Why Learn French?
Watch this video: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france-priorities_1/francophony-french-language_1113/french-language_1934/french-language-in-the-world_3441/why-learn-french_10849.html
French is spoken by about 270 million people world-wide. About 110 million people use it as their mother tongue or are fluent in it while another 63 million are partly French-speakers and 85 million young people and adults are learning it. France is NOT only spoken in France, or even just in Europe. It is spoken as the national, official or second language in North America, South America, Africa and Asia, too. Spoken on five continents, French is used in more than 50 countries as a language for international communication, culture, diplomacy, science and research.
Need some more reasons? Well, French is...
* the second most taught foreign language in the world after English;
* a language of international diplomacy, law and culture;
* the romance language most closely related to English: more than one-third of English words trace their origins back to
French;
* an official language of the United Nations, International Red Cross, UNESCO, NATO and the Olympics among others;
* a passport to experience the art, literature, music, fashion, food and architecture of France and the many French-speaking
cultures;
* a gateway to endless career possibilities in the fields of medicine, civil engineering, international distribution, oil and gas,
power generation, luxury goods, aviation and other transportation technologies. Not only do American companies have an
established presence in France, but more than 1200 French companies in the United States employ nearly half a million
Americans. Additionally, our largest trading partner is Canada, where French and English are the official languages.
French is spoken by about 270 million people world-wide. About 110 million people use it as their mother tongue or are fluent in it while another 63 million are partly French-speakers and 85 million young people and adults are learning it. France is NOT only spoken in France, or even just in Europe. It is spoken as the national, official or second language in North America, South America, Africa and Asia, too. Spoken on five continents, French is used in more than 50 countries as a language for international communication, culture, diplomacy, science and research.
Need some more reasons? Well, French is...
* the second most taught foreign language in the world after English;
* a language of international diplomacy, law and culture;
* the romance language most closely related to English: more than one-third of English words trace their origins back to
French;
* an official language of the United Nations, International Red Cross, UNESCO, NATO and the Olympics among others;
* a passport to experience the art, literature, music, fashion, food and architecture of France and the many French-speaking
cultures;
* a gateway to endless career possibilities in the fields of medicine, civil engineering, international distribution, oil and gas,
power generation, luxury goods, aviation and other transportation technologies. Not only do American companies have an
established presence in France, but more than 1200 French companies in the United States employ nearly half a million
Americans. Additionally, our largest trading partner is Canada, where French and English are the official languages.
How Should I Study?
Watch this video!
To be successful in anything, you must practice. Learning a language is no different than learning a musical instrument or developing a sports skill. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. And like math or music, part of practicing requires that you memorize certain things. How can you solve for x if you can't quickly and easily recall your multiplication tables? How can you play a piece of music if you haven't memorized the notes on the scale? To learn a language, you must memorize vocabulary, spelling and grammar rules so that you can use them. When you interact with a real, live French-speaking person, no one is going to talk to you in multiple choice or word bank. Of course, you are going to make mistakes and not speak or understand perfectly. But if you are memorizing, you will make fewer mistakes.
So, what can you do to be successful in French?
1. Do your homework when it is assigned and do it accurately. This means don't guess at vocabulary or spelling. Use your book or notes as reference. Being consistent in your homework completion means that you will have to spend less time later on studying for a test because you have been doing a little bit all along.
2. On nights when there is no specific homework assignment, you should be reviewing for at least 10 minutes. You can do this by going over your notes, by making flashcards, by using www.classzone.com, by playing games on related content at some of the links provided in the links section, by talking or texting a friend in French...the possibilities are endless. The point is to use what you are studying.
3. Watch this video: Learning Vocabulary Techniques: http://www.curriculumbits.com/proddetail.php?prod=ger0018&cat=27
4. Just because you use flashcards doesn't mean you can only flip them from Engligh to French. There are so many things you can do with them. The video gives you the example of taping them to your bathroom mirror so that you see them every day. But you could also...
** make them into a matching game. Instead of writing both the English and French on the same card, write them on two different cards. Then flip them all over and match them back up. Time yourself and see how quickly you can get them together;
** color code your nouns. Put the masculine nouns on blue cards (or write them in blue) and the feminine ones in pink. Sometimes seeing things visually helps you remember them.
** use them to learn verbs. Put all of the conjugations on a separate card and make one for the infinitive, too. Mix up your cards and then put them back in the correct order. This is especially good to do with irregular verbs. You can even mix up a bunch of different verbs and put them not only in the correct order but with the correct infinitive. Time yourself to see how quickly you can do this.
