French Colour Words – New Post at ClubMimi.com
French Adjectives – Agreement in Colour WordsFrench colour words, like other adjectives, must change their forms depending on whether the nouns they are describing are masculine (le/un words) or feminine (la/une words) and singular or plural.
Read more at ClubMimi.com
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French Pronunciation – How to Say Those New Sounds
English speakers in North America and around the world often have difficulty mastering the sounds of the French language. While many sounds are the same in French and English, there are several sounds that are so different they can hardly be described in English!
Here is an overview of some of these difficult pronunciations, and some tricks that will help you to master them and be on your way to speaking French like a native francophone.
The French u
The French u sound is similar to the English oo in food. The difference is in the flavor! To imitate the French u sound, hold your tongue and teeth as if you are saying ee in teeth. Go ahead, say ee. Without repositioning your tongue and teeth, shape your lips to say oo in food. Voila! This is how to pronounce the distinctive u sound in French.
Just a note: You will need to move your mouth to speak French. French speakers move their mouths much more than English speakers when they talk. This is why people who speak French are such good kissers! All that exercise strengthens the muscles.
Nasal Sounds
Nasal sounds are pretty much impossible to describe in words. They need to be heard and imitated. Here are some suggestions, though. These sounds, as indicated by the letters an, am, en, em, in, im, on, om, un, um, yn, and ym, really are nasal. You need to force some of the air up into the top of the back of your throat to properly pronounce them. You should be able to feel your nose vibrate if you are pronouncing these sounds correctly. Don’t worry. French people do this all the time!
Rolling R’s
The French r is distinctive, but there is also some room for variation. Having said that, here are some tips to help you get closer to the elusive French r. The fierce English r, with tongue pulled firmly back to the top of the throat, is unique. Though the French r might seem harsh to English speakers, it is actually a much softer sound.
Make your English r sound. Feel the rattle in the back of your throat. Now pull your tongue forward in your mouth to touch the back of your bottom teeth. It might feel a bit like gargling at first, but the sound should come out as something like the throaty French r.
Don’t be discouraged if this is difficult for you! Not all of us are born imitators, and we often need some coaching to correctly reproduce new sounds.
As we speak our native languages, most of us never give a single thought as to where we place our tongues, our teeth, and our lips. When learning another language, though, we need to think about these things. Correct positioning will help you to master difficult French sounds.
Visit Nallenart for more information about our French curriculum for grades K-9.
French Adjectives – New Post at ClubMimi.com
French Adjectives – Agreement in Number and GenderFrench adjectives can change their forms depending on whether the nouns they describe are masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Usually the feminine form adds “e” to the masculine adjective. This can change the pronunciation of the adjective by causing the final consonant to be pronounced. Read more at ClubMimi.com
Visit Nallenart for more information about our French curriculum for grades K-9.
French Lessons From Your Dictionary
What dictionary should you buy? I highly recommend investing in the biggest and best one you can afford. Small paperback and pocket dictionaries just don’t have all the information you will need. A larger version, on the other hand, will contain conjugations, grammar, word histories, examples of world usage, and even sample letters and phrases to help you in conversation and composition.
Having a comprehensive dictionary allows you to build your French lessons based on other topics that you may be studying. If you are studying the continents of the world, for example, you can look them up and label them on your map in both French and English.
As you work through your history or science lessons, you can also do themed projects in French, such as booklets, posters, and oral presentations using the vocabulary of the specific areas you are working on. You might assign, for example, a poster on the mammals of North America. Your students can label their projects in English and French to double up on the learning potential.
One favorite project, when I taught my middle school classes, was always a restaurant menu. In our unit on food, students would make themed menus, designing colorful covers, inventing interesting restaurant names, and listing off the various meats, vegetables, beverages, and other foods they were learning about. Some students chose a sports theme, some a garden theme, etc. As a follow-up we would use the menus to act out a visit to the restaurant.
Having a comprehensive dictionary allows you to follow areas of interest to your children such as soccer, basketball, animals, cooking, etc. For a few years I taught a group of homeschoolled boys in my home once a week. One of our projects was learning about hockey equipment. I brought my son’s smelly hockey gear out and spread it around my kitchen and we named each piece. Then the boys drew pictures of hockey players, labelling their equipment. It was great fun, and the boys were motivated because it was a topic they were interested in.
Are you planning your vegetable garden for next spring? Map out where you will plant your beans, tomatoes, etc. and label it in French. Do you feed the birds in your backyard? Make a checklist in French of birds that are common to your area and check off each bird as you see it. Are you making a fun dessert for the family? Find the recipe in French and see if it tastes just as good!
With a good French-English dictionary, you can make French a relevant and fun part of your homeschool curriculum.
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Trivia Facts and Quiz
The French Embassy in Canada has a fun page of information and quizzes on French trivia here:
http://www.ambafrance-ca.org/kid/kidFrameset-en.htm
Topics include culture, daily life, history, politics, geography, and economy.
Follow the link and test your knowledge!
