So you’re a French teacher looking to teach French slang in the language classroom. Maybe you’re looking to spice up your French classes. Or perhaps you’re trying to get your teenage French students to see that French can be cool too. I am going to teach you exactly how to do that! Today we are going to learn about teaching French slang to Core French and/or French Immersion students.

Step 1 – what slang terms do French youth use?

To begin, what slang expressions do French youth employ in their day-to-day lives?

Like most French students, I did not learn these expressions at school. I created my own list of French slang expressions after watching tons and tons of popular French TV shows and movies.

It took me months to create a solid list of relevant expressions.

Step 2 – understanding the social, political, and historical origins of French slang vocabulary

As French teachers, I think we would be doing our French students a massive disservice if we didn’t also teach about the social, political, and historical origins of French vocabulary.

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.

Verlan words are formed by inversing syllables in a word. Sometimes syllables are removed to make the word easier to pronounce. Other times syllables are added for the same purpose.

There is also a ton of French colloquial expressions that are not Verlan.

Teaching two French slang terms a week

I used to teach French vocabulary by simply handing out a list to my students. I would then ask them to translate that list.

No, no, no.

I am much more intentional now as a seventh-year teacher.

I teach two French slang expressions per week. The idea is that by focusing on two week, we can actually employ them immediately.

During these weekly lessons, I have my students compare the standard and colloquial forms of the expression.

I also teach about the origins of the expression.

Teaching French slang should be fun. My students love these weekly lessons.

Students record the weekly French slang expressions on a recording sheet.

Each week I also the new expressions to our word wall so that students can refer to them that week and the following week.

After we have learned all 40 expressions, students create a poster where they illustrate the French slang expression,

Don’t be afraid to teach about the social, political, and historical origins of French slang

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 definitely go read it.

If you are interested in teaching French slang and you want ready-to-go resources, I have got them for you!

The post Embracing French Slang in the Language Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

So you’re a middle or high school Core French or French Immersion teacher and you want to teach French idiomatic expressions? How do you go about teaching French idioms to your class in a way that is meaningful and effective? Dear fellow French teacher – I’ve got the solution for you! Here are all of the deets on teaching French idiomatic expressions!

How not to teach French idiomatic expressions

In the first few years of my career, I taught exactly how my French teachers taught me.

So I gave my students a list of French idiomatic expressions. Not only were the expressions were far too difficult, I also had them translate the list of expressions into English.

They learned nothing, except how to translate French sentences using a phone.

I no longer do that. I no longer :

• hand out a list of French idioms
• teach expressions that are too difficult for my students’ level of French
• ask them to translate expressions into English

Step 1 : Pick what French idiomatic expressions you want to teach at each level

I teach beginner to advanced Core French (13-17-year-olds). I have spent the last three summers searching the Internet for a wide variety of French idioms for language learners.

Now that we’ve scoured the Internet for relevant expressions, here are some fun ways to teach ways to teach French idioms.

Beginner French idiomatic expressions

For beginner French students, I pick very easy, simple expressions. A lot of these expressions are things I learned from living in an immersive environment.

Possible expressions could be “toc toc”, “à tes souhaits” and “miam miam”.

I like keeping them simple because I want my beginner French students to use the expressions right away.

Click here to learn more about this basic expressions resource.

Intermediate idiomatic expressions

For intermediate students, I choose expressions with “c’est” and expressions with verbs such as avoir, être, faire, aimer, etc.

Click here to learn about this intermediate expressions resource.

French slang terms for intermediate to advanced Core French students

I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to teach French slang to intermediate students.

These are all expressions I have picked up from watching French TV shows and movies. They are so fun!

When I taught these to my grade 10s, my students were so excited to be learning “real and cool French”.

The best part was that they actually used the French slang in class when conversing with me and one another!

Click here to learn more about French slang resource

Expressions for advanced students

These expressions are definitely the most challenging. Therefore, I teach these to my Grade 11 students.

They’re still really fun!

Click here to learn more about this advanced expressions resource.

Step 2 : Teach 1-2 French idioms per week to your students and no more than that

This is the key! I teach no more than TWO French idiomatic expressions a week to my classes.

When I teach 2 a week, they actually focus on the expression and put it to use right away. I also make sure that I use the two expressions during my lessons naturally.

This is a very effective way to teach French idioms to language learners.

I also give out prizes to students who use the French idioms in the correct context and fit it naturally into whatever we’re going or talking about.

Step 3 : create your slides for each expression

This is the part that took me a few summers. If you do not want to spend your summers creating slides, you can purchase the ones I have created.

Slide #1 : what do you think this French expression means?

With slide, I have my French class guess what the expression could possibly mean.

Sometimes they guess correctly and other times they have no idea whatsoever.

This is a fun way to teach French idioms because sometimes the predictions are so wild and sometimes so accurate. It’s just a fun way to play with language.

Slide #2 : see the French idiomatic expression in action

The purpose of this slide is to see the expression in action in writing and with visual support.

So they see a written example with the French idiom in use. If they do not understand some of the words, they can also use the image to help decode the example sentence.

Slide #3 : learn new vocabulary

The purpose of these types of slides is to break down new vocabulary that students may not be familiar with.

Some of the resources have 1-type of this slide and others have two!

Slide #4 (French slang only) : compare standard and slang forms of the same expression

The purpose of these types of slides is to break down new vocabulary that students may not be familiar with.

Slide #5 (French slang only): learn about the origins of the expression

Learn about the unique origins of the different French slang on this slide.

Slide #5 : write your own sentence using the expression

Now it’s time for students to write their own sentences with the expression.

At the start of the semester, we do this as a whole class. After a few weeks, I either get to write a sentence with their table groups, with a partner, or independently.

The post How to teach French idiomatic expressions to French students appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Okay, fellow French teacher – today I am about to spill the TEA on my favourite daily routine in French class – question du jour! This is an AWESOME way to get your French class to communicate in French in a safe, structured, and meaningful way every single day. If you are looking for fun ideas on encouraging French communication – you’re going to love this daily routine.

If you are looking to learn about all sorts of daily and weekly routines for French class, definitely go read this blog post.

Feel free to pause and watch the video below if you have 15 minutes. If not, go ahead and scroll down to read all about this awesome daily routine in French class.

What is question du jour?

Question du jour is a French bell ringer-type activity. It’s quite simple. At the time of taking attendance, every Core French student in your class answers a question. These questions are a wide variety of French conversation starters.

When and how did I begin question du jour in my classroom?

During the 2020-2021 school year, our school year was divided into quarter semesters. Each quarter was roughly 10 weeks long. In the first quarter of the year, we were in-person for 5 weeks and teaching online the other 5 weeks.

I could not figure out how to connect with my students. By the time I got to know them, they were moving on to their next two classes. It was so frustrating!

During the last quarter of the school year, I was desperate to change things up.

So I began to ask my students lighthearted and silly questions during attendance. The question and the whole discussion occurred in English. I really didn’t care about French – I was desperate to get to know them and break the intense ice.

