ‘abc’ text symbol to add colour-coded text (blue = masculine noun, red=feminine).
❑ Play “true or false”
Show the e-flashcards one at a time (or hold up
❑ Echoing: Now show all the e-flashcards from films A1 - A4 (or hold up paper copy enlarged from the pictures on the activity sheet). Repeat the sequence displaying the text. Can pupils identify the feminine nouns?
Respond with understanding
❑ Play “find it”
Place paper flashcards around the classroom or hall. Name one of the places and ask a pupil or group of pupils to go and stand by the card which represents the place that you named. Repeat this with other places.
❑ Play “which is it?”
Display one of the pictures and ask the class which of two alternatives it shows, e.g. “C’est la gare ou l’école?”
Pupils answer by saying the correct place, “c’est la gare” or “c’est l’école” as appropriate.
❑ Play “what’s this?”
Show a picture and ask what it is, “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” Pupils tell you, e.g. “C’est le zoo.”
❑ Place flashcards around the room or hall. Ask one pupil or a group to choose a picture, go and stand by it, and tell the rest of the class what it is, e.g. “Voici la plage” or “Voici la gare”.
Watch film A5
❑ When you feel pupils are confident with the names of the places introduced so far, watch film A5 which introduces the final fiveplaces.
Film A5
The bakery - “Voici la boulangerie”. Customers are served in the village baker’s shop in Auchy-les-Hesdins. We see different kinds of bread and a loaf being sliced. “Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est la boulangerie”.
The cake shop - “Voici la pâtisserie”. We see a customer choosing cakes from the display in the Pâtisserie Debril in Hesdin.
“Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est la pâtisserie”.
The swimming pool: - “Voici la piscine”. Children are shown having a swimming lesson in the large indoor pool at the Agora activity centre in the seaside town of Berck-sur-Mer:
“Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est la piscine”.
The café - “Voici le café”.
A group of children and their mothers enjoy a cold drink at one of Hesdin’s cafés.
“Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est le café”.
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in boulangerie, plage
Heard before in: bonjour rouge
as in centre commercial
Heard before in: vendredi, France
as in piscine, pâtisserie
as in marché, café, école
Heard before in: janvier zéro et
as in supermarché,
Heard before in: salut, tortue, tu
Heard before in: Boulogne, douze as in boulangerie
(Listen to the native speakerstry to copy their typically French sounds.)
NOTE: phonetic symbols are for teachers ONLY! See “Introduction” for how to use symbols)
Heard before in: j’habite, ville, dimanche samedi souris see Talking Dictionary
The museum - “Voici le musée”.
Charlotte is shown visiting the Musée du Verre (Glass Museum) in Sars-Poteries
“Qu’est-ce que c’est?” “C’est le musée”.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Now show all the e-flashcards firstly with sound on and text off, then repeat with text on
Respond with understanding
❑ You can now include examples of all the places introduced in this section to play the games described previously.
1
HOW FRENCH WORKS 1:
(a) “the” or “a” with different nouns b, saying “my...” or “your..”
Pupils learnt most earlier words with “un/une”; now more are introduced with “le/la”
“un”/ “le” go with masculine nouns (le chien); “une”/ “la” with feminine nouns (la soeur)
Use “le/la” as you use “the ...”; “un/une” like “a/an ...”
NOTES:
◆ “l’école, l’animal”: use “l’..” if a noun begins with a vowel or silent ‘h-’ (like “an...” in English)
◆ “les chiens”: use “les” if the noun is plural.
Pupils will have heard “mon frère, ma soeur, mon anniversaire” - 2 different words for “my”: “mon” goes with a masculine noun (mon chien); “ma” with a feminine noun (ma soeur).
NOTES:
◆ “mon école, mon animal” - always use “mon” if the noun begins with a vowel sound or a silent ‘h’ (even if the noun is feminine);
◆ “mes frères” - use “mes” if the noun is plural.
◆ To say “your”, use “ton/ ta or tes”
Part B: Describing my town
Watch film B1
Describing my town
This film tells us which places are in particular towns. It introduces the structure “il y a” which pupils will find really useful when talking about key places in their own town.
