2.9 L’euro
2.9 L’euro The euro
This section introduces the Common European Currency, which has been used in France for all buying and selling since 2002. Pupils will get to know the euro notes and coins. They will see and hear how prices are presented in euros. They will be able to shop in a self-service supermarket; to understand when they hear sums of money in euros, such as how much they have to pay at the checkout; and work out payment and change with euros. They will also be introduced to metric weights and measures.
Films to see A1 - Euro notes and coins A2 - Shopping with Euros
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES un euro - a euro un centime - a centime 2 euros cinquante - 2 euros fifty REMINDERS
Planning your lessons
C’est combien? How much (is that)?
This section is mainly talking about numbers pupils have learnt already, so it is best to start by revising those, using games from the previous section. To become familiar with the euro notes and coins, children need lots of practice at responding to the shapes, colours and sizes of the different denominations. They will enjoy playing “shops” - at this stage, make it a “self-service supermarket” because this chapter’s focus is on using money rather than asking for things. If your country uses another currency than the euro, you may want to help children appreciate the relative value of amounts in euros. You could also look at the maths of changing money between currencies (see “extension activities”).
2 euros, s’il te plaît. 2 euros, please (to child or friend) 2 euros, s’il vous plaît 2 euros, please (to grown-up) merci thank you See Talking Dictionary
Animated euro coins and notes: the coins for 1 and 2 euros bounce onto the screen, followed by the notes for 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 euros; and then the coins for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimes. The pronunciation of each is heard as it appears.
Activities
Warm up
You could start the lesson by revising numbers 0-100. Play one or two of the number games from Chapter 8: “Les nombres 40-200” .
Watch film A1: Notes & coins
❑ Watch film A1 which introduces the Euro notes and coins used in France and how their names are spoken.
Scene from film A1: euro coins
9.1
Early Start French 2 Get used to the sounds
KEY SOUNDS
❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards to represent the euro notes and coins, e.g. a 2€ coin, a 10€ note, a 50 centimes coin ... Pupils echo the name of each coin and note.Now show the pictures again, this time with text.
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in un
euro
deux joyeux feutre
Heard before in:
as in combien Heard before in:
lapin chien vingt
as in Heard before in:
❑ Give each pupil a flashcard representing a euro note or coin. When you call out an amount of money, all the pupils with that note or coin on their cards hold it up for everyone to see.
as in
.
Heard before in:
centime France vent centime Lille stylo
(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.)
Start by calling out the denominations in order, starting with 1 centime. Then call them out in order starting with a different number. Work towards calling random numbers.
See Talking Dictionary
bonne journée. (Have a nice day) Au revoir” . Cake shop: “Cinq euros soixante-dix (5,70€) s’il vous plaît, Madame”. Bakery: “Six euros quarante-deux (6,42€), s’il vous plaît”. Ice-cream stall: “Deux euros (2€) s’il te plaît ... merci, au revoir”. Supermarket: “Sept euros vingt (7,20€) s’il te plaît ... merci ... voilà, merci! ... au revoir”. Bakery: “Un euro trente-sept (1,37€), s’il vous plaît ”. Supermarket: “Bonjour. Alors, sept euros quatrevingts (7,80€) s’il vous plaît ... merci”. Fruit shop prices: We see price signs on displays of different fruits: “Un euro soixante (1,60€)”,
❑ Play “jump to the euro” Divide the class into two teams, each with an identical set of currency cards. When you call out an amount, pupils holding that card try to be first to jump up and call out the value. ❑ Play “swap money” Pupils arrange their chairs in a circle. Each is given a euro-money flashcard. Make sure that there are several children holding cards with the same note or coin. When you call out “50€ ”, the children with the card showing “50 euros” swap places. As they do so, you run for an empty chair. The pupil left without a chair becomes the caller.
Watch film A2: Shopping
❑ Watch film A2 which shows euros being used in everyday transactions: Paying with euros in the shops: “C’est combien?” Ice-cream stall: “Deux euros (2€), s’il te plaît.” Bakery: “Un quinze (1,15€), s’il vous plaît ... Merci ... (giving change) ...et deux. Voilà! Merci,
Scene from film A2: “Deux euros, s’il te plaît”.