The questions were a hit. Soon, my students were suggesting questions. We were getting to know each other and we were laughing together. It was fantastic.

I was going to be teaching the same group of students the following year. Therefore, over the summer I created 50 beginner-friendly French speaking prompts. I included French vocabulary that beginner French students should be using. I focused basic sentence structures, such as “aimes-tu”, “est-ce que tu préfères”, etc.

I also ensured that all slides had visual support so that we did not have to rely on English to communicate.

What do you need for question du jour?

You are going to need sets of French-speaking prompts for question du jour that are suitable for the levels of French you teach.

If you are looking for question du jour resources that are already made, I have several sets you can purchase from TPT. You are welcome to create your own French-speaking prompts. You can also create them in collaboration with your students.

These question du jour prompts are ideal for beginner French students. They include a mix of silly, fun questions like the one you see and also practical questions.

Part one shelters sentence structures so that students become proficient in communicating about themselves in the present tense.

These French conversation starters are ideal for intermediate French students. These prompts introduce students to a wide range of sentence structures in a number of different tenses.

This question du jour resource is a mix of practice & fun!

Along with my intermediate question du jour prompts, I also use these passé composé prompts with my intermediate (second-year) students intermittently with the ones above.

I do this BEFORE (like waaay before) I teach passé composé explicitly to those students.

Results : students actually know how to communicate in the past tense before they get the explicit grammar lesson. So the explicit grammar actually makes sense! BOOM!

There all sorts of themes and topics you can try out with different age groups and levels! Again, feel free to make your own. You do not have to purchase mine. I just wanted to show you all of the different types I’ve created over the last two years.

Why is question du jour so successful with Core French students?

It’s a safe activity for ALL students

One of the major reasons why this activity is such a successful French routine is that it is SO safe. Regardless of whether students are introverted, neurodivergent, or afraid of speaking in French in class, this routine is structured and safe. Students know exactly how it’s going to roll out each class.

For some students, it may be the only time in class when they speak in French in front of the class. This is definitely something to celebrate!

After a week or two, students really begin to feel comfortable with the format.

Repetition, repetition, repetition

Another major reason why these French conversation starters are so successful is that there is so much built-in repetition. Every class, students have the opportunity to hear 29 other students answer the question.

Every day that we do this, their comprehension gets better as does their vocab retention and pronunciation.

Let’s talk about the results

Before we talk about results, you should know that those *original* grade 8s that I started question du jour with are going into Grade 11 at the time of me writing this post.

We did question du jour every single class in Grades 9 & 10.

My students picked up SO MUCH vocabulary

I do not make my students memorize lists of French vocabulary. I do not find that to be effective. I teach vocabulary in context.

That being said, I was constantly amazed at my students’ ability to recall SO MUCH vocabulary they had seen in question du jour. It was incredible.

Students were correctly using a wide variety of sentence structures without explicit instruction. They just got it!

In addition to French vocabulary recall, I was also surprised at how my students were ACCURATELY using a wide variety of sentence structures in present and past tenses.

When these guys were in Grade 8, I decided I wasn’t going to teach French grammar explicitly. I decided I was going to try teaching my classes in a more French immersion-style.

So imagine my surprise that my French 8 students are correctly conjugating verbs because they actually have a solid understanding of how sentences are formed in the French language.

I was truly so amazed and so impressed.

Classroom community – with each question du jour, we got to know each other more

Another massive pro of question du jour was that we continued to get to know each other with every prompt. We laughed together, we learned about each others’ food/clothing preferences, etc.

For example, this past year I learned that 95% of my students DO NOT make their beds before school. As a matter of fact, a small but notable group make their beds BEFORE going to sleep!

My students had the best pronunciation out of all of the grades I’ve taught

Prior to question du jour, I really struggled with teaching students how to pronounce French sound patterns correctly. As an early career French teacher, that’s exactly what I did.

I explicitly taught French sound patterns.

It just didn’t work.

Question du jour and the repetition it provided meant that this group of students had the best pronunciation of all of the grades that I’ve taught so far in my career. Now, question du jour can’t take all of the credit for this as I also switched to a different style of teaching during this time, but it can take about half the credit!

The post Question du jour : the ultimate French classroom routine you need appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

But, first – let’s chat about my context

I am a high school French teacher in British Columbia, Canada. In my department, we’ve decided that we are going to teach our French music unit to our Grade 10s.

Students begin high school in Grade 8 in our district. Therefore, by the time they get to grade 10, they’ve had two full years of Core French class.

These students are therefore intermediates.

Why a French music unit? What’s the purpose?

Well, why not a French music unit?

First of all, the way to a French student’s heart surely has to be music right?

Okay but jokes aside, Francophone musicians and French songs are a really important part of my pedagogy. We RARELY (read:never) ever do fill-in-the-lyric type of activities.

That said, we do make music videos, talk about our opinions, compare and contrast French music artists and French songs, AND more!

Humans have very personal relationships with music. We associate certain songs with happy or sad times of our lives. Sometimes we hear a song a decade or two later, we don’t remember the song name or artist but somehow the lyrics start pouring out of us.

What am I trying to say?

I’m saying that I do my very best to cultivate a love and passion for French music and French songs among my Core French students. I won’t lie – I think I am great at it!

If you are looking for a teen-approved playlist of songs for French class? Do be sure to read my blog post on super catchy French songs for beginners.

Before we begin, check out these Francophone singer posters!

This past summer, I made posters on many of my personal favourite French musicians! I have these up in my classroom and my students LOVE to look at them! Classroom decor + culture + music all in one poster!

Who is this particular Core French Music unit ideal for?

This particular unit is perfect for Intermediate French students in the high school setting.

It’s totally up to you to see if it would work for your students!

Unit objectives

I introduce these objectives to my Core French students at the very start of my French music unti :

• Je peux décrire mes propres préférences musicales
• Je peux parler des origines des genres musicaux au sein de la communauté noire aux États-Unis
• Je peux exprimer mon opinion en français
• Je peux décrire les chansons, les musiciens francophones et les clips. Mes descriptions ne seront pas parfaites et c’est tout à fait d’accord

Structure & format for the perfect French music unit

French music related Question du jour

I begin every lesson with a “question du jour” in all of my classes. During our French music unit, I switch to music-related questions!

The goal is quite simple – I am trying to get my students to chat about their music preferences in French!

Many times, I will have that question guide my lesson. This means that I end up answering the question as well and then I do a little lesson en français about my answer.

Qui est le chanteur préfére de votre prof?

This is the perfect example of what I just described above. The very first French-music themed question du jour is a super simple one.

After most of these question du jours, I lead a mini-lesson sharing my own answer with images and targetted language.

Essential French music terms

The very next thing I do, is introduce my students to really important French music terms and French verb structures they need in order to communicate in French.

Qui est Stromae?

I love introducing my students to Stromae at the very start of the French music unit. Students have most definitely come across his songs and many even have Papaoutai memorized!

