I was living in France in 1999-2000 when the millennium was all the rage. On the occasion of the turn of the new century (yes, a year early), I picked up a copy of a compilation CD called Les plus grandes chansons du siècle. I still have it and indeed, it has many classics, one...Read more »
Using crossword puzzles in the classroom can run the risk of seeming too juvenile. I picked up a couple of crossword vocabulary books in Paris and admittedly, their target audience is probably around the age of ten or twelve, with cartoon illustrations and very basic topics (safari animals, going to the movies, etc.) But as...Read more »
This is a quick warm-up activity I use to review comparative adverbs (plus, moins, autant). It’s in the format of one of the most successful kind of oral exercise: a table to “find someone in the class who…” You can download the pdf here. The single-page file prints two identical tables, which means half...Read more »
When learning adjectives in an elementary language course, I often use examples from the visual arts to create a comparaison exercise. Two paintings that lend themselves well to this kind of exercise are Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1862-1863) and Monet’s painting of the same title (1865-66). Manet, Déjeuner sur l’herbe, painted 1862-1863 Monet, Déjeuner...Read more »
You can use any French song to create some sort of grammar, vocabulary, or culture lesson. The song “Octobre” by Francis Cabrel lends itself particularly well to a review of the futur simple. About half of the lines of the text contain a verb in the future, and many of them are irregular. The...Read more »