9.2
2.9 L’euro Respond with understanding ❑ Play “hide the money” Display several notes and coins on the whiteboard. Alternatively, you could attach flashcards to the board and ask pupils to shut their eyes when you remove a card. Point to each of the notes/coins, and ask the class to call out their values. Now cover up or remove one of the notes or coins. Point to the display again. The class calls out the values including the “missing” one. See how much of the sequence the class can remember as each visual prompt disappears. Eventually no money will be visible.
Scene from film A2: Stallholder-“Deux cinquante ici!”
“Un euro cinquante (1,50€)”, “Huit euros cinquante (8,50€)”, “Un euro trente (1,30€)”, “Deux euros cinquante (2,50€)”. Market stalls: On a stall selling sweets at Roubaix market, the stall-holder shouts out some of his prices to attract customers. Stall holder: “Cinq cents grammes (500g), deux euros cinquante (2,50€) ... ” “Il y a des bonbons ... Cinq cents grammes, (500g) deux euros cinquante (2,50€).” “Du nougat, cacahuètes (peanuts) ... ... deux euros (2€) ... s’il vous plaît ... merci beaucoup, au revoir ... bon weekend ...” “Allez! On y va! On y va! ” “Les mini-ardises (a local kind of cake) ... ... cinq cents grammes (500g) cinq euros (5€) ... ... Allez! On y va pour les petits gâteaux! ... ... cinq cents grammes (500g) cinq euros (5€) ... ” The cheese stall-holder also calls out the cost of different cheeses by weight: Stall holder: “Deux quatre-vingt-cinq aujourd’hui (2,85€). Un cinquante (1,50€) la pièce aujourd’hui. Un quatre-vingt-cinq là (1,85€)....” “Trois quatre-vingt-quinze (3,95€) le kilo là... Deux cinquante ici (2,50€)... Six quatre-vingtquinze (6,95€) le kilo aujourd’hui là... Deux quatre-vingt-quinze (2,95€) aujourd’hui”.
When children seem confident in recognising and talking about euro notes and coins, try introducing more money-handling, including making up a total and working out change. This is also an opportunity to use French numbers. Some children may benefit from re-visiting concepts in maths that they found difficult first time round. ❑ Play “C’est combien?” 1: visible prices Talk with pupils about French currency (see this chapter’s “talking point”). Select a number of classroom objects and give each a clearly visible price tag, e.g. 1, 50€. Ask pupils, “C’est combien?” They tell you how much each item costs, e.g.“un euro cinquante”. ❑ Play “C’est combien?” 2: hidden prices Give each object a price tag, but position it so that pupils cannot see the price, which they have to guess. Say “plus” if they need to give a higher price; “moins” if they need to go down. Use gestures to emphasise “more” or “less”. Invite a group of pupils to make up price tags. The rest of the class has to guess how much each item costs. The group who prepared the price tags say “plus” or “moins” as appropriate.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: You write a euro price on the board, e.g. “4,15€” Throw a soft ball to a confident pupil. As you throw the ball say “4 euros, 15”. The first pupil echoes this as s/he throws it back to you. Continue with other prices and different pupils. Repeat this several times.
9.3
Early Start French 2 the money, and says goodbye: “Merci! au revoir” or “Bonne journée”.
Pupils are ready to handle paying for things in French - but only in a self-service supermarché! They learn how to say what they want in Chapter 11.
❑ Play ‘The Price is Right’ game-show You the teacher are the host/quiz-master in this classic TV game-show; pupils are the contestants and participating audience. You display something which is for sale in France, using the e-flashcards; pupil(s) take turns to be the contestant who calls out the corect price - “le juste prix” until they get it right (to within,say, 50 centimes). You encourage the rest of the class to respond to each attempt by calling out ‘hints’: “moins!” (lower) or “plus!” (higher).
Watch film A2 again
Show the shopping sequences in film A2 again to remind pupils of the pattern of exchanges between French shop assistants and their customers. ❑ French supermarché (self-service) Pupils could turn a corner of the classroom into a supermarché, where, of course, they only need to speak French when paying at the checkout! For stock, they could collect authentic French packets from families that have visited France, or by asking your exchange school to post you a parcel of product labels, lightweight (clean) empty packets, etc. All the items in stock need euro price tags. To be “customers”, pupils put their selections in a basket and take it to the “check-out”. Encourage pupils at the checkout to be polite: staff and customer would often start by exchanging “Bonjour (Madame/Monsieur)”. The pupil operating the “till” (a calculator) adds up the cost, and tells the customer how much to pay, e.g. “6,50€” (six euros, cinquante) - see “How French works” below. Pupils pay using the notes and coins on the activity sheets or with euro play money. “Talking point” looks at how French people refer to euros and centimes in everyday speech. The “assistant” thanks the “customer” for
You can add more products and their Euro prices by looking at French shopping sites on the internet. This fun activity practises saying prices in Euros, and also the numbers in French.