In our slides, I introduce students to Stromae’s story, his most iconic songs and we watch some of his interview videos.

Here is one we watch together!

Les origines des genres musicaux

One of my absolute favourite activities is this reading comprehension activity where we learn about the origins of music genres.

What we learn is that Black communities in the United States are responsible for creating some of the most-loved musical genres AND many other music genres come from these genres.

This reading comprehension activity comes with pre-reading and post-reading activities. If you are new to really structured French reading comprehension articles, do be sure to read my blog post where I break down my strategies.

Quel est le genre musical?

Next I introduce my students to a variety of French songs of different genres. The purpose of this activity is to guess what the musical genre of the song is!

I try to pick reggae, country, some Céline Dion from the 1990s and other unique genres that I know my students have not been exposed to.

Un clin d’oeil sur Lous and the Yakuza

We absolutely CANNOT do a French music unit without learning all about Lous and the Yakuza. She has an incredible story and we spent a lesson or two reading about her and then watching one of her interviews on her YouTube channel.

This interview below is one of my all-time favourites because it is in this video that I realized what a true gem Lous is. In this video, Lous and the interviewer (Dolores Bakéla) weaves talk about la négritude, important figures like Paulette Nardal, feminism, colourism, la fierité noire / Black pride, and so much more!

La chanson française – Édith Piaf et Charles Aznavour

One of the very last activities we do lasts about three to four periods. Here’s how it works :

1. I divide my class into three groups
2. Each group studies either La bohème, Que c’est triste Venise or La vie en rose. La bohème is harder and La vie en rose easiest. So I am paying attention to my students’ strengths and who needs a challenge vs. who might need a confidence booster with the easier lyrics
3. Students spend 2 classes analyzing their song
4. Students present their song to the class!

Please note that this activity is entirely formative and there is no mark attached to any of it.

Assignments & projects

I have students talk about their music preferences on a CD! In this assignment, they use all of the vocab and structures that we have been using in class in speaking, listening, reading and writing activities.

The final project is actually a music video where students break down a French song of their choice. In the beginning, they talk about who the artist is and what the song is about. They then act out two minutes of the song! Finally, they end off with telling us what their opinion of the song is. They also create a brochure

Resources

If you’re looking for pre-made resources, I’ve got you!

This bundle has all of the slides and documents mentioned in this blog post!

The post The ultimate French music unit for Core French appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

How do I get my French students to speak French in French class? Whether you are a Core French teacher or French Immersion teacher, this is probably something you struggle with or have struggled with in the past. In this blog post, I am sharing some strategies that have worked really well in my classroom so that you can get your students to finally speak more French in class.

The environment matters : students must feel comfortable and safe if you want them to speak French in class

Before we get to routines and assessment, we need to discuss the classroom culture. When I meet my absolute beginners (Grade 8s), I spend 1-2 weeks setting up the environment. Kindness and empathy are two factors that I stress. In this time when students are exploring boundaries (and trying to see what they can get away with), I also enforce my policies very strictly.

For example, when they giggle when they hear another student speak French, that needs to be nipped in the bud right away!

Additionally, how do YOU make your students feel? Can your students trust you?

Learning a language and feeling comfortable speaking in a new language is REALLY scary. World language classes are probably one of the scariest when it comes to students having to take risks on a regular basis.

Therefore, we must acknowledge the fear and uncertainty our students may feel.

In my first year of university, I had a professor who had a clipboard with all of our names on it. Each time we spoke, she would tick off our name. I guess she was trying to encourage us all to participate in class?

However, what really happened was that I became extremely anxious to the point where I had a panic attack before class.

You have to consider the impacts (inadvertent or intentional) of your policies and procedures on your students and that they may actually be having the opposite effect.

Practices/strategies I do not employ in my classroom to get my students to speak French

• Collect participation marks – we are actually not allowed to collect these in my province
• Take note of who speaks when
• Pick on my (anxious, nervous) students
• do oral quizzes or tests

Consequently, doing any or all of the things above will not actually guarantee that your students will a) be comfortable taking risks or b) speak French in French class.

What are your priorities?

What I have learned in the past few years is that I cannot prioritize reading, writing, listening, and speaking French equally. Not yet anyway!

When I was prioritizing writing French, my students’ French oral communication skills were lacking.

Now that I am prioritizing listening and speaking French, I am noticing that my students’ writing is not perfect.

However, that is totally okay!

Prioritizing speaking French has meant that I have actually exposed my students’ to using a number of sentence structures really well.

I prioritized my Grade 9 students asking and responding to questions in French for an entire semester via Question du jour and other strategies. While doing this, they implicitly picked up SO much vocabulary and sentence structures without a single worksheet.

However, there is still A LOT that they do not know. I am okay with that!

It just means that I am not assessing their work from a deficit perspective. Instead, I am marking what they DO know and what they CAN do really well.

So when I look at their journals, instead of seeing ALL of the mistakes, I view the following as successes :

• my students no longer struggle with “I don’t how to start because I don’t know French”. Their comfort in speaking has resulted in their comfort in knowing that they can express themselves in French in a number of different ways, writing being one of them
• I don’t focus on the mistakes. Instead I am excited about how much vocabulary they are able to employ without my help

Rome was not built in a day. Build routines. Be consistent.

My most successful strategy is being very strategic with choosing your French routines. Every single class, we practiced the same skills over and over again.

It felt like we went from “um my students know nothing?” to “OMG HOW DO THEY KNOW THAT??”.

I have a whole blog post dedicated to French classroom routines so do be sure to go read it for ideas and inspiration.

Okay – but, why routines in a French classroom? How do routines help students speak French and feel comfortable communicating in French?

Because Core French students need that consistent repetition! Learning a concept and practicing it a few times is not enough in a French-language classroom.

Instead, if you build routines that target very specific skills and repeat these routines, your French students get tons of repetition.

For example, by doing French question du jour every single day for a month, my students’ pronunciation improved drastically. Their understanding of sentence structures also increased. Additionally, their understanding of French interrogatives was AMAZING. All this with one simple French classroom routine!

Do you speak French in class?

I know this may sound silly, but are you speaking enough French in class? Most of your class and lesson should be conducted in the target language.

“But then how will my students understand what I am teaching then?”

The problem with the question above is that I assume you are teaching grammar and vocabulary. Therefore you “need” to teach in French in order for your students to understand.

I actually don’t teach much French grammar explicitly. Instead, my classroom is a lot like a French Immersion classroom in that I am teaching concepts in French. For example, the other day I introduced my French 9 students to la francophonie by doing a map talk all in French.

Speaking in French to your students is so important because your students will pick up so much without you actually teaching them explicitly. In my opinion, this kind of learning is truly magical and meaningful!

Greet them at the door with “bonjour” and “comment ça va?”

If you teach French 8 or French 1 (beginners), do you greet your students at the door with a “bonjour” and “comment ça va?”.

If you do not, I highly recommend it! I know it takes away from doing some prep or responding to emails. As a full-time teacher with no prep time I get the importance of that.