5. Don't wait until the night before a quiz or test to start studying. You can't cram it all in at one go. If you are doing homework and reviewing (practicing) nightly, you haven't waited until the night before to start to studying.
6. Ask questions when you don't understand. Most likely, other students have the same question. So go ahead and ask. Otherwise, you will be frustrated that you don't understand something and I will be under the impression that since you aren't asking questions, you undestand what you are doing.
7. Come in for help when you need it. Just let me know the day before that you are coming so that I can be sure to be in my room. Again, don't wait until the morning of a quiz or test to do this. It doesn't do you much good at the last minute and I may not be available then.
8. Use French as much as you can. Use it when you see me around school. Go to a French cafe and talk to them in French. Explore the links: watch music videos, listen to French music or watch French tv, play on-line learning games, practice your listening skills; put French music on your iPod. The more you use French on a daily basis, the easier it will become for you. And when things are easier, you tend to do them more. And the more you do them, the better you get and the more you want to do them. You see where I am going with this, n'est-ce pas?
So, what can you do to be successful in French?
1. Do your homework when it is assigned and do it accurately. This means don't guess at vocabulary or spelling. Use your book or notes as reference. Being consistent in your homework completion means that you will have to spend less time later on studying for a test because you have been doing a little bit all along.
2. On nights when there is no specific homework assignment, you should be reviewing for at least 10 minutes. You can do this by going over your notes, by making flashcards, by using www.classzone.com, by playing games on related content at some of the links provided in the links section, by talking or texting a friend in French...the possibilities are endless. The point is to use what you are studying.
3. Watch this video: Learning Vocabulary Techniques: http://www.curriculumbits.com/proddetail.php?prod=ger0018&cat=27
4. Just because you use flashcards doesn't mean you can only flip them from Engligh to French. There are so many things you can do with them. The video gives you the example of taping them to your bathroom mirror so that you see them every day. But you could also...
** make them into a matching game. Instead of writing both the English and French on the same card, write them on two different cards. Then flip them all over and match them back up. Time yourself and see how quickly you can get them together;
** color code your nouns. Put the masculine nouns on blue cards (or write them in blue) and the feminine ones in pink. Sometimes seeing things visually helps you remember them.
** use them to learn verbs. Put all of the conjugations on a separate card and make one for the infinitive, too. Mix up your cards and then put them back in the correct order. This is especially good to do with irregular verbs. You can even mix up a bunch of different verbs and put them not only in the correct order but with the correct infinitive. Time yourself to see how quickly you can do this.
5. Don't wait until the night before a quiz or test to start studying. You can't cram it all in at one go. If you are doing homework and reviewing (practicing) nightly, you haven't waited until the night before to start to studying.
6. Ask questions when you don't understand. Most likely, other students have the same question. So go ahead and ask. Otherwise, you will be frustrated that you don't understand something and I will be under the impression that since you aren't asking questions, you undestand what you are doing.
7. Come in for help when you need it. Just let me know the day before that you are coming so that I can be sure to be in my room. Again, don't wait until the morning of a quiz or test to do this. It doesn't do you much good at the last minute and I may not be available then.
8. Use French as much as you can. Use it when you see me around school. Go to a French cafe and talk to them in French. Explore the links: watch music videos, listen to French music or watch French tv, play on-line learning games, practice your listening skills; put French music on your iPod. The more you use French on a daily basis, the easier it will become for you. And when things are easier, you tend to do them more. And the more you do them, the better you get and the more you want to do them. You see where I am going with this, n'est-ce pas?
Can I use an on-line/hand-held or other type of translator?
NO. The use of any of these, or even a real person to translate for you, is not acceptable in a world language class for a number of reasons:
First, the work is not yours and is thus considered cheating.
Second, the work is not reflective of your abilities, knowledge and what you can do. When you use a translator, you can translate verb tenses, idioms and grammatical constructions that you don't know (and wouldn't find by looking in a dictionary). Using translated material in this way does not help you learn or understand it. The point of homework, writing assignments and projects is for you to demonstrate what you know and are able to do. It is important to show what you are able to do on your own based on what you are learning in class. It's perfectly fine to use a dictionary to look up some words that you want to use but don't know, but if you are using a translator you are doing more than just looking up a new word. You are writing phrases or sentences in English and getting them back in French without having done the work yourself.
Third, on-line or hand-held translators often translate incorrectly. While language is idiomatic, translators can be so literal that the resulting phrase or sentence does not make any sense once translated.
Finally, using any kind of translator is like letting someone else do your work. If you wouldn't let someone else write portions of your English paper or do some of your math problems, you should not even consider using a translator.
