Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Bienvenue à notre classe de français!!
Welcome to our French class!
"Bienvenue à notre classe de français" literally translates as
 "well came to our  class  of  French," .

This BLOG is my "website" for our class.  Here you will find:
  • My posts, which you can comment on
  • Resources--handouts for the class and links to websites
  • Projects--your work, such as movies that you make
  • Cool (chouette) stuff. This is my miscellaneous section
When I was your age, and I signed up for my French 1 class, I was thrilled.  It seemed to me that I was going to learn a secret language that would enable me to enter a new world where I could speak my new code language with friends.  And a new world it is!  It's important to realize that the French-speaking world is different from the world you are growing up in, and this new language will give you access to that world and it's marvelous way of looking at life.

In what ways is the French world different from my world here in Salem?  I think that it's fair to say that the French value quality of life over quantity of things that can be earned in life, as is exemplified by the fact that they have a 35-hour work week instead of our 40 hours, and they spend 14% of their disposable income on  food, nearly three times our 5%.  And why is this?  They want to eat delicious food and won't settle for the mediocre stuff we find in most of our supermarket aisles.  There are many other differences that you will see between yourselves and the various peoples of the French-speaking (francophone) world, and you will see more and more of this as the year progresses.

Let me just end by saying that I love teaching French.  The thing that I like most about it is that by the end of the year, I can look at all of you and say, "Wow, all of the French that these guys speak was learned in my class."


DAYS 1 and 2
Introductions--Immersion
Handouts:
1. Phrases pour la classe de français--memorize 10 per week. Quiz Thur/Friday
(Phrases for the class of French)
ON AVERAGE, YOU HAVE AT LEAST 6 WORDS TO MEMORIZE EACH DAY
Classroom student questions--Quizlet (weeks 1, 2)
Classroom directions--Quizlet (weeks 3, 4)
Classroom survival phrases--Quizlet (weeks 5, 6)
2. Common verbs. This list is optional, but recommended
Great List of ER Verbs (most verbs end in the letters "er"; some end in "ir" or "re")


VERY USEFUL RESOURCES
Download the following apps on your phone or go to the websites! We will do this in the computer lab quite soon when you create your own Blog, but some of you might want to get started, now. 

Word Reference is the best dictionary app and is the one I want you to use. I love it! Je l'adore!
Here's an example for the word "annoy": Word Reference, annoy Now you have 10 words to use to
     describe your siblings ;^)
Coffee Break French. I think that this is the most effective resource to use to quickly learn French.
     There's a free version under a tab, so don't feel like you have to pay the $100 for the full edition.
Duolingo is an awesome way to learn a language! It's very user friendly, fun, and addictive
French in Action was the ground-breaking immersion method used years ago. It's still fantastic.


Fais la cuisine/Do cooking in French with French recipes (English translation available)
Learn French Through Cooking
French in Action, episodes 2-3
French in Action, episodes 4-8
Find a French song, then get the English lyrics for the song at the following site:
Lyricstranslate.com
Then, while looking at the French lyrics, watch and listen to the French video at the lyricstraining site
and try to type in the French words that are left out. At the beginner level, about one in 12 words is a blank space showing the number of letters, like in Wheel of Fortune. Type as fast as you can!
This is a bit difficult even in English! In French, it's very difficult (for me, too!), but I'll bet you'll be happy to see that with practice you get pretty good at it.
Lyricstraining.com

Common verbs
50 Most Common Verbs in Order
Great List of ER Verbs
Cooking Verbs
RECIPES/RECETTES
French Idioms
Fun French Slang site
French Dictionary
Verb Conjugator
Get a French speaking Skype pal
How to type accent marks in Microsoft Word
Awesome French Karaoke Game
Beginning French Eductional Games--covers most of the things we study in French 1
Learn French Through an illustrated story--Le Papillon/The Butterfly