Greeting your students at the door means that your students :

• are immersed in the language as soon as they walk through the door
• get to practice asking / responding to the same questions every day

Break the ice by beginning every class with Question du jour

One of my students’ favourite French classroom routines is Question du jour. As I take attendance, a beginner-friendly prompt is displayed on the board and students answer it one at a time.

This strategy was so successful with my students!

It became “our thing” and the few times it wasn’t on our daily slide, students told me we couldn’t skip question du jour!

Here’s what happened after we did question du jour every single class for a whole semester :

• I didn’t have to teach French interrogative words “qui, quoi, est-ce que, quel, etc”. They learned these by seeing them every single class
• They implicitly picked up a lot of sentence structures
• Listening to their peers say the same answer was really helpful in improving their pronunciation without explicitly teaching them sounds
• By the end of the semester, my French 9 students were extremely comfortable asking and responding to questions in French
• They remembered so much of the vocabulary they had only seen a few times (win!)

These French-speaking prompts were so successful I made a bunch of different ones for different French levels!

Try out “speed-dating” once a week

The purpose of this French-speaking activity is to get your students to communicate with one another in French!

This is an awesome activity for the following reasons :

1. Students practice asking and responding to at least 10-15 questions
2. Students speak in French to numerous different peers so it’s a great get to know you activity

With my second-year French students (French 9), we do speed dating once a week! Here’s how to structure this activity with your class :

• after question du jour, ask students to take out their “speed dating” page
• Get your students to write down one question they want to ask their peers (I give them a couple of minutes to do this)
• Number everyone off as A or B
• Take everyone out into an open space on my floor. If you don’t have this, you can also take your students outside
• Have them form two lines (A and B). They face a partner and ask/respond to one another’s questions. I remind them to begin their conversations with “bonjour, comment ça va?”.
• After about a minute, I ring my bell and the person at the front of line A goes to the back and everyone scoots over one person and begins to chat with their new partner

Sometimes we don’t necessarily have time to do this activity so I change it up sometimes :

• ask Mme 30 questions (I do this 1-2 times every semester) or even ask a student 30 questions
• 15 classmates come up to the front of the classroom and the other 15 peers ask them a question (I switch to this format halfway into the semester when they have built significance confidence and comfort).

Repetition is key to getting your French students to speak French in class and this activity definitely ensures that repetition!

Repeat simple structures regularly

If you are teaching beginner French students or intermediate French students, pick phrases to repeat every single class. For example :

• qu’est-ce que ça veut dire, les élèves?
• D’accord?
• levez la main
• Est-ce que vous comprenez?
• Est-ce que je peux effacer?
• comment dit-on…
• discutez en partenaires

Sometimes we get comfortable and we give instructions to our students in English for a variety of reasons. I actually encourage you to give specific instructions in French and to repeat them over and over. Your students will actually pick up on them so quickly!

Have visual cues on your walls and boards

Lastly, utilize French posters or French classroom decor as visual cues for your students. Here are examples of posters that I like having up in my own classroom :

• French interrogative words
• French pronunciation posters
• French subject pronouns

The post How to get your French students to speak French in class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Picture this, you are a first-year Core French teacher. You finally have your own French classroom and you are beyond thrilled to be teaching French! I remember that first year so clearly. I kept asking myself “how am I supposed to teach French?”. I struggled with just about all aspects of teaching Core French and I so wish that I had access to a community of Core French teachers whom I could learn from.

Today, I will share with you 10 of the biggest mistakes I made as a first-year Core French teacher. If you are a new FSL teacher, I hope that my mistakes and lessons serve as a reflection opportunity for your own teaching pedagogy.

Mistake #1 : The French grammar obsession

This one isn’t all that shocking in 2021. Teaching Core French with a heavy grammar focus was something I had to FORCE myself to break away from.

My entire career as a French learner was heavily grammar-based. I felt that students needed French grammar to understand the language and therefore to become proficient.

This, unfortunately, had the opposite effect due to the following reasons :

• students were learning concepts briefly, memorizing them to regurgitate them on a quiz or project. Shortly afterwards, students would forget the concept.
• no, students were NOT more proficient thanks to my awesome grammar lessons. On the contrary, their learning was heavily dependent on me explicitly teaching them.
• students could only reproduce grammar concepts in the exact contexts in which it was taught to them

What I do now :

After my first year, I had to remind myself that babies learn language by speaking, listening and imitating. Not by learning grammar lessons! Now, I teach minimal grammar such as the Super 7 verbs. I also teach a lot of grammar via reading comprehension and listening comprehension.

Basically, I speak a lot of French and we read tons of picture books, French reading comprehension articles and authentic texts!

Mistake #2 : Repeating the exact same teaching practices I had observed as a Core French student

In my first year as a Core French teacher, I taught French exactly how it had been taught to me.

We did dictées, grammar lessons, fill in the lyrics music activities and we used the same textbooks I used in high school. I taught this way because it was the only way I knew how to teach.

I was SO BORED. There was no creativity, no spices and it was all so uninspiring. Now as a fifth-year FSL teacher, I employ very few of these practices that I had observed as a student.

What I do now :

I am definitely not saying that your lesson plans have to be super intricate and complex. As a matter of fact, my most successful lessons have been simple ones that put fun, culture and communication at the heart & centre. No frills, no lace – just all of us learning together!

The best thing I did for my career was joining the Teacher Instagram world and I am a MUCH better FSL teacher now. It isn’t all that surprising that learning from your fellow French teacher friends makes you a much better teacher and I get it now!

Below are two of my favourite Core French teacher IG accounts that you should for sure follow! The third is my own account!

Mistake #3 : Using outdated French textbooks

In my first year, I was pretty much forced to use textbooks. As a result, I used the same textbooks and workbooks from when I was in high school.

They were so old I had to hunt down cassette players to do listening comprehension activities!

These textbooks were mind-numbingly boring and unoriginal. I thought that as a student and my students also did not enjoy them! Breaking away from French textbooks was the BEST decision I have made as an FSL teacher.

What I do now :

I do NOT use textbooks anymore and I do not miss them. I use tons of authentic resources and also resources created by fellow teachers.

These resources put culture and proficiency at the front and center. These French resources are created intentionally and are updated year after year, as opposed to French textbooks.

Mistake #4 : Too many French worksheets

Okay, there is actually NOTHING wrong with a worksheet. Worksheets are not all made equally. For example, worksheets with higher-level thinking questions, critical or creative thinking tasks are incredible opportunities for learning French.

But that isn’t the type of worksheet I was using in my first year of teaching French. Nope! Instead, all of my worksheets were either :

• conjugation practice
• French grammar practice
• vocabulary lists

These types of worksheets did NOT stimulate creative and critical thinking skills in my students’ nor were they valuable OR effective learning opportunities.

What I do now :

Now I do French projects that prioritize francophone cultures, student voice and choice, and language proficiency.

