Description
This Introductory French course puts emphasis on the verbal aspect of the French language covering a wide range of material from Grades 2-6 and beyond. We prepared this unique course with two main recipients in mind. On one hand, the students who have never had any contact with the French language, so they can develop their verbal fluency before the written one, and those who had learned French previously but need to improve their vocabulary and speaking proficiency in French. On the other hand, the parents who have no knowledge of the French language, so that, due to our unique methodology, videos’ content, and reviews, they can follow the daily progress of their children and feel confident enough to monitor their progress.
Course Introduction
Video: This video sheds some light on our philosophy of teaching Second Languages, in general, and French in particular. It underlines our emphasis on the verbal aspect of the language and the priority given to vocabulary over grammar at the early stages of the learning process. It provides the learners with a clear understanding of the intensity of our teaching methodology and approach, and of the tangible results that the learner will achieve very quickly in each lesson. (1:53)
Video: This video presents a clear description of the process I follow in this course, to allow the students to perform to the maximum of their potential. The emphasis in my video-lessons is on the verbal aspect of the language first. The key to succeed in my program is consistency. If the child, the student, the adult spends at least 5 minutes every single day, the learner will feel the tangible results very quickly. In my view, fluency leads to self-confidence which leads to learning. If we make mistakes while learning, and someone helps us know where our mistakes are, and how to correct them, we learn from them and we become fluent in the language. But if we do not know what and where our mistakes are, we will run the risk of making them again. The more we know what we want to say and how to say it properly, the more our self-confidence grows and the more we learn. (2:53)
Lesson I:
Video 1: In this video, the students will be exposed to some basic French vocabulary dealing with salutations, days of the week, seasons, weather expressions, and the use of “who, what, how” in context. (3:20)
Video 2: The students will be responding to a set of questions in French. They will listen to each question, pause the video, and try to respond to the question in a complete sentence. Once the video is turned on again, the students will hear one or more answers to the question given by the instructor. This way, they will be able to compare their answers to those of the instructor, and they will have the opportunity to enrich their vocabulary by listening and grasping the meaning of the various answers. (4:33)
Video 3: This video is made up of an interview based on the vocabulary of lesson 1. This is an opportunity for the students to instantly use the vocabulary acquired in French. (3:02)
Video 4: The students will be able to see and listen to the answers for the interview questions, given by the instructor, and will be able to evaluate the degree of their progress in French verbal fluency. At the same time, it will be an opportunity to learn about the structure of the written sentence in French after having used it verbally. (4:27)
Video 5: This is an opportunity for the students to read with the instructor, at the same pace and speed. This video enables the learners to gain confidence and exposes them to a unique contact with the instructor, by reading the dialogue in a live situation, with intonation and expression. (3:50)
Lesson II:
In this lesson, the students will be exposed to more vocabulary dealing with personal information, so they will be able to talk about themselves and to put questions to others in French also. As we say, the more we practise, the more fluent and confident we become. (2:08)
Video 1: This dialogue will help the student talk about:
– age
– grade
– birthday
– date, months
– place of residence
– numbers 1-60
It will enrich the vocabulary of the students and help them become more fluent and more self-confident in speaking French. (3:46)
Video 2: In this series of questions, the students will have the opportunity to build upon what was learned, retained, and above all, used in the previous lesson. The students will speak about personal matters such as age, birthday, grade, numbers…
The various answers of the instructor will help the students learn more than one answer to add to what has already covered. Furthermore, the students will be able to compare their answers to those of the teacher and that element will sharpen the verbal competency of the students. (7:10)
Video 3: This is an opportunity for the student to read with the instructor, at the same pace and speed. It allows the student to gain confidence and to have someone to read with all the time. Furthermore, it exposes the student to a unique contact with the instructor, by reading the dialogue in a live situation. (2:33)
Lesson III:
In this lesson, the students will be exposed to more vocabulary dealing with personal information, so they will be able to talk about themselves and to put questions to others in French also. This is an opportunity for the students to listen to the characters who use the new vocabulary in situations that reflect real life. (1:44)
Video 1: The students will learn to talk about:
– nationality
– number of months in a year
– number of seasons
– favorite season
– what languages spoken at home by the characters
– other points of personal interest. (1:46)
