If you’re a Core French and/or French Immersion teacher looking to diversify how you teach la Francophonie in your classroom, I’ve got you covered! This blog post consists of dozens of ideas, activities, and resource recommendations to teach about Francophone countries in your French class.

Before we begin, let’s discuss some guiding principles.

When teaching about la Francophonie, we must:

• Explore why French speakers speak the language outside of mainland France. To understand this, we must delve into the concepts of power, identity, and the legacies of colonialism. Discuss that the status of French in these countries is constantly changing, and there are complex reasons for this.
• Center Francophone perspectives and voices where possible.
• Not romanticize. Explore complexities.
• Not just explore the good stuff like food and music. Ground your teaching in critical thinking. Teach about the tough topics like oppression, resilience, and activism.

Explore the Roots of la Francophonie

With my classes, I always begin with why there are places outside of mainland France that speak French.

I don’t sugarcoat.

If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce French-speaking places to your classes, this is a fun trivia game.

After the trivia game, your students will be ready to learn about the complex origins of la Francophonie.

If you’re on my email list, you can also download map activities (and more) from my Free French resource library.

French Music

French music is such a beautiful and diverse way to explore la Francophonie.

Here are some different ways you can do this:

• Try out a routine like Chanson de la semaine
  • Here’s a free resource to help you start this routine with your students
• Create an inspiring bulletin board with posters of French musicians
• Explore the historical and sociocultural origins and importance of musical genres from French-speaking places
  • Zouk – Martinique/Guadeloupe
  • Mbalax – Sénégal
  • Kompas – Haïti
  • Raï – Algérie
  • Chanson québécoise – Québec
• Study different French musicians in class
  • Use my free reading comprehension text to learn about Aya Nakamura
• Try Manie Musicale – Manie Musicale is a yearly event where French teachers organize a bracket-style contest. The teachers who organize Manie Musicale are very intentional about diversity. Tons of cultural learning moments also occur during this competition! There couldn’t be a better way to center la Francophonie in your classroom than with Manie Musicale!

Francophone Fact of the Week

Francophone Fact of the Week is a weekly French routine that combines intercultural awareness, reading, and responding to questions in French.

Integrating Francophone Fact of the Week into your routines ultimately supports this intention behind teaching and learning French.

Click here for the novice version.

Access the intermediate version.

Click here for the advanced version.

Watch a TV Show or Movie

TV shows and movies are a great way to understand values and social issues in other parts of the world.

TV5Unis.ca is a free tool that allows you to watch TV shows and movies in your class. The Canadian government sponsors this website to promote the French language.

They have an abundance of excellent TV shows and movies! The only downside is that there are no English subtitles.

Easy French YouTube Channel

Easy French is an excellent YouTube channel. It is one of my favourite listening tools in the Core French classroom.

Pros of Easy French:

• They create videos about a wide variety of cultural topics. You can find videos on various issues, including food, habits, travel, and slang. You can easily find videos on any topic you’re teaching.
• All videos have subtitles in French & English
• They’re so engaging!

Cons of Easy French:

• Given that they are based in Paris, most of their videos tend to focus on Paris and its culture.

Study a Specific Francophone Country or Region

Studying specific Francophone countries or places is such a great way to understand a place, its culture, and its people.

Here are some ideas:

• Teach about a unit on Sénégal
• Teach a unit on Vietnam
• Teach a unit on Morocco
• Teach a unit on Belgium

Podcast: French Duolingo Podcasts

Duolingo Podcasts are one of the best listening tools out there! These podcasts feature stories of resilience from all over the Francophone world. Most of the episodes are in intermediate French, and some I would consider advanced!

• Read this blog post to discover my favourite intermediate episodes.
• If you’re on my email list, you can download the handouts I’ve created, which serve as scaffolds for the podcast episodes. They can be found here. Please note that the password is exclusively available to those on my email list.

Discover Francophone Trailblazers

Learning about the contributions diverse Francophones have made to society is such a great way to learn about the Francophone world. These are the posters I’ve created. They come up with editable descriptions in English and French.

Access the posters here.

Map Talks

Map talks are one of my favourite activities for highlighting a specific country. I learned all about Map Talks from Benjamin Tinsley from Afro Franco. The first time I did a map talk with my class, I was blown away by how engaged my students were!