If you are going to use worksheets (I still use them), carefully select the topics, goals and learning strategies. Here are some examples of these types of worksheets :

Not your average French worksheet

Instead of doing “review units” or review worksheets at the start of a school year, skip straight to a “worksheet” like this where students have to recall important concepts they learned the previous year.

We don’t do boring reading comprehension

Let’s take a quick second and appreciate how much more engaging this worksheet looks in comparison to your typical boring French reading comprehension activities.

Photos are essential in helping spark your Core French students’ imagination.

What you don’t see pictured here is the pre-reading and post-reading activities that are equally as creative and engaging.

Culture, culture, culture

Reading is such an important part of second language acquisition. Reading about francophone cultures makes for such an engaging activity!

In this photo, you see the reading comprehension component of this activity. The other half of this resource requires students to show their understanding of what they read.

See, worksheets do not have to be boring!

Mistake #5 : Focusing more on writing than reading and speaking French

In my first year of teaching Core French, I was hyper-focused on writing activities. I barely spoke any French, did no reading comprehension and did very little listening comprehension. All of our lessons, activities and assessment were writing-based.

What I do now :

As a fifth-year French teacher, my goal is to speak French for at least 90% of the period. I also try to ensure that there is a mix of reading, writing, listening, and reading activities. Sometimes it is hard to squeeze all four in a single period, so I make sure I start with reading the next class if I couldn’t get to it that day.

Mistake #6 : Not prioritizing having fun in French class

Okay, this one is HUGE. If your students suffer in French class and look and sound tortured, we have a problem. Seriously, French teachers are so lucky!

We get to teach about a wide variety of topics and themes and use AMAZING authentic resources. There are so many different ways we can incorporate fun in French class :

• games
• cultural lessons and activities
• French music
• cooking activities
• interactive and hands-on activities
• French films
• fun, entertaining projects

My students most memorable classes :

• field trips to watch a circus performance in French
• French tossing games
• Making crêpes
• Music video projects
• Making ratatouille in class
• Fashion show projects

What I do now :

Mix it up! If your students don’t look like they’re having fun, it’s because they’re probably not. Again, this is the best way to ensure that students continue to sign up for French class!

Mistake #7 : My expectations were higher than my students’ abilities

This one was probably my biggest mistake.

Although I was a former Core French student myself, I expected that my students would pick up the language really quickly. I’m not even sure where this idea came from.

I genuinely expected that my students could write and express themselves at a FAR higher level than what they could actually do! Then, I would sit down to mark their projects and I would that they either A) used Google Translate or B) their writing made no sense and was incomprehensible.

I did very little to practice writing on the topic repetitively. The worst part was that I then corrected EVERY mistake on their assessment because I thought that that was how they’d learn!!

What I do now :

1. Repetition is key – whatever goal is (e.g. describe a francophone author) – give your students TONS of opportunities to read descriptions and write descriptions. You should ideally structure as many reading, writing, speaking and listening activities on the concept BEFORE you assign a project
2. Don’t mark everything – pick 1 or 2 concepts that where heavily practiced prior to the project. Be okay with imperfection!

Mistake #8 : Francophone cultures were the side dish instead of the main meal

Ever since I was a student teacher, I had always known that I wanted to emphasize francophone cultures and diversity in my French classes. However, the problem was that I just didn’t know how to do that in my first year.

Given my mental roadblock, I ended up not really talking about culture at all.

Nowadays, I make it a point to bring culture into my classroom every single class. Whether it is through music, the lessons we do, the choice of reading comprehension articles, the fun experiential lessons, or the field trips – culture IS the main meal. We learn everything THROUGH culture!

I can truly say that my French classes are so much more enjoyable for my students and myself to teach.

What I do now :

Make it a point to bring culture into your class every single lesson, if you can. French music is the easiest, most convenient and enjoyable way to do this if you need somewhere to begin!

Mistake #9 : Rushing from assessment to assessment

The first three years of my French teacher career were heavy points-based. I felt like I needed to do a certain number of assessments so that my students had a “fair grade” before the end of the term (we had 3 terms in a year). Our grading system was NOT cumulative and was instead on an average system.

It was so exhausting – I was doing assessments for the sake of collecting marks.

We switched to a Standards-Based system recently and a cumulative system. As a result, I realized how ineffective my assessment practices were given that I was focusing on quantity, and not quality.

What I do now :

Focus on quality, instead of quantity. If you feel as though you are constantly spinning in the assessment wheel, it may be time to reflect on your assessment practices and make some changes.

Mistake #10 : I wasn’t loving what I was teaching and how I was teaching French

After my first year, I moved to a school where I was so lucky to join a collaborative department of the most supportive colleagues. I will never forget what my work mom at my new school said to me on my first day, “Pav, whatever you teach – make sure you teach from the heart. Teach what you’re passionate about”.

This stumped me.

I realized that I hated most of what I had taught the previous year. I asked myself what I was passionate about. What could I bring to the table that is unique to me?

The answer was social justice. This was my passion and so I decided to teach French through the lens of human rights.

I have found so much success in this. My students have thoroughly enjoyed the units, lessons and resources. More than anything, they have found my classes to be engaging, meaningful, and relevant to the world they live in. What more could I possibly want as a Core French teacher?

Pictured below is my unit on racism in France.

The post 10 Mistakes I made as a First-Year Core French Teacher appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

My love for project-based classes stems from an incredible Elementary school teacher. When I became a teacher, I knew that I really want to teach with projects. However, how was I going to make my French projects fun, creative, engaging and meaningful opportunities for learning?

What qualities do fun French projects have?

From the very beginning of my career, I have strived to make French class engaging and meaningful for my FSL students. It has been a lot of trial and errors, but here is what has been successful in my French language classes.

Fun French projects are creative & engaging

We’ve all done projects that are mind-numbingly boring and I have certainly assigned those projects. Now, I ask myself the following question :

Will I want to mark the project?

If the answer is “yes”, then I know that it’ll be a fun project.

Additionally, I want to ensure that my students will enjoy the process as well as the end result. The end result is always something creative that students can be proud of!

Student voice and choice

This one is quite simple – when marking projects, I do not want to mark 90 of the same, exact project. Wherever possible, I like to give out 2-3 options for major projects. If that is not possible, I make that there is a wide range of possible topics for that project.

In French class, I allow my students to pick their topic. Whether that is a singer, country, famous person or song – the choice is there own!

Fun French projects are not overwhelming for students – they are structured

No matter how creative and fun your project is, if it is not structured well, students will NOT find it fun. This is especially true in a French language class where students are expected to work in a whole different language.

How do I structure my fun French projects?

• Thoroughly practice the standards for that unit before beginning the project
• explain criteria to students and break down the project into small sections, each one having a different due date (accountability checkpoint)
• have them work on the draft
• check their draft in class with them and circle mistakes that they are capable of correcting

Flags on francophone countries

As part of our unit on Francophone regions, one of the first activities we do is this research project. Students research and write about :

• the capital
• official and spoken languages
• where the region is located (country/continent)
• what the region is known for
• famous dishes

If you’re looking for more ideas and inspiration on teaching la francophonie, check out these blog posts!