Video 2: In this video, the students will have the opportunity to respond to some specific and general questions dealing with the content of the dialogue, in complete sentences in French. Sometimes the instructor challenges the students to see how much they can remember from the vocabulary acquired. (7:29)
Video 3: In this interview, the students, who have already listened to some general questions and answers dealing with personal information before, will put their verbal fluency to task by responding to specific questions in French dealing with the vocabulary of the previous lessons. (3:01)
Video 4: By listening to this review, the students will be able to measure their progress as far as their verbal fluency in French. The parents and teachers will have a clear idea on how the students are performing 6:16)
Video 5: My experience in teaching second languages and mainly French has convinced me that this type of activity is of great importance in improving the level of the reading skill. Since the students are not judged while making some mistakes in reading, but rather encouraged to improve and to imitate the instructor, psychologically speaking, the students will feel at ease and not being under pressure. Furthermore, they will become aware of the right pronunciation of some words and expressions, strive to read at the same pace and speed of the instructor, and reach a certain level of advanced fluency while gaining more confidence to read aloud. (3:02)
Lesson IV:
Video 1: This video deals with an activity that will test the ability of the students to distinguish between the sound of some vowels in French and English. It will offer the students the opportunity to measure their understanding of the spoken words, by simply hearing them and without looking at the text. At this early stage, this activity will enable the students to be aware of the pronunciation of some tricky sounds such as “u,ou” between French and English. Right after the instructor says two words or expressions, the student will choose between A or B, by pausing the video, and then listening to the instructor’s answer and comments once the video is turned on.
During the review, the instructor will give a detailed explanation to make the student know where the mistake is so it will be avoided in the future. (6:12)
Video 2: The content of this activity deals with the ability of the students to determine whether the French sentence reflects accurately the content of the English one. If not, a correction should be made. and the students will be challenged to discover the error in the French version. (1:27)
Video 3: In this video, the instructor will go over the corrections and will explain the reason for which this correction needs to be done. If the students know already the answer, it will show the tangible progress they have made. If not, it will encourage them to go back to lesson one and listen to the videos again. The key is the repetition that needs to be done. The more we repeat, the easier it gets. (6:09)
Video 4: In this activity, the students, without seeing the PDF document of the activity’s content, will listen to a statement, a reply, a question, and will give the appropriate reply. If it is a question, a reply is needed. If it is an answer, a question based on this answer is required. The instructor gives a full and detailed explanation of what to do. Once the students hear the sentence, they will pause the video and try to come up with a proper reply. Once the video is turned on, the students will hear the reply of the instructor with a review. It is an activity that will test the listening skill of the students while challenging them to remember the vocabulary acquired. (4:25)
Lesson V:
In this activity, the students, without seeing the PDF document of the activity’s content, will listen to a statement, a reply, a question, and will give the appropriate reply. If it is a question, a reply is needed. If it is an answer, a question based on this answer is required. The instructor gives a full and detailed explanation of what to do. Once the students hear the sentence, they will pause the video and try to come up with a proper reply. Once the video is turned on, the students will hear the reply of the instructor with a review. It is an activity that will test the listening skill of the students while challenging them to remember the vocabulary acquired.
Video 1: This video introduces a dialogue rich in vocabulary about the personal situation of the characters which will be transmitted to the students who will be able to digest the material and know how to use it in conversation. (3:21)
Video 2: In this series of questions, the students will have the opportunity to build upon what was learned, retained, and above all, used in the previous lessons. They will speak about personal matters concerning age, birthday, grade, numbers.
The answers of the instructor will help the students learn more than one answer to add to what has already covered. Furthermore, the students will be able to compare their answers to those of the teacher and that element will sharpen the verbal competency of the student. (13:18)
Video 3: In this activity, the students will listen, observe, learn, and execute the necessary techniques that produce good readers. It is a hands-on approach that will keep the students engaged as well as eager to measure their progress and sharpen their reading skill (5:36)
Lesson VI:
Video 1: In this video, there are 20 questions, and the students should not miss more than 5 to complete the activity. It is a challenging improvisation exercise where the students will use the retained vocabulary, in a question-and-answer format, without any interruption.