Describing the town:
“Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à Calais?” (What is there in Calais?) “À Calais il y a une plage ... et un dragon!” (In Calais there is a beach ... and a dragon!). À Boulogne il y a une plage aussi”. (In Boulogne there is also a beach)
“Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à Lille?” “À Lille il y a un centre commercial. Il y a un zoo et un parc d’attractions.
À Lille il y a une gare. A Béthune il y a une gare aussi.
À Béthune il y a un restaurant et un supermarché.
À Saint Omer il y a une gare et un marché. Charlotte tells us there is a museum in her village:
“à Sars-Poteries il y a un musée”.
❑ Play “what’s in my town?”
This activity helps to practise the structure introduced in film B1: “à (Calais) il y a (une plage)” and to reinforce the names of different French towns.
Use the e-flashcards to display the pictures of places on the whiteboard (or use enlarged copies of the paper flashcards). You show the picture of the shopping centre, for example, and say, “À Lille il y a ...” and pause.
The children finish the sentence for you; “ ...un centre commercial.” Next, repeat the sentence and show a second picture, e.g. “A Lille il y a
“À Lille il y a une gare”.
We see inside Lille Flandres mainline station un centre commercial et...” The children say: “... un supermarché”.
❑ Play “describe my town”
The children sit in a circle. You begin by saying, for example, “A Boulogne il y a une plage”. The child next to you repeats what you have said and adds another place to the sentence, e.g. “A Boulogne il y a une plage et un marché”. The aim of the game is to remember what the previous people have said and be able to think of a new place to add to the town description. Pupils may like to describe a French town or their own town (see “extension activity”).
Working in pairs
❑ Play “snap”
Pupils pool their sets of picture-cards to play “snap”. The game should include saying the name of each place as the card is played.
Extension activity
When describing a town, children may want to know another French word for a place. You could help them find it in a bilingualor picture-dictionary . Talk about how to pronounce the new word, using “key sounds” they already know. They may also want to use plurals, e.g. to say a town has three schools. Explain that you generally write an “s” on the end, e.g. trois écoles (but remember exceptions like “cheval/chevaux” , “oiseau(x)” from Early Start French 1).
When you SAY the noun, the “s” or “x” is silent; “école” sounds the same as “écoles”.
Look again at sounds
❑ Play “It’s that sound again!”
Now that the new words and sounds are familiar, pick out one or two “key sounds” from this chapter’s new words. Ask children to suggest all the French words they know that also contain that sound. This will help them remember the French they already know.
Introducing the written word
❑ Play “word-picture match” 1
Make word flashcards to go with the pictures on the activity sheet. Attach the picture flashcards to the wall and set out the word flashcards on a table.
Ask a pupil to select the appropriate word flashcard as you point to a place and say what it is. The pupil then attaches the word to the corresponding picture.
❑ Play “word-picture match” 2
Give some pupils word flashcards and others the pictures of places. When you call out a place, pupils run to find their partner.
❑ Play “find the sound”
Place some word-cards on the floor. Seat pupils around the cards, and play music. Pupils pass a soft ball. When the music stops, you say a sound, The pupil holding the ball has to pick out a word-card containing that sound.
Watch the films again
❑ It is always a good idea to watch the films again for reinforcement.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Once pupils know the names for key places around the town they can start on the first stage of their chosen extended project:
Town Guide project
Which places around your town are interesting to visitors, and would help them find out about your community? After discussion, pupils can choose a small list. See examples in this chapter’s “talking points”.
Pupils could take photos to show what is worth seeing or doing at the places they have chosen - or they could print out pictures from the internet or cut out pictures from leaflets. Label each place with its name in French. The words for some more places are given in “extra words and phrases”
“Imaginary Town” project
Pupils can start to create a three dimensional model of “what we think a French town is like”. They can add shops, a swimming pool, a railway station, a school. The town could also have a museum and possibly a beach.
❑ ICT multimedia project.
Pupils can enjoy making and sending email “talking postcards”. Talk with the children to plan a talking postcard about your community, that will be sent to your French partners. What picture gives a stranger an idea of what your town is like? Record an audio greeting using this section’s new words.