Check out this resource on TPT

Music videos and reaction videos (and just any videos tbh)

Everyone does music units in French class. One of my favourite ways to end of this unit is to have my students create a music video where they have to act out the lyrics.

This is not only one of my students’ favourite projects, but it is also my favourite project to mark! If music videos are too easy, I’ve also had my students do ‘reaction’ videos to a music video!

French One-pagers on any topic

One-pagers were a project I tried for the first time this year and I LOVED the end result! The one you see in this photo is one I created myself as a sample and it isn’t even close to showing how amazing my students’ one-pagers were.

I actually have a whole blog post dedicated one-pagers on the topic of racism in France. A free download of the template is also included as well as an explanation of what was required in each section.

French Me Voici Projects

Another fun project we do in French 8 is this Me voici project. Students write about their :

• city of birth
• birthdate
• hobbies
• favourite foods
• things they do not like to do

Imparfait conjugations practice flipbook

This next project is a French flipbook that I have my intermediate French students do to practice imparfait!

Exploring real life issues such as climate change

Teaching about Earth Day and the environment isn’t just something that should occur in Science class. French class is most fun when the learning is relevant to real-world issues.

The following project is one I created myself! I am very passionate about informing my students about the harmful effects of our habits. For example, the fast fashion industry is one of the most harmful industries in the world. However, most students do not know how or why that is.

This resource includes 5 infographics on the following topics :

1. Fast fashion
2. Overconsumption of meat
3. Banana and avocado farming
4. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
5. The harmful effects of consumption during Christmas

Finally, for their final assignment, students will conduct research on one or many harmful consumption habits. They will then create a booklet presenting their research.

The post Fun French projects for French class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

“How am I supposed to teach beginner French students?” was a question I frequently thought of in my first few years of teaching. I have learned so much from trial and error in my first four years of teaching Core French. Here is a list of some dos and don’ts that are an integral part of my French pedagogy.

Before you scroll – grab your beginner French freebie!

The problem with how we have been teaching Core French to beginner French students

So here’s the deal. New French teachers come out of their Education program and tend to teach the way they had been taught French. To be fair, this is my personal experience and what I have observed from my friends and colleagues.

During my Education program, we didn’t go over the different approaches to teaching and learning FSL. We never really discussed how a language should be taught to maximize language acquisition and proficiency.

As a result, I personally had no choice but to repeat how I had been taught in High School and in my undergrad. I know that many of my colleagues have undergone a similar journey.

Now, there are actually so many things that were wrong with this and I am about to break them all down for you!

Decolonize your approach – French isn’t superior to any other language

As French teachers, we must remember that we are teaching a colonial language. Most of us (Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans) also live on stolen land. Therefore, it is doubly important that we are not perpetuating harmful colonial ideologies.

Some questions to consider :

• How often do you stress to students that French is a superior language?
• Do children from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle significantly in your classes?
• Are your teaching materials eurocentric?
• Do you teach with a heavy (and extremely positive) emphasis on France? E.g. are you all about the Eiffel tower and baguette situation?
• How often do you teach about certain places because they are “francophone”? (eg. you are ONLY celebrating French, and not celebrating indigenous cultures, languages, religions and ways of living).
• Are BIPOC actively represented from the very beginning to the very end of your course? Not just traumas, but are you representing the joy and success of BIPOC?
• Do you put as much of an emphasis celebrating and studying Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh celebrations and traditions as you do Christian?

I cannot provide answers and alternatives to all of the questions above in this blog post alone, but I will for sure be creating another blog post entirely on this topic in the future.

In the meantime, reflect on this question — “how could you be perpetuating harm through your French pedagogy?”.

Cultivate a culture love for the language

This has been a sentence I have been repeating to my cousin who teaches middle school French. Despite having no background in French, the poor girl is stuck teaching beginner French to her students. I know that many elementary and middle school teachers in BC are in a similar sticky spot.

Make French class a place where your beginner French students WANT to come back year after year. There is no better way of securing the success and longevity of the French program at your school!

I make my French classes really interesting, unique & fun. I am basically that French teacher that teaches Social Studies but in French! We learn about diverse cultures, we listen to tons of music and we play all sorts of games.

You will know you have succeeded at creating a culture of love for French when your students do not want to leave after the bell rings!

Focus on culture

This next point is important for not just beginner French, but all levels. Culture should NOT be a side dish in French class. It should be the main meal!

Culture is actually what makes French class enjoyable, engaging and meaningful. In other words, culture makes French class fun!

Make the learning relevant to the world your students live in

Who else remembers those projects boring French projects like creating a camping trip itinerary or creating a travel company?

While these sorts of projects seem like an interesting learning opportunity, the truth is that your students may find them unengaging because they cannot simply imagine a time when they will be camping in French (lol!).

Instead, teach your students about meaningful topics and themes such as :

• racism in France and/or Quebec
• gender inequality
• human rights issues and inequities
• mental health

Stop explicitly teaching so much French grammar to beginner French students

Seriously though! When we learn our first (and second for many of us) language as babies, it is not by memorizing grammar concepts. This method is also not effective in the Core French classroom.

What tends to occur is that French students are only able to recognize and reproduce those French grammar concepts in the limited contexts in which they learned and practiced the concepts initially.

Instead, I have discovered that teaching grammar implicitly and sometimes even accidentally through French reading and listening comprehension is far more effective.

Drop the French vocabulary lists

Who remembers receiving the longest lists of vocabulary in High School Core French? Even my University professors would do this!

Here’s the problem with French vocabulary lists – students memorize the vocabulary for quizzes and tests and then they forget it. Instead, introduce your students to smaller lists (like 5 terms) in context of an activity (reading comprehension, skit, game, etc).

They will consequently retain that information much better!

How much French are you speaking in class?

One of the biggest mistakes I made with beginner students was not speaking enough French! I was so worried that I would overwhelm my beginner French students that I barely spoke French.

I forgot one of the biggest lessons I learned during my Quebec exchanges — one learns language best when they are IMMERSED in the language. This means that the teacher must speak French to her students!

Now, don’t get me wrong – the French that is spoken to the students must be comprehensible. It must also make use of repetition, gestures, and cognates — especially for beginners.

The moment I started to speak tons of French with my beginner students, their comprehension levels increased dramatically. I was so surprised at how much vocabulary they had picked up with implicit instruction and how much they understood!

How much are your beginner French students talking in class?

This next one actually goes hand in hand with the one we just discussed. How much are your students actually speaking in French? A good chunk of the period, especially in those early classes, needs to be devoted to your students speaking as much French as possible!

Consequently – Core French should be an immersive experience

Over the years, I have come to the realization that Core French classes must be immersive experiences for our students. This IS the best practice for language acquisition and proficiency.

I know this from learning Punjabi and French in immersive environments (the home and exchange programs), and I was silly to think that it would be any different for my beginner French classes.

