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The French Curriculum Club.

Each year I vowed I would dutifully keep track of every remotely educational thing my sweeties did every day. Each year I failed miserably at this!

Thankfully, I always made sure that my kids were working from a well laid-out curriculum. This ensured that however badly I had kept track of the daily activities, at the end of the year I could say we had completed such-and-such program and so covered all the necessary scholastic bases.

I always advise that homeschoolers, especially those who are new, work from established curricula to ensure that their children don’t have any confusing gaps in their education. That this makes record keeping easier is a great bonus!

As a French teacher at the middle school level, and even with primary students, I often had new students come into my class who were frustrated with French, and not experiencing the success they were capable of.

Often the source of this frustration was some kind of gap in their understanding. Perhaps this was some point of grammar they had never quite understood. Perhaps it was that they had not been taught French phonics and so were unsure about reading aloud.

Having a good curriculum not only makes record keeping a breeze, it also gives students a comprehensive, step by step introduction to each key concept at just the right time. A win-win situation in the homeschool and in the classroom!

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.

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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Sounds that are the same in French and English

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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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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.