Ben co-authored this blog post on on the Comprehensible Classroom. Ben has tons of map scripts in his TPT. I highly recommend purchasing these map scripts as they are an accessible and no-prep way to try out this activity.

Watch these two examples of Map Talks:

• Ben Tinsley’s map talk on Mayotte
• Elodie Channa’s map talk on Lebanon

Explore Holidays & Celebrations in la Francophonie

Teaching about holidays and celebrations is very popular among French teachers for very good reasons. In my experience, French teachers are making a great effort to teach about the celebrations of their students in the classroom, alongside Francophone celebrations.

Here are some ideas and resources to start:

• Read picture books about Ramadan & Eid. Explore my favourites here.
• Learn about the celebrations of your students with this bundle
• Cécile Lainé also has a series of presentations co-authored with teachers from different backgrounds. These are accessible here.

French Slang + Where Verlan Originates From

Verlan is one particular type of French slang. It was created by French youth of religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. These children didn’t quite fit into French culture entirely (they were of a different racial and religious background) and they also did not fit into their parents’ cultures perfectly.

Therefore, they created a third space for themselves. This third space is Verlan. Verlan serves as a bridge between their parents’ culture and French culture. Therefore, Verlan is empowering for these youth.

Every Tuesday, my Grade 10s learn two slang expressions. Every week they look forward to learning “cool” French slang terms!

This is one of my favourite ways to incorporate la Francophonie into the classroom.

Read more about how I structure this routine here.

With my Grade 10s (third-year Core French), I do a whole unit on the origins of French slang.

My Core French students learn about les banlieues & the lives of French youth of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.

At the very end of this unit, they create a One-pager project on everything they have learnt during the unit.

I have a whole blog post dedicated to how I plan and teach this unit. You should go read it.

Stories & Texts on la Francophonie

Lastly, stories and texts are the best way to hear Francophone perspectives. The best part is that there are numerous resources available to help you accomplish this.

Here are resource recommendations:

• Read French picture books with Muslim, Black, or Asian representation.
• Listen to legends from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, and France on TV5.
• Réseau-In-Terre Actif is a phenomenal resource. They create classroom resources on various social issues.
• Read a CI Novel in your class about a Senegalese graffiti artist named Zeinixx

The post How to Bring la Francophonie to Life in Your French Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

You’re a Core French or French Immersion teacher and you’re looking to teach about Francophone countries, or maybe even Francophone Belgium. However, you’re at a roadblock. What DO you teach about? And how? Worry not fellow French teacher, here are tons of ideas for you if you’re looking to teach about Francophone Belgium in the French classroom!

Why should you teach about Francophone Belgium in your French classroom?

Personally, I love to teach about Francophone cultures. I find that in terms of European Francophone countries, students are already significantly exposed to French culture. Therefore, I like teaching about Belgium, because Core French students tend to know very little about this specific Francophone country.

Of course, I also teach about tons and tons of non-european Francophone countries, including Haiti, Senegal, Morocco, and more!

Which grades are these activities ideal for?

These activities are ideal for intermediate to advanced Core French or French Immersion students.

Before you teach about any specific Francophone country, ensure that your students have learned about the French Empire, colonization, and the legacies of Empire

Before you learn about individual Francophone countries like Belgium, make sure your Core French and/or French Immersion students are well acquainted with the history of the Francophone world.

Click here to check out this resource.

Activities and resources for teaching about Francophone Belgium

Go on a virtual tour of Francophone Belgium (and non-Francophone Belgium tbh)!

French Virtual Trip table of contents :

Students will explore (76 slides total) :

• Basic facts and geography
• the Atomium
• Chichons au gratin
• la ville de Bruges
• Belgian chocolate
• Parc du cinquantenaire
• Grand-Place

Interactive elements include :

• Google Earth visits
• QR codes
• Videos and comprehension questions
• Discussion questions
• Trivia questions on cultural elements
• Links to YouTube videos (French & English for each concept)

Go on a virtual visit to the Atomium – a unique Belgian monument

When you’re teaching your students about a Francophone country, you always want to bring the country to life in a way where students will feel like they’re standing in that country in that moment.

Well, teleportation doesn’t exist yet. Google Earth and Google Map tours are the closest thing to virtual trips that I can do from my classroom.

Have your students read all about the history, geography, and culture of Belgium

I wanted to create a resource that would help my students learn some basic information about Francophone Belgium. Since I teach in Canada, I know that most of my students know very little about Belgium.

