French – Year 7
The main aim for students in their first year of learning French is to develop competence in communicating about a variety of everyday situations. Year 7 students gradually acquire listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and are introduced to the culture and customs of France and other French-speaking countries. Students have not studied French prior to commencing this course and as such it is an introductory course designed to give them basic language skills that they can build on in further years.
Topics covered include:
- An Introduction to French – this topic includes content such as basic greetings and phrases, the alphabet, numbers, months of the year, days of the week, colours, animals, classroom phrases, expressions and commands, writing the date in French and much more.
- The family – this topic includes learning words associated with family members and interacting with family members. It also covers some of the cultural differences between family settings in French speaking countries and Australia
- French food and drinks – this topic includes learning vocabulary associated with food and drinks, ordering meals and places where you can buy food. It also allows the students to try a variety of different French foods and learn about the many differences between French restaurants, cafes, shops and foods.
- The holidays – this unit includes content such as activities people enjoy on vacation, places people go on holidays, sports and events such as Christmas, Easter and other holidays throughout the year.
- French speaking countries around the world – this unit is a cultural studies unit which involves students learning about the importance of the French language and culture and the large number of French speaking countries around the world.
Homework and Assessment
Students are required to develop the habit of revising new vocabulary after every lesson so that they will be able to participate in subsequent lessons.
Students are expected to use the vocabulary they have learnt in the classroom to improve their speaking and listening skills and improve their understanding of the French language.
Students are assessed on their cultural knowledge and listening, speaking, reading and writing skills as shown through their performance in a variety of assessment tasks and their class work. Some of these tasks include topic tests, projects, role plays, listening tests, cultural studies research projects and class tasks.
Important Websites:
- http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/pdf_doc/french_k10_syllabus.pdf
- http://www.digitaldialects.com/French.htm
- http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/c4modernlanguages/mimi/main/french_main_menu.asp
- http://www.flash-games.net/online/1605/la-petanque.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
- http://www.afmelbourne.com.au/
- http://www.languagegames.org/
- http://www.languagesonline.org.uk/
- http://www.uni.edu/becker/french31.html
- http://www.transparent.com/learn-french/games/