I’d love to hear from you now – what mistakes have you made teaching French to your beginner Core French students? What valuable lessons have you learned?

The post How to teach beginner French to teenagers appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Picture this – you are a first-year French teacher excited to decorate your classroom. So you head to the Teacher supply store and they have one whole corner dedicated to French stuff. Everything is outdated, the fonts are so ugly, and the posters are so boring. Let me tell you that it does not have to be this way. In fact, this whole blog post is dedicated to inclusive, effective & gorgeous French classroom decor for the modern French classroom.

If you have 20ish minutes, please go ahead and watch my video where I share some important information related to French classroom decor!

Before we begin, you should note that I print all of my own classroom decor! I have a subscription to HP Instant Ink and I pay $5.99 a month for 100 pages. Ink shows up at my door weeks before I am in need!

If you are interested in trying out HP Instant Ink (and getting 1 free month of ink!), click here!

STOP! BEFORE YOU SCROLL – DOWNLOAD THESE FREE POSTERS

The problem with French classroom decor

The classroom decor products sold in teacher supply stores are so boring! I am not just referring to the aesthetics, but also the grammar and vocabulary. So many of the posters have way too much vocabulary listed on them and it is information overload for our Core French students.

Plus, a lot of the posters are the exact same French posters that my own Core French teachers had up in their classrooms. This reflects the fact that the companies making these posters are out of touch in regards to how French pedagogy has changed in the past 10+ years.

I certainly do not teach the same way that my High School French teachers did (still love them though) and I need my French classroom decorations to be reflective of that.

What makes ‘good’ classroom decor for Core French or Immersion?

Good French classroom decorations should be targeting our students at their level of language. Therefore, if you have advanced FRIMM students, your posters and decor should reflect and challenge your students’ language level.

Basically, it boils down to the fact that classroom decor isn’t just for aesthetics. French classroom decor should be a tool for your students. Classroom decor should serve a purpose!

Francophone musician posters

I am a huuuuge fan of teaching French music. For me personally having posters of Francophone musicians was a no-brainer!

These posters would make an excellent addition to your French bulletin boards and unit displays! This set includes posters of 26 francophone singers.

This is a prime example of the fact that French classroom decor should also inspire your students and bring culture into the world language classroom.

French common expressions posters

If you teach beginner French students or intermediate French students, you likely teach students who need visual reminders of major French expressions.

These French expression posters are an absolute must French classroom decor item in any Core French and/or Core French classroom! 

Poster versions :

• Colour + French only
• Colour + French & English 
• Black & white + French
• Black & white + French & English

French accents posters

Hands up if you get tired of being asked “which way does aigu go Madame??”.

That was a major problem I had in my first year of teaching.

So I made posters on all of the different accents. Now when I get asked this question, I just point at them.

Effective and functional French classroom decor for the win!

These are free too 🙂

French reading comprehension strategies posters

French classroom decor shouldn’t just be pretty, it should serve a major purpose. These French reading comprehension strategy posters do just that. These French posters are especially ideal for Core French students (grades 5+). If, after months of teaching, your French students ever say “but MADAME…I can’t read French!!!!” – you need these posters in your classroom ASAP. 

What strategies are included?

In total, there are six different strategies. I’ve included strategies in this resource that focus on the skills that students HAVE currently and strategies that will help each student feel more confident the more and more that they read. I’ve actually broken down all of these strategies in a blog post, so please read it at some point before you put these up in your classroom!

French subject pronoun posters

Another essential set of posters!

Which ‘pronoms personnels’ are included in this French decor set?

• Je
• tu
• iel
• elle
• il
• qui
• on
• nous
• vous
• iels
• elles
• ils

French command posters

As Core French teachers we tend to repeat certain French verbs or French commands in class. These French command posters serve as visual support for your students as you are teaching your lessons.

They are ideal for beginner or novice French students or intermediate French students. All you have to do is print, laminate, and put them up.

I like putting magnets on mine and put them up on the board as I teach them in the target language. 

Here are some examples of French verbs included :

– regardez

– écoutez

– écrivez

– levez-vous

– parlez

Essential question posters

If you teach Core French and/or French Immersion classes, having visual support for the essential French classroom questions is key!

As soon as I teach these, the expectation is that students will ask these questions in French!

I have these up in my high school Core French classroom and my students refer to these dozens of times a day. Posters include “est-ce que je peux” and “puis-je” options so you print whichever one you prefer.

French calendar sets

Say AU REVOIR to boring French calendar sets!

Whether you teach Core French Elementary or Secondary or Elementary French Immersion, calendar sets are essential. I actually have my beginner French students (Grade 8s) do a calendar routine every single class in order to practice essential questions and vocabulary.

REPETITION is key, y’all! Seriously, ditch the vocabulary lists and quizzes because that is not what will help them remember French vocabulary.

I do the calendar routine for the first month or so and then I have a different student do it everyday!

My French calendar routine consists of the following :

• Greetings/ça va
• quelle est la date aujourd’hui, quelle était la date hier, quelle sera la date hier
• combien d’élèves sont en classe aujourd’hui?
• quels sont les jours de la semaine?
• quels sont les mois de l’année?

French grammar posters & French verb posters

Okay, so here’s the deal – French grammar posters can actually be a very helpful tool for your students. However, I do not put ALL of these up on my classroom walls given the fact that that would be information overload.

So here is what I ACTUALLY do – after implicitly or explicitly teaching certain French grammar concepts, I put some of the French grammar posters in the photo below on my bulletin boards.

The posters I choose to put up reflect the current needs of my students. Therefore, I often switch up the French grammar posters when that need changes.

This is particularly important if you teach multiple levels of Core French or French Immersion!

These French grammar posters include the following posters :

What grammatical concepts are included?

• déterminants définis, indéfinis, démonstratifs, partitifs, possessifs
• pronoms personnels
• noms
• verbes
• adjectifs
• adverbes
• exemples de participes passés
• conjugaisons des verbes -ER au présent, -IR au présent, -RE au présent
• la négation (ne…pas, ne…jamais, etc)
• pronoms réfléchis, relatifs
• participes passés DR MRS VANDERTRAMP
• prépositions et les prépositions de lieu
• comment écrire une phrase

Be inclusive with your posters

This is the trifecta of posters at the entrance of my classroom.

During the summer of 2020, I created these free printable posters and I have them posted by my classroom door. It is important to show our students that BLM wasn’t just a trend to us. These posters are physical proof of our solidarity and activism for our Black students.

Click here for the Chaque enfant compte posters.

The Pride poster is from Oui Madame Oui. It’s part of a beautiful set!

French pronunciation posters

During the summer before my third year of teaching, I had the idea to create French pronunciation posters. I had noticed that my Core French students had been really struggling with French sound patterns.

These posters boosted their confidence as they were subtle reminders of common sound patterns. I have a whole blog post dedicated to how I use these French pronunciation tools in my French classroom if you are interested in learning more.