■ Ask your French partners to reciprocate.
L Re HOW FRENCH WORKS 2: Why do they put ACCENTS on some words in French? 2
Pupils may notice the extra markings, called “accents”, in this chapter’s “new words”, e.g. “le supermarché”. “la pâtisserie”. They are an important part of the spelling of these words, and children should try to remember them. In many cases, an accent changes the sound of the letter: compare the sounds of ‘e’ and ‘é’ in ‘supermarché’..
Talking point 1
EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE
More about places we saw in town
(1) The shopping centre
The huge Westfield Euralille shopping centre contains lots of shops and restaurant chains that pupils will be familiar with such as the Lego shop which features in film A1. Many children will also recognise the Westfield brand which launched in France in 2019, taking over shopping centres such as Euralille.
French children are passionate about the books, films and merchandise connected with Harry Potter and the shop we visit in film A1, “Le Repaire des Sorciers” (The Wizards’ Lair) is enormously popular with families.
(2) The supermarket
The supermarket shown in film A1 is a branch of Auchan, one of France’s largest supermarket brands. This particular one where Zélie, Apolline and their grandparents go shopping is in the Rotunde shopping centre in Béthune
(3) The market
We see the market that takes place every Saturday morning in the Place du Maréchal Foch in Saint Omer. The market is particularly well known for fresh, seasonal vegetables which are grown on the surrounding marshes. Saint Omer has been called “the cauliflower capital of France”, producing over 7 million a year. (We will see more about cauliflower growing in Saint Omer in Early Start French 3 “Ici et là” .
Some accents are there for historical reasons, e.g. ‘hôtel’ was once ‘hostel’, ‘pâtisserie’ came from ‘pastry’. Some accents don’t affect the sound, but help avoid confusion when reading otherwise similar words, e.g. ‘a’ and ‘à’
Some accents are competely useless; France has an official organisation ( l’Académie Française) in charge of spelling which meets to decide whether to change a particular accent.
Zélie and Apolline choose their starters
The Flunch logo
(4) The restaurant
The restaurant featured in film A2 is the Béthune branch of the popular French restaurant chain, “Flunch”. Founded in Lille in 1971, there are over 160 “Flunch” restaurants across France. The name derives from the English phrase “fast lunch”.
Unlike most fast food restaurants, “Flunch” offers fresh, healthy food as well as traditional burgers and fries. There is something for everyone, ranging from beautifully presented salad starters, cheeses, fresh fruit salad, and a huge variety of desserts. The film shows the range of vegetables that customers can choose from to accompany their main course. Main courses include freshly cooked fish such as salmon, roast chicken - and the girls’ grandpa orders “jambon rôti” (roast ham)”.
(5) The station
We see Apolline showing us the entrance to Béthune railway station. We see the sign “SNCF” which stand for Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (National Society of French Railways). We hear the SNCF jingle that precedes announcements at French stations. Many people travel from Béthune to work in Lille which is just a 30 minute train ride away. We see Lille Flandres station which is right in the city centre. There are, of course, several stations in Lille. Just 10 minutes walk from Lille Flandres is Lille Europe station where the fast Eurostar trains stop on their way to Paris and Brussels. The giant yellow sculpture which stands at the entrance to Lille Flandres station is called “Romy”. It was commissioned by the City of Lille. “Romy” appears to emerge from the ground and sculptor, Xavier Veilhan, describes her as the embodiment of a traveler who will welcome visitors arriving in Lille.
(6) The zoo
The Zoo de Lille, like most good zoos, actively works to conserve rare species. The zoo has more than 70 animal species (more than 300 animals) from 5 continents, and nearly 70% are threatened with extinction in the wild.
A big part of the work of the staff at the zoo is designing suitable habitats for the animals. In film A3 we see “Monkey Island” which gives the different monkey species the opportunity to swing from branch to branch in the trees as if they were in the tropical forest. We will see more of Lille Zoo in Early Start French 3.