Students who do use translators will be subject to the school penalities that result from academic dishonesty.
What is the difference between a dictionary and a translator?
A dictionary, whether an actual book or on-line, gives you only one word. For example, if you want to know how to say "play" in French, a dictionary would give you all the possible meanings of the word: do you mean the verb, jouer, or the noun, une pièce de théâtre or some idiom that uses the word play? In a dicitionary, all possible meanings will be available and the viewer must select the correct one and make any necessary changes to use it correctly (for example: know to conjugate the verb jouer if the intended sense was the action "to play").
A translator, on the other hand, allows you to put in two or more words and you get back a finished product that is grammatically, and hopefully idiomatically, correct. A translator will make correct subject-verb, subject-pronoun, adjective and other types of agreements for you. It will also translate verb tenses and grammatical constructions that you have not yet learned and to which you are not introduced until higher levels of French. And finally, a translator will attempt to translate idiomatically - sometimes correctly and sometimes not. For all of these reasons, it is very easy for a teacher to spot student work where a translator has been used.
When in doubt, please ask.
First, the work is not yours and is thus considered cheating.
Second, the work is not reflective of your abilities, knowledge and what you can do. When you use a translator, you can translate verb tenses, idioms and grammatical constructions that you don't know (and wouldn't find by looking in a dictionary). Using translated material in this way does not help you learn or understand it. The point of homework, writing assignments and projects is for you to demonstrate what you know and are able to do. It is important to show what you are able to do on your own based on what you are learning in class. It's perfectly fine to use a dictionary to look up some words that you want to use but don't know, but if you are using a translator you are doing more than just looking up a new word. You are writing phrases or sentences in English and getting them back in French without having done the work yourself.
Third, on-line or hand-held translators often translate incorrectly. While language is idiomatic, translators can be so literal that the resulting phrase or sentence does not make any sense once translated.
Finally, using any kind of translator is like letting someone else do your work. If you wouldn't let someone else write portions of your English paper or do some of your math problems, you should not even consider using a translator.
Students who do use translators will be subject to the school penalities that result from academic dishonesty.
What is the difference between a dictionary and a translator?
A dictionary, whether an actual book or on-line, gives you only one word. For example, if you want to know how to say "play" in French, a dictionary would give you all the possible meanings of the word: do you mean the verb, jouer, or the noun, une pièce de théâtre or some idiom that uses the word play? In a dicitionary, all possible meanings will be available and the viewer must select the correct one and make any necessary changes to use it correctly (for example: know to conjugate the verb jouer if the intended sense was the action "to play").
A translator, on the other hand, allows you to put in two or more words and you get back a finished product that is grammatically, and hopefully idiomatically, correct. A translator will make correct subject-verb, subject-pronoun, adjective and other types of agreements for you. It will also translate verb tenses and grammatical constructions that you have not yet learned and to which you are not introduced until higher levels of French. And finally, a translator will attempt to translate idiomatically - sometimes correctly and sometimes not. For all of these reasons, it is very easy for a teacher to spot student work where a translator has been used.
When in doubt, please ask.
How can I help my child if I don't speak French?
Even if you don't speak French, you can still help your child be successful in French class. At the beginning stages of learning a language, students must memorize vocabulary, spelling and grammar rules so that thhey can easily recall and apply them. With access to your child's book, on-line book or flashcards that s/he has made, you will be able to tell if your child has memorized what they are currently learning.
It is important that students review nightly what they have learned in class. Homework is meant to reinforce new concepts and should be completed with accuracy in mind and not just to get it done. Encourage your child to make the most of his classtime by actively participating and trying to use the French he is learning. On nights when there is no specific homework assignment, students should be reviewing. This would be a great time to use our companion website www.classzone.com to practice vocabulary with speaking flashcards, take practice quizzes and review current lessons at easy, moderate and advanced levels of difficulty. Encourage your child to ask for help as soon as he doesn't understand something. Remind them not to wait until the night before the quiz or test to study.
You can also review vocabulary with your child by giving them a word in English and letting them give it to you in French. You can quiz your child on his completed study guide. Did he easily give you the answers or did he seem hesitant? Did he know the word in French, its spelling and its gender (for nouns)? Did he have the study guide completed? Without knowing any French, you can gauge your child's knowledge and progress by asking yourself these types of questions.
If students memorize vocabulary, spelling and grammar rules, they will be successful in French. The more they practice, the easier memorization becomes.
