French News:
Quoi de neuf?
Bonjour tout le monde! Hello everyone.
This term has gone by so fast that my head is spinning. Things have been busy in the French room, and for the last newsletter of the term I wanted to share some of the learning and also describe the wacky French Easter legend of the Flying Bells of Easter (Les cloches volants de Pâques.)
Prep:
As always, the youngest students are often the most enthusiastic learners. The Prep students have started the year by learning some basic greetings (I am frequently stopped in the yard by cries of ‘Bonjour Madame!”) and question and answer routines such as ‘What is your name’ (Comment tu t’appelles?), ‘My name is.. (Je m’appelle…).
Years 1&2:
Topics this term have included numbers to 20, saying what animals they love using ‘J’aime’ (I love), how to say how they are feeling, and expressions to describe the weather.
Year 3:
The Years 3s have also extended their knowledge of numbers, designed posters describing a range of different weather conditions, practised saying what animals they love, and saying what their favourites are (using préféré/favourite).
Year 4:
The year 4 students have thoroughly enjoyed playing the French role-play game ‘Les Loups-Garous de Thiercelieux’. They have made posters using emojis and phrases to describe a range of expressions describing how they are feeling and, finally, they have begun to learn a poem in French to take part in the Berthe Mouchette Poetry Competition.
Years 5&6:
The senior students have enjoyed playing Gimkit to consolidate learning. On this educational games platform, teachers create ‘kits’ which can be used across a range of fun games. We have played using numbers from 1 to 100 and also how to say the time. Students have also worked on posters about the things they love.
Also, as I do every year, we began the year with the question: Why learn French? Here is an abridged version of the reasons I wrote about in the newsletter last year:
- More than 300 million people speak French on five continents. French is the second most widely learned foreign language after English, and the fifth most widely spoken language in the world.
- French is the international language of culture.
- Paris is hosting the Olympics this year
- Travel!
- French is the language of international relations.
- French is easy!
- More than two thirds of English words have a French origin.
La Légende des Cloches de Pâques
While the Easter Bunny (Lapin de Pâques) does play a role, in France the legend of the ‘cloches volantes’ (flying bells) is the traditional explanation for the mysterious arrival of chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday. Since the church bells across the country are silent on Good Friday and Easter Saturday, it is said that the bells have all flown off to Rome (France is a predominantly Catholic country, so I expect they pop into the Vatican). They come back home on Easter Sunday and drop their collection of eggs into the gardens of children all over France. Et voilà! Children wake up in the morning and take their baskets out to the gardens to search for eggs.
Joyeuses Pâques à tous et à toutes - French Cultural Events
The annual French Film Festival is running in Melbourne at all Palace cinemas until April 2 and there is a terrific selection of family-friendly films this year:
https://www.affrenchfilmfestival.org/films/melbourne
An exciting exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery will run until July 14.
Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925 showcases a collection of art and artefacts from the Musée Carnavalet in Paris. I am looking forward to seeing this myself.
https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/bendigo-art-gallery/visit