French Inspirational Quote Posters for the Classroom

Who says that French motivational quote posters have to be ugly (e.g. at the teacher supply store). Look at these beauties!

Save 20% with the full French classroom decor bundle

The post The truth about French classroom decor appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Are you looking for fun French games for the classroom? Look no further, you have definitely come to the right place! I am sharing with you 10 French learning games that my students LOVE. Some of these are online French games and others are physical games. Whether you are looking for French grammar games, French vocabulary games or multipurpose games — here are 11 fun games for French class!

1. A French vocabulary game – the French numbers game

To begin, this French learning game is perfect for beginner French classes. I play it with my students a few classes after teaching them French numbers. Additionally, it is just perfect for that first week of beginner French!

Goal of this French game : to practice French numbers

What you need : die (2-3 die per pair of students), a timer projected on the board, a piece of paper and a pencil per partner. My favourite online timer is bigtimer.net!

How it works :

• ask your students to partner up
• hand out 2-4 die to each set of partners
• set up a digital timer and project it on your board. I do 10 minutes.
• have your students roll the die and come up with as many (correct) addition equations in French as possible. For example, trois + cinq = huit
• After a few minutes, I begin to to add more die to their pile & halfway through the game I make them switch to multiplication!

2. La francophonie map game

My students are obsessed with this next French learning game! I always play it at the start of my first francophonie unit.

Goal of this French game : to see how well students can place francophone countries on the map. Hint : they can’t!

What you need : maps of francophone countries projected on the board, white board markers for students

How it works :

• distribute a whiteboard marker to each student OR use two for the whole class
• split your class up into two teams
• project a map of the world & name a francophone country
• one member per team has to run up to the board and circle that country correctly on the map
• team members can only assist vocally

If you are looking for this game without all of the hassles of prep, this French game is included in my régions francophones PowerPoint.

3. Quizlet Live

Next up is my students’ favourite online French game! My students love this game so much that they never ask for Kahoot anymore. In my classroom, we play Quizlet Live in teams, however, playing individually is also an option.

Goal of this French game : to work together as a team

What you need : a Quizlet account, a set (created by you or one you’ve searched up)

How it works :

• create or find a Quizlet set on a topic you have been studying in class
• go to the set
• click on the live button & start your game!
• a QR code or game code will appear on your screen
• students will join the game & create a name
• it will group students in teams next
• each time will have the same question, but each screen will have a number of possible answers. Only one screen will have the correct answer!

4. French Bingo Games – Halloween, Travel, Sports, Food

This next French vocabulary game is pretty self-explanatory! I have a few BINGO games printed, laminated & ready to go in my classroom. You would think that students would be indifferent to this old school game, but mine always beg for Bingo!

Goal of this French game : to practice key French vocabulary

What you need : printed/laminated Bingo cards, whiteboard markers & microfibre cloths for wiping

How it works :

• print and prep your Bingo games
• hand one out to each student, along with a whiteboard marker and microfibre cloth for erasing

5. Jeopardy

This next one is an oldie, but still a favourite French grammar game of my students! They get so into it, and my 90s/early 2000s heart gets so happy!

Goal of this French game : to practice key French grammar or vocabulary via this online French game

What you need : a pre-made & ready to go Jeopardy game or one you’ve searched up, individual whiteboards, whiteboard markers

How it works :

• find or create your Jeopardy game. I use jeopardylabs.net
• divide your students into pairs
• project the jeopardy game
• hand out 1 whiteboard + pen to each pair

6. French taboo

I recently played Taboo in English with my students and it was such a hit! The majority had never played this game ever before and they had so much fun! We ended up ordering French Taboo games from Amazon for our Grade 11 and 12 students. Disclaimer: I have yet to play this game, but it seems to be perfect for advanced French students!

Goal of this French game : to practice French vocabulary

What you need : French taboo (from Amazon or elsewhere)

How it works :

• purchase French Taboo
• split your class into two teams
• have one member from each team come up to the front for each round

7. French trivia games

Goal of this French game : to learn about a variety of different topics or review information about topics

What you need : pre-made French trivia games (or make them yourself), your computer, and projector and maybe even candy or stickers for prizes

How it works :

• Display the trivia game
• Remind students that you have to read the question as a class and they have to raise their hand and wait to be called upon
• Pick a student and see if their answer was correct!

8. Categories

I couldn’t make a list of my favourite fun French games without including Categories in it! Since having fun is one of my biggest priorities in French class, we always play Categories every few weeks!

Goal of this French game : to practice French vocabulary

What you need : a ball for tossing

How it works :

• take your students outside preferably or have them spread out evenly in the classroom
• state a category of French vocabulary your students will be familiar with
• toss the ball to the first person. They have to name a word in that category either before they catch the ball or within 2 seconds of catching the ball
• if they do not say a word within 2 seconds, they are out

Possible categories :

• matériel scolaire
• adjectifs
• sports
• activité avec faire
• couleurs
• aliments
• French irregular verbs
• French ER verbs

9. Vocabulary tag

Vocabulary tag is a fun French game perfect for any level of French! This game is actually very similar to Categories. The main difference is that this game is much more active than Categories. I would say it’s ideal for Elementary to Grade 8 students. It’s especially perfect if you feel that your students have tons of energy that needs to be released!

Goal of this French game : to practice French vocabulary

What you need : the outdoors or a gym

How it works :

• go outside or to your gym (if it’s available)
• decide on your category (see above)
• have students stand in a giant circle
• one person will be in the middle, they are “it”
• they run to someone in the circle and that person has to shout a word in the category you have selected
• if the person standing in the circle is too slow or does not say a word, they are now it!

10. Musical chairs without chairs

Musical chairs without chairs is another game I play with my beginner French students in the first week of French. We spend tons of time practicing French greetings and salutations. Therefore, this game is perfect for the first week of French class!

Goal of this French game : to practice French salutations, greetings and conversational basics

What you need : catchy French music & a loud speaker

How it works :

• create a French music playlist filled with catchy French songs
• play an upbeat French song
• have your students stand up and begin to walk around the classroom
• stop the music after 30 seconds or so and have your students turn to the person closest to them to have a quick conversation
• repeat!

11. Vocabulary pictionary

Last but not least is an interactive French vocabulary game that will result in tons of laughter & fun!

Goal of this French game : to practice French vocabulary

What you need : 1 whiteboard, 1 whiteboard marker & 1 whiteboard eraser per pair

How it works :

• create a list of French vocabulary that your students have recently been practicing in French class
• have students pair up and sit with their partner
• distribute 1 whiteboard and 1 whiteboard marker to each pair
• share a vocabulary term with your students. For example, ‘un chat’
• they must draw an image illustrating that vocabulary term and quickly throw it up in the air
• first pair to get it correct wins a point!

What French classroom games do you play with your French students?

Thank you so much for reading all the way to the bottom of this article! I hope that your students love all of these games for French class! What French vocabulary games or French grammar games do you play with your own students? Are there any online French games that your students are obsessed with? We would love to hear your recommendations in the comments below!

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