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The importance of phonics
When your child is ready to learn to read in French, it is important to teach French phonics along with your vocabulary. While many sounds are the same in French, there are many sounds that are different. This can cause confusion and frustration if you don’t make sure that these differences are explained.
Sounds that are the same in French and English
| SOUND | ENGLISH WORD | FRENCH WORD |
| ch (sh) | machine | chaud |
| c, k, qu | cat, keen, plaque | crayon, kayak, quatre |
| f, ph | France, telephone | France, téléphone |
| g | beige | girafe |
| g | gate | garçon |
| l | lion | lion |
| m | mirror | miroir |
| n | nine | neuf |
| p | pear | pomme |
| r | red | rouge |
| s, sc, c | since, science, centre | souris, science, centre |
| t, th | table | table, thé |
| v | vent | va |
| w | week | week-end |
| z, s | zebra, poison | zèbre, faisons |
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Vocabulary ideas for primary grades
When introducing French to young children, your vocabulary should include the same types of things that children would learn in kindergarten.
Vocabulary ideas for primary grades:
1) numbers – both counting and random numbers
un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze
Listen to the numbers 1-12 podcast at ClubMimi.com
2) colours – at least the masculine singular
rouge, jaune, bleu, orange, violet, vert, brun, noir, blanc
3) conversation and manners – introductions, please, thank you
eg.: bonjour, au revoir, je m’appelle…, comment vous appelez-vous?, s’il vous plaît, merci
4) classroom items – whatever your child uses every day
eg.: un crayon, un cahier, un livre, une chaise
5) days of the week – both in order and randomly
dimanche, lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi
6) the alphabet – The French alphabet uses the same letters as English, but with different names.
Listen to the alphabet podcast at ClubMimi.com
These are just a few suggestions. For complete lesson plans and teaching aids, see Nallenart’s L’Art de dire.
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Get a good dictionary
If you are at all serious about teaching French at home, you will need to invest in a good French-English dictionary. My advice is not to settle for less than 100,000 words. A dictionary of this size will have all you will ever need, including complete pronunciation guides, grammar, and conjugations.
Warning! A comprehensive dictionary will include the “bad” words as well as the good ones. This is only a good thing as you should also learn what not to say as you progress in language study.
While there are several internet translators available, these are generally unreliable. Language is so full of idioms which are difficult to translate. For example, one of my students handed in a composition that made “I’ll be right back” sound like the equivalent of “I’ll be left front.” His translation, while word for word and literal, made no sense at all. This is less likely to happen with a good dictionary that gives examples of word usage.
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How to master numbers in French
While learning numbers in French is really just a matter of memorizing them, there are many ways to make the process fun and enjoyable. The secret to mastery is to make sure the numbers are practiced out of order.
As a teacher, I have encountered many students who can count like wildfire, but have no idea how to identify a number out of order. Attempts to do so usually involve rapid counting. This can take some time when the number is over fifty!
The good news is that there are many fun ways to ensure that numbers are drilled randomly. You can use a deck of number cards, either shuffled to say numbers randomly, or laid out face down in a grid to play Concentration.
You can write numbers on pieces of paper and draw them out of a hat. Do this first one at a time, then two at a time to add them, then two at a time to multiply them, as you learn higher numbers.
Bingo is a great game to practice numbers randomly. Counting by twos, threes, fives, and tens is a great way to get students thinking about their numbers. There are many possibilities to have fun and gain mastery of this important subject.
Listen to the numbers 1-12 podcast at ClubMimi.com
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When is the best time to begin second language studies?"
Many parents ask, “When is the best time to begin second language studies?” There is often a fear that it might be too late to begin past a certain age. While younger is better generally, children can be successful studying language at any age once there is an understanding of how this type of learning takes place.
It is true that there is an optimum window for learning language naturally. The tremendous gains in comprehension that a child makes from birth to age two or three, for example, can never be repeated at that rate or intensity. Even though the two year old child cannot necessarily articulate clearly all that he has learned, the incredible leap in vocabulary and the grasp of basic grammatical concepts during this period is mind-boggling.
It is important to note that the rate of language acquisition slows considerably after this initial rush. Rare studies of feral children indicate that if a child has not mastered the basics of language by the age of twelve, it is impossible to go back and recover them. The window is closed.
These findings shed suspicion on claims that certain language learning programs can teach a second language “naturally,” that is, in the same way that language is acquired by the infant, through exposure and immersion. It takes more than this.
Unfortunately for those seeking a shortcut, second language learning must be approached in the same way as learning the times tables, or the capital cities of Europe, through instruction, memorization, drill, and testing. While this sounds very dry and boring, it certainly doesn’t need to be.
French is a subject you can have fun with. Number drill can be disguised in game playing. Vocabulary can be rehearsed through a drawing game like Pictionary, or an acting game like Charades. Listening to music and singing songs are enjoyable ways to gain exposure to new words and sounds. Explanation, regular use, and repetition are the key to second language learning. These can take place at any age.
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