Overall, I am really proud of how this article turned out!

It follows the same structure as my previous French reading comprehension articles. This means that there are built-in pre-reading and post-reading activities to build student confidence and facilitate comprehension.

Complete a tour of some of Belgium’s most famous sites

Tour some of Belgium’s historic monuments and well-known cities with this guided tour! I love that it’s all in French too! It can be so rare to find the perfect resources in French.

Get your students to make a brochure on Belgium

At the very end of our studies on Francophone Belgium, I have my students make a brochure with all of the information they have learned from the unit.

Visit the historic town of Bruges

Forget Brussels and discover the historic town of Bruges!

Explore the geography of Belgium with a map activity

Here’s the deal, geography is REALLY important in French class.

The purpose of this activity is to locate Belgium’s major rivers, cities, geographic zones, and neighboring countries.

Understanding Belgium’s geography is an important step to understanding demographics, the economy, natural resources, and more of Belgium.

Learn all about the famous chocolate industry of Belgium

Okay, no unit on Francophone Belgium can be complete without a tour exploring Belgium’s chocolate industry!

And more activities to explore Belgian history, geography, culture, etc.

Resource table of contents for the French Unit

• Link to suggested videos
• Vocabulary page (student and teacher)
• Fast fun facts sheet
• Belgium reading comprehension (5 pages)
• Belgium map activity
• Les gaufres belges exploration activity
• Bruxelles neighbourhoods virtual trip
• La cuisine belge research activity
• Les belges célèbres activity
• Les expressions idiomatiques de la Belgique
• Is this a real law in Belgium?? True or False activity
• Final brochure project

Test your knowledge of Francophone Belgium with this trivia game!

A game-style reading comprehension activity where students will test their individual and collective knowledge on climate change. It includes :

Check out the Francophone Belgium bundle on TPT

The post Exploring Francophone Belgium: A French Unit for French class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Are you a fellow French teacher interested in learning about HOW and WHY you should be teaching about francophone Vietnam? In this post, I am going to share a number of topics and ideas to get you teaching about this unique corner of the francophone world!

I know that so many French teachers want to teach about francophone countries, but their own knowledge of those countries can be an obstacle. This is no one’s fault – we went through an education system where we memorized French vocabulary and conjugations. I know that for myself all of my knowledge about the francophone world and francophone countries, history, politics, geography, cuisine, etc. comes from my own dedication to research and NOT from my Bachelor’s Degree (unfortunately).

Why should you teach about francophone Vietnam in French class?

You should teach about Vietnam because this country is diverse and rich in history, geography and culture. In addition, if you are Canadian or American, North America is also home to a large number of the Vietnamese diaspora. This means that you will have students of Vietnamese descent in your classroom. These students deserve to see themselves and their cultures represented in our schools.

There is also the fact that Vietnam IS a francophone country. However, please note that this is not something I glorify in my pedagogy.

Vietnam has a complex relationship with the French language, for very good reasons.

It is very important that we do not glorify or romanticize this relationship.

As a matter of fact, when I teach about former colonies, I make it a point to teach about pre-colonial history, colonial history, AND the post-colonial context. And YES, I do it in French with my Core French students.

Which grades are these activities and resources suitable for?

These activities are suitable for high school Core French students. I would recommend at least two years of a high school French class before digging into these specific topics and activities.

Before you teach about any specific francophone country, make sure that your students have a solid understanding of the French empire, colonization as well as the legacies of the Empire

I really recommend doing an introductory unit where you introduce your Core French students to French colonialism, la francophonie, and the legacies of French colonialism.

Before diving into francophone Vietnam, your Core French students should :

• have a solid understanding of the history of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie
• know what DOM-TOM are
• be able to locate French-speaking countries and regions on a map
• know basic facts about la francophonie throughout the world

You can also read about How your French curriculum reinforces & upholds colonial hierarchies here. This is an important step before you begin to teach more about francophone countries in your classroom.

Les objectifs (pour les élèves)

• je peux décrire le Viêt Nam (la culture, la géographie, l’histoire, la nourriture, la nature)
• je peux analyser et décrire pour les liens entre le français et le vietnamiens sont complexes et les raisons pourlesquelles le français n’est pas une langue courante au pays
• je peux décrire les manières dont la France a inspiré les aspects culturels au Viêt Nam

Allons-y – here are activities, topics, and resources for teaching about Francophone Vietnam

Test your students’ existing knowledge with a trivia game

My Core French students not only LOVE games, but they love trivia games on francophone countries and francophone cultures!