The challenge for the students is to not pause the video, but to let it run until the end. We want to help the students measure their progress in a concrete way and not to perceive themselves as fluent without being put to test. This is extremely relevant to the students, the parents, and the teachers. After learning about the mistakes made in the following review video, the students can review the previous lessons to get a better result. (6:26)
Video 2: In this video, we provide a detailed review of the possible answers to the questions of the interview. The students will see the variety of possibilities and will be able to compare the answers they gave to the answers of the instructor. It is a way to raise the level of fluency and self-confidence of the students, and to prepare them to write complete sentences in French properly. (10:44)
Lesson VII:
Video 1: After reading the English version of the dialogue, attached in PDF format, the students will listen, repeat and read a dialogue, between a mother and her child, dealing with the grammar element of gender in French. It is an introduction to the lesson on articles and it makes the students feel at ease by learning some new vocabulary in a humorous way. (2:02)
Video 2: In this video, the students will respond verbally to a series of questions without seeing them dealing with the content of the dialogue. As usual, the instructor will challenge the student to use the vocabulary acquired in French and respond to the questions in complete sentences. (6:18)
Video 3: In this video, the students will listen to some statements on the dialogue, and will say, true or false, based on the content of the dialogue. It is an exercise that will initiate the students to read between the lines in French. (5:01)
Video 4: This activity will engage the students by asking them to give the English version of some French verbs or expressions and vice versa. It will also challenge the students to remember how we use these expressions in French, and give the correct answer on the spot, without going back to the dialogue or activities. (2:15)
Video 5: The instructor will review the answers and will elaborate on the use of those words and expressions, to make the students aware of the context in which they can be used and also of the nuances between the French and English versions. (4:25)
Video 6: The students will read the dialogue with the teacher, before the teacher gives a detailed explanation of gender, number and definite and indefinite articles in French. (2:39)
Lesson VIII
Video 1: This video will provide the students with the opportunity to use the vocabulary they learned in the previous lessons about the weather expressions, seasons… They will be asked to respond to some general and specific questions, and they will be challenged by the instructor to be specific sometimes. This activity, along with the replies of the instructor, the review, comments, and detailed explanations will enhance the ability of the students to use the language in a proper way. (12:03)
Video 2: An activity that will encourage the students to review the vocabulary, the questions, and answers to check the gender of some nouns and to choose “True” or False” based on the spelling of the respective adjective. (2:21)
Video 3: The review will remind the students of the gender of the nouns involved in the activity, which were seen before, and of some questions used in the dialogues. It is a convenient way to do a quick and general review. The fact that the students should have 14/20 correct will encourage them to review the vocabulary covered before choosing the answer. It is a good way for the parents and the teachers to check the progress of the students. (4:15)
Lesson IX
Video 1: This video presents a detailed explanation of the French definite and indefinite articles, their use in relevant examples and the importance of these articles in French vis-à-vis the English language. (9:11)
Video 2: This activity is based on the translation of some sentences from English to French. The students have already been aware of the differences so far between some expressions in French and English. In our view, the ability of the students to translate the content and not word by word will influence their verbal fluency in both French and English. (1:03)
Video 3: In this video, the students will be able to compare their answers to those of the instructor and measure their progress. (6:20)
Lesson X
Video 1: The content of this activity deals with the ability of the students to determine whether the French sentence reflects accurately the content of the English one. If not, a correction should be made, and the students will be challenged to discover the error in the French version. (1:27)
Video 2: In this video, the instructor will go over the corrections and will explain the reason for which this correction needs to be done. (6:09)
Video 3: An in-depth review of the rich vocabulary presented to the students in the previous lessons. It is meant to enforce the knowledge of the students of the new vocabulary and highlight the differences between French and English. This review will be a reference lesson that the students can go to occasionally to refresh their memory. (5:40)
Video 4: A challenging activity that requires concentration and understanding of the verbal language. The students will listen to 15 statements and will choose True or False based on their own recollection of the content of the previous lessons. It is an exercise which introduces the students to reading between the lines, understanding the spoken word, and choosing the right answer. (9:04)
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.