It is important that students review nightly what they have learned in class. Homework is meant to reinforce new concepts and should be completed with accuracy in mind and not just to get it done. Encourage your child to make the most of his classtime by actively participating and trying to use the French he is learning. On nights when there is no specific homework assignment, students should be reviewing. This would be a great time to use our companion website www.classzone.com to practice vocabulary with speaking flashcards, take practice quizzes and review current lessons at easy, moderate and advanced levels of difficulty. Encourage your child to ask for help as soon as he doesn't understand something. Remind them not to wait until the night before the quiz or test to study.
You can also review vocabulary with your child by giving them a word in English and letting them give it to you in French. You can quiz your child on his completed study guide. Did he easily give you the answers or did he seem hesitant? Did he know the word in French, its spelling and its gender (for nouns)? Did he have the study guide completed? Without knowing any French, you can gauge your child's knowledge and progress by asking yourself these types of questions.
If students memorize vocabulary, spelling and grammar rules, they will be successful in French. The more they practice, the easier memorization becomes.
How can I know my child's grades or upcoming assignments?
How can I know my child's grades? Grades are posted in Infinite Campus. Parents who have signed up for IC can check their child's grades at any time.
How can I know about upcoming assignments? Projects, quizzes and tests are always posted in IC in advance. Tests and projects are posted at least a week before the due date while quizzes may be posted only a few days before. In addition, all homework, projects, quizzes and tests are written on the board in the classroom. Students are expected to copy this information in their agenda so that they will have access to it at home.
How can I know about upcoming assignments? Projects, quizzes and tests are always posted in IC in advance. Tests and projects are posted at least a week before the due date while quizzes may be posted only a few days before. In addition, all homework, projects, quizzes and tests are written on the board in the classroom. Students are expected to copy this information in their agenda so that they will have access to it at home.
Is Spanish easier and more useful than French?
In short...NO to both questions!
Of course, we are all different. What is easy for one person may be diffcult for another. But there is a common misperception that Spanish is easier than French. While it may be true that Spanish is easier to pronounce than French, there is more to a language than just how it sounds. And this is where Spanish is NOT easier than French. Spanish grammar, although similar to French, is more difficult. There are common Spanish verbal constructions and tenses that range from not being used at all to be being used sparingly in French. Finally, about a third of the words in English actually come from French. French is the romance language closest to English.
Another misconception is that Spanish if more useful. This has to do with the fact that we seem to be surrounded by Spanish speakers in metro-Atlanta. Students learning Spanish may have many opportunities to interact with Spanish-speakers in their daily lives. And, it may seem that learning Spanish would give students an advantage once they hit the job market. However, while Spanish is only spoken in North and South America, French is spoken on five continents by more than 200 million people. Right here in Georgia there are many international companies that have offices in or business dealings with French-speaking countries. Georgia's number one trading partner is bilingual Canada and number six is France. Thus, jobs in Georgia (and in the US) need French speakers. And when it comes to competing for jobs that require a foreign language, since fewer students are learning French than Spanish, there will be less competition. On the other hand, Spanish students will have to compete not only with the greater number of other students also learning Spanish but will all of the native Spanish speakers who are also fluent in English. All other things being equal, native Spanish speakers who are also fluent in English will always have an advantage over English speakers who have only taken high school or some college Spanish.
Of course, we are all different. What is easy for one person may be diffcult for another. But there is a common misperception that Spanish is easier than French. While it may be true that Spanish is easier to pronounce than French, there is more to a language than just how it sounds. And this is where Spanish is NOT easier than French. Spanish grammar, although similar to French, is more difficult. There are common Spanish verbal constructions and tenses that range from not being used at all to be being used sparingly in French. Finally, about a third of the words in English actually come from French. French is the romance language closest to English.
Another misconception is that Spanish if more useful. This has to do with the fact that we seem to be surrounded by Spanish speakers in metro-Atlanta. Students learning Spanish may have many opportunities to interact with Spanish-speakers in their daily lives. And, it may seem that learning Spanish would give students an advantage once they hit the job market. However, while Spanish is only spoken in North and South America, French is spoken on five continents by more than 200 million people. Right here in Georgia there are many international companies that have offices in or business dealings with French-speaking countries. Georgia's number one trading partner is bilingual Canada and number six is France. Thus, jobs in Georgia (and in the US) need French speakers. And when it comes to competing for jobs that require a foreign language, since fewer students are learning French than Spanish, there will be less competition. On the other hand, Spanish students will have to compete not only with the greater number of other students also learning Spanish but will all of the native Spanish speakers who are also fluent in English. All other things being equal, native Spanish speakers who are also fluent in English will always have an advantage over English speakers who have only taken high school or some college Spanish.