(7) The theme park
Right next to Lille Zoo is the a theme park with a range of rides suitable for young children. There is no cost for entry, you simply purchase tickets for individual rides. The theme park and zoo are run by the city of Lille. They are in the grounds of a massive fort, built in the 17th century to defend Lille after King Louis XIV had captured the area from Spanish rule and added it to France. In 1950, the city decided to use the grounds around the old fort for the benefit of local people and developed a zoo, a theme park and a park.
(8) The school
The school that features in film A4 is L’École Jacques Prévert near Béthune which we have seen in many of the films in Early Start French 1. The school is named after the French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert (1900-1977).
We see more about schools in ch.2.4: “A l’école”; ch.2.5: “Les objets de la classe”; ch.2.14: “Quelle est ta matière préférée”
Children may also remember “talking points” about schools in Early Start French 1. They covered:
■ the school day in chapter 1.1: “Au revoir”;
■ the school system in ch.1.7: “Quel âge as-tu?”;
■ children’s activities at school and at home in ch.1.14: “Les jours de la semaine”.
(9) The beach
Film A4 shows the vast sandy beach at Boulogne. The beach has a play area with trampolines and a bouncy castle which is supervised by monitors (usually students on holiday). There is a nautical centre where children can learn to sail. Sandyaughting is also very popular with children - and, if the weather isn’t good, the Nausicaá Sea-Life Centre is situated right by the beach. We then see the annual kite festival which is held on the beach at Berck-sur-Mer. The festival takes place each April and lasts for nine days It is enjoyed by over half a million people. Kite experts and enthusiasts from all over the world attend to display their creations and to demonstrate complex choreographed routines.
(10/11) The boulangerie/pâtisserie
Film A5 shows a village baker’s shop (boulangerie) with a wide range of freshly-baked bread (not just les baguettes!); and a specialist cake shop (pâtisserie) in the Market Square at Hesdin - also with a delicious-looking display. It is very common for one shop to sell both bread and cakes; the village shop actually had “Boulangerie-Pâtisserie” on its window blinds.
(12) The swimming pool
Swimming is one of the most popular ways for French children to exercise, keep fit, or just play around and keep cool in a hot summer. Most towns will try to have somewhere to swim - often outdoors, especially in the South.
Film A5 shows the indoor pool in a Leisure Centre in Berck-sur-Mer. The town has a lovely flat sandy beach, but for “serious” swimming, these children come to a Saturday club at the Centre’s pool.
(13) The café
Even small villages and towns in France have a café. It’s somewhere to meet and talk to your friends and neighbours when you are out shopping, on your way home from school, or want to play a game or watch a football match on TV. They always offer waiter service at your table, and in later sections we’ll also look at the food and drink served in French cafés.
(14) The museum
Film A5 concludes with Charlotte’s visit to the Glass Museum (Le Musée du Verre) in the village of Sars-Poteries. Although it is a small, rural village, Sars-Poteries once had two glassworks (1802-1937), employing 800 people. They made glass bottles and tableware, which were sold all over France. In their spare time, glass-workers made beautiful objects out of their mistakes - bits of glass that had been thrown away because of a flaw. Today some of these re-worked mistakes are treasured as works of art.
- the the skate-park
- the park
- the hotel
- the town hall
- the stadium/ sports centre
- the tourist office
- the shop
- the post office
- the sweet shop
- the book shop
- the library
*
- the stationer’s
- the chemist
Talking point 2
Shops: patterns and “false friends”
Talk with pupils about the French words for different shops. They may be able to spot the pattern in those they know already: boulangerie, pâtisserie both end in“-erie”.
If you look at more places included in “extra words and phrases”, the pattern continues: confiserie, librairie, papeterie, pharmacie - all have the same ending.
“True and false friends”
You could also talk about the places included in “extra words and phrases” where the French word is very similar to the English equivalent, like l’hôtel, le restaurant, la banque ...
See if the children can spot others.
The first big difference is in the pronunciation - it is well worth spending the time listening to the Talking Dictionary to hear and practise the way these words are spoken.
Sometimes the similarity is a “false friend”, like la librairie in the list below, which is a bookshop, not a library. Look out for other “false friends”...
