Become strong and confident in French with this second-year course. Since so many English words are derived from French, students will also experience improved overall vocabulary.
Total Classes: 13
Duration: 75 minutes per class
Prerequisite: French 1 or equivalent. If you are unsure which French course to take, you can email Dr. LaPierre at hsc.nathalie@gmail.com.
Suggested Grade Level: 9th to 12th grade.
Suggested Credit: One full semester French or Foreign Language.
Instructors: Nathalie LaPierre, DVM
Instructor email: hsc.nathalie@gmail.com
Course Description: More than 220 million people speak French on all five continents. Therefore, the ability to speak French is an advantage on the international job market. It is a culture that has influenced the Western World, and the Americas, and it is a beautiful and fun language to learn.
In Part One of this course, the student will learn how to introduce himself and others; how to describe himself and others; expressions with the verbs être, avoir, faire; how to use adjectives; how to describe personalities; how to use ‘c’est/il est’; how to ask questions; how to use the verbs aller and venir followed by an infinitive verb; how to use ‘depuis’, ‘déjà’, et ‘jamais’; how to use the passé composé verb tense, many verbs, and determinants including the partitives.
The fall semester will cover units 1-4, with weekly assignments and quizzes, spelling tests, and two tests (mid-term and final), and a final project for an oral presentation. The final project consists of a written composition from the student followed by an oral presentation of approximately 2 minutes.
Course Outline:
Week One: Greetings, explaining syllabus, Moodle, grading, presenting the final project, Unité 1 week 1: ‘Who am I?’ introducing ourselves and our families, introducing each other, some professions;
Week Two: Unité 1 week 2 : Expressions with être, adjectives, descriptions, c’est ou il est?;
Week Three: Unité 1 week 3: Expressions with avoir, faire, asking questions;
Week Four: Unité 1 week 4 : Verb aller + infinitive, verb venir + infinitive, ‘depuis’;
Week Five: Unité 2 week 5: ‘Le weekend enfin!’ weekend activities, places;
Week Six: Unité 2 week 6: passé composé
Week Seven: Unité 2 week 7-8: verbe voir, passé composé with ‘être’;
Week Eight: Unité 3 week 9-10: ‘Bon appétit!’ meals, food, shopping, café, vouloir,pouvoir, devoir, partitive article, negative statement;
Week Nine: Unité 3 week 11: verbs boire, acheter, preferer, et payer, articles;
Week Ten: Unité 3 week 12: how to express quantities, the adjective ‘tout’ and ‘il faut’;
Week Eleven: Unité 4 weeks 13-14: ‘Les loisirs et spectacles’ Allons au spectacle, pronoms compléments;
Week Twelve: Unité 4 weeks 15-16: verbes savoir ou connaitre, pronoms compléments le, la, les, lui, leur;
Week Thirteen: French celebration and oral presentation.
Course Materials:
Discovering French Blanc, Valette et Valette, edition McDougal Littell, ISBN: 0-618-03505-2 (https://amzn.to/3bW5mr0). We recommend purchasing used (BookFinder.com is a good resource).
Homework: It is recommended that the student will invest at least 30 minutes a day for listening exercises, reading and grammar exercises. Some weeks will have a pre-recorded video to help with the explanation of a grammar point. There is a spelling quiz every week, one assignment to submit, independent grammar work to complete, and the student is expected to come to the microphone during class to have an opportunity to practice speaking French. There are two tests for this class, one handwritten at mid-term, and one multiple choice at the end of the semester. There is one composition with oral presentation at the end of the semester.
- Teacher: Nathalie Lapierre