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES ‘‘Le Juste Prix” French TV show like “The Price is Right” Quel est le juste prix? What is the right price? moins! - lower! plus! - higher! See Talking Dictionary
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Paying for things in a shop politely Pupils already know how to say “please” and “thankyou” in French. When asking you to pay in any shop, the assistant would say “2 euros, s’il vous plaît” - as before, they might use “s’il te plaît” with children.
Assistant says ... to grown-up customer:
2€, s’il vous plaît 2 euros, please.
... to child customer:
2€, s’il te plaît. 2 euros, please. 9.4
Please! Being polite at the checkout
2.9 L’euro and perform them to the rest of the class who guess the different characteristics.
Working in pairs
❑ Pupils can play “French checkout” in pairs, using their notes and coins from the activity sheets. Pupil 1 is the checkout operator and asks for a sum of money, in French: e.g. “4 euros 75, s’il te plaît”. Pupil 2 hands over the right combination of notes and coins, which pupil 1 checks. They then swap places.
❑ Art: Use some real French euro coins for pupils to try coin rubbing.
6. Watch films A1 and B1 again
❑ It is always a good idea to watch the films again for reinforcement. In many of the sequences there are pauses for pupils to call out the currency values after the native speakers have said them.
Scene from film A2: some euro coins.
Introducing the written word
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Le bureau de change
We suggest that young beginners write euro values in figures (as they will normally see them), rather than in words. Point out the comma used for a decimal point, and the position of the euro sign (€).
When you travel to a country which uses a different currency, you need to change some of your usual money. For example, if you use US Dollars where you live, you need to buy some euros to use if you are going to France.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Exchange rates
❑ Numeracy: Do money sums in French using euros and centimes. Follow the examples given in 2.08, involving addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.
How many euros do you get for 1 unit of your currency? Money changers like banks and bureaux de change tell you what price they will give for buying one currency with another, e.g.
❑ PE: Play “run to the money l” Attach money cards (e.g. 5€, 10€, 50 centimes) to plastic bollards or rounders posts on the school field, to apparatus in the hall, or place them inside plastic hoops on the ground. Call out a value in French and the pupils run to the corresponding denomination.
£1 : 1,42€ or maybe this way round:
1€ : £0.7042
This ratio means that, if you give the bank clerk £1, they will exchange it for 1,42€ . For £100, you will receive in euros:
❑ Drama: Supermarket role-play/puppets Pupils can develop the improvised drama element at the “supermarché” checkout, either themselves or with French-speaking puppets. For example, customers and shopkeepers could be in a hurry; be very bad-tempered; be very jolly and happy; be forgetful; have a nasty cold. You could let pupils choose characteristics for themselves or give them slips of paper naming the characteristic they should portray. They could prepare their dialogues in pairs
£100 x 1.42 = 142€
If you give the bank 100€, you will receive in pounds:
100€ ÷ 1.42 = £70.42
Money changers make a profit by charging commission (e.g. 1% of the money changed) and also by selling at a higher price than they will buy at, e.g. they ...