This French trivia game on Vietnam is a really fun way to begin your unit. It serves the purpose of not only beginning the unit in a creative and engaging way AND it tests your Core French students’ knowledge.

This French trivia game consists of 14 multiple-choice, fill in the blank or true or false questions.

For each question slide, there will be an answer slide and a “le saviez-vous” slide that provides more info on the question and response!

French reading comprehension article on Vietnam

When I was writing this French reading comprehension article on francophone Vietnam for my own students, I wanted to ensure that I represented the beauty, diversity, and richness of Vietnam really well.

I wrote an article that explains Vietnam’s pre-colonial history, and colonial history and also explains what modern-day Vietnam is like.

Overall, I am really proud of how this article turned out!

It follows the same structure as my previous French reading comprehension articles. This means that there are built-in pre-reading and post-reading activities to build student confidence and facilitate comprehension.

Map activity on Vietnamese geography

I love a good map activity and I don’t think they’re just for Socials classes!

I think geography is REALLY important in French class as well.

The purpose of this activity is to locate Vietnam’s major rivers, cities, geographic zones, and neighboring countries.

Understand a country’s geography is an important step to understanding demographics, the economy, natural resources, and more.

Go on a virtual trip to Vietnam in French class

Virtual trips to francophone countries are so much fun! Technology has come so far and we can be so creative in terms of how we explore distant places with our cellphones and computers.

When I was creating this virtual trip, I spent weeks looking for interesting and unique websites that showcased historic Vietnamese cities and monuments.

Students will explore (74 slides total) the following aspects of this French-speaking country :

• Basics facts about Vietnam
• The historic city of Hué
• Vietnamese coffee
• The status of French in Vietnam
• The effects of Agent Orange
• Phô
• Hanoi
• National park of Phong Nha
• Wildlife of Vietnam

Interactive elements include :

• Google Earth visits
• QR codes
• Videos and comprehension questions
• Discussion questions
• Trivia questions on cultural elements
• Links to YouTube videos (French & English for each concept)

Learn about la guerre du Viêt Nam

While a grand majority of this unit focuses on Vietnamese culture, wildlife and cuisine, we do also need to talk about the Vietnamese war.

La guerre du Viêt Nam played a major role in shaping modern-day Vietnam as well as the Vietnamese diaspora.

It is important that Core French students understand how the war came to be and how it continues to impact the lives of Vietnamese people today.

Agent Orange

For example, it would be unjust to teach about modern-day Vietnam without talking about one major impact of the Vietnam War – Agent Orange.

Agent Orange was a pesticide sprayed by Americans on the lush, dense forests of Vietnam. The use of this chemical continues to wreak havoc on the lives of Vietnamese people.

The virtual trip explores this topic in-depth and in-breadth.

Explore the historic city of Hué

Next up, students will explore the breathtaking and culturally-significant architecture of the city of Hué!

Teach about Vietnamese cuisine in French class

Vietnamese cuisine is a well-loved cuisine in the west and rightfully so! Students will learn all about which vegetables, meats, and aromatics are commonly used in Vietnamese cooking, as well as how French cuisine has influenced certain Vietnamese dishes.

Visit the historic city of Hoi An

While Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are the two largest cities in Vietnam, students will also be exploring the quaint city of Hoi An.

This is a really engaging virtual tour of Hoi An where students will use their devices to explore commerce and major neighbourhoods of this beautiful city!

Spend time in nature in Vietnam (parks, caves, wildlife)

Vietnam is home to the most gorgeous, lush landscape. There will be plenty of opportunities to learn about national parks and local wildlife!

Teach about the status of the French language in Vietnam at this point in time

This unit would not be complete without Core French students delving into the status of French in Vietnam. As mentioned previously, there is definitely a really complex and complicated relationship.

Students will be exploring why French is spoken by so few Vietnamese people and how important it is to allow former French colonies to determine their own relationship with the French language and to respect this decision.

Ready to teach about francophone Vietnam? Here are prep-free, ready-to-print, thorough, and engaging resources on Vietnam

The post Teaching about francophone Vietnam in French class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.