... sell euros at 1€ : £0.72 ... buy euros at 1€ : £0.68 9.5
Early Start French 2 The actual exchange rates can and do change at any time, depending on the market (whether more people are buying or selling euros and other currencies). People who make a profit on the changes in exchange rates are called “currency speculators”. You can use the internet to esily find out what the “rate of exchange” is between your currency
After the French Revolution, the new Republic introduced the “modern” franc in 1795 to replace medieval muddle. By 1958, prices had risen so much that the French Government replaced the whole currency, giving people one “new” franc for 100 “old” francs. What to put in the new designs? The old national notes and coins were designed to reflect that country’s history, symbols and famous people. The last French franc notes carried pictures of: (50 F) Antoine de SaintExupéry; (100 F) Paul Cézanne; (200 F) Gustave Eiffel; (500 F) Pierre et Marie Curie. (see Ch.1.4). The designers of the new euro currency had a difficult job coming up with new designs that would be acceptable throughout Europe. Organising the change-over Banks and companies in the participating countries had three years to prepare for changing from the old currencies. (1) Electronic money The first stage was when the euro officially became legal currency - on 1st January 1999. At this point they could open euro bank accounts, and make payments by electronic bank transfers, cheques and credit cards - but there were no notes and coins. They had to change all their computerised accounting and pay-roll systems and the people who operated these systems had to be trained. (2) Public information campaigns
Talking point
EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE The euro (see presentation)
The euro was created as a common currency for all the countries of the European Union, but not all have switched to using it. The name “euro” was chosen by the European Council - a meeting of all the Community’s political leaders - in Madrid in 1995. On 1 January 2002, new euro bank notes and coins replaced the old money in twelve EU countries. The countries that agreed to take part in this historic changeover were: France, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal. The sign for the euro :
€
The old currencies Before 2002, each country had its own money: France had “francs” and “centimes”. These notes and coins were accepted only in France; to buy things in Germany, French people had to change their francs for “marks”; in Spain they needed “pesetas”, and so on. History of the franc The first franc coins were minted in gold to pay a ransom for French King John II (“Jean le Bon”). The English captured Jean in 1360, at the Battle of Poitiers in the Hundred Years’ War, and sold him back for ”free gold”- “franc-or”. During the Middle Ages, people across Europe would accept in the course of business, coins from almost any country depending on the value of gold or silver they contained; France had: le louis, l’écu, la livre... also l’ange d’or, la couronne d’or, le noble d’or... (“d’or”= of gold).
The public needed information about the euro. Television campaigns were launched, together with education programmes in schools and colleges. From 1999 onwards, shops began to show prices on till receipts in euros as well as the national currency. As the year 2002 came
9.6
2.9 L’euro gateways to represent the spirit of openness and cooperation in the EU. The reverse sides feature bridges to represent communication among the people of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world. Talking about euros Each country refers to the euro and the cent in a different way. In France most people say “l’euro” and “les centimes”. The official intention in France was to call the small coins “euro-cents”, but “centimes” were the familiar division of the franc, and that was the name that stuck. People only refer to centimes when saying amounts less than one euro, e.g. “deux euros cinquante” but “cinquante centimes”. You can hear examples of the way prices are spoken in film B1. Writing euro prices There is no official rule about whether a full stop or a comma should be used when writing a price that shows both euros and centimes. In France people use a comma, as for the price of nuts on this market stall:
nearer, shops began to display prices at points of sale in both the national currency and euros. (3) Supplying new notes and coins On 1st January 2002, 12 billion euro notes and 80 billion coins were ready in banks throughout Europe for everyone to start replacing their old notes and coins. French people had two-months to spend or exchange their old franc notes and coins. By the end of February 2002 the national currency was no longer valid for everyday use. The new money could be spent in any of the 12 countries. Soon people had coins from many different euro countries all mixed up in their pockets; all could be used in their local shops. Designs of the euro coins There are eight euro coins: 1 and 2 euros; 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimes (which were originally meant to be called “euro cents”). All the coins have a common European side, which represents a map of the European Union over a background of vertical lines attached to the stars of the European Union.
On the reverse side, coins carry national symbols. Over the years since the euro was introduced, the designs have changed. Each member country can design one side of its own coins, but they are accepted throughout the euro zone. Because the coins are long lasting, older designs remain in circulation. (See online presentation for up-to-date pictures of the coins). Designs of the Europe-wide notes The same seven notes (500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 euros) are used throughout the euro area; unlike the coins they have no national side. Symbolic designs The designs do not represent any actual buildings or monuments, instead they are symbolic of Europe’s architectural heritage. The front sides of the notes show windows and
Price of 1 kg of fresh hazelnuts in the market: “8 euros 50.”
9.7
L’euro
Je m’appelle ...........................
1 centime
2 centimes
5 centimes
10 centimes
20 centimes
50 centimes
1 euro
2 euros
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© 2018 Early Start Languages
100 euros
500 euros
Je m’appelle...................
200 euros
20 euros
5 euros
50 euros
10 euros
L’euro
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
©2018 Early Start Languages