French Teaching Resources
Ideas and resources for French teachers
An eclectic assortment of resources for French teachers, including general
and specific information about the French language, teaching tools, and more.
General Tools and Information
Audio Lab
More than 2,500 French sound
files for your students to work on pronunciation and listening skills.
Back to School - French Class
Everything you need to
help your students get back into French.
Clip Art and Photographs
Free images created by me, plus links to additional clip art,
photographs, and screensavers.
Flash Cards
One way to make
learning vocabulary more interesting is with the use of flash cards - here's how to make them and
put them to good use.
French Calendar
You can print out this
calendar for classroom activities.
French Class Phrases
To help students use as much French as possible in the classroom, here is a list
of essential words and phrases related to comprehension and typical classroom
requests, with sound files.
French Club
Are you thinking about creating your own French club or looking to spice up one
you already attend? This isn't as daunting as
it sounds - all you need to do is find a meeting place and some members, decide
on meeting frequency, and plan a few interesting activities. This article can
help you find the way.
French for Kids
French sites specially aimed at kids, with all kinds of fun
activities like French songs, games, communities, pen pals,
ABCs,
123s, and
much more. There are sites both for kids that already speak
French and for those who would like to learn.
French Names
Looking for name to use in French class? There are hundreds of common French
first names. Some of them look just like their English counterparts, others are
fairly similar, and still others may be uniquely French. These pages include
more than 200 of the most popular French names, along with their pronunciation
and English equivalents.
Holidays in Francophone Countries
Celebrations in francophone countries, including
Halloween, Christmas, National Foreign Language
Week, International Day of Francophonie, and National French Week, many
with vocabulary lists and related tools.
Proofreading and
Editing Tips
Whether checking over homework, proofreading
a paper, or verifying a translation, there are certain key problem areas to
watch out for. This is not a definitive list by any means, but it indicates
areas of confusion and common mistakes caused by differences between French and
English and includes links to more detailed explanations and examples. Teach your students that before they turn anything in, they should check the following areas of
their work.
Teaching Tools and Tips
Accelerative Integrated
Method
The foreign language teaching methodology known as Accelerative Integrated
Method (AIM) uses gestures, music, dance, and theater to help students learn.
Classroom Fun
Assorted games
and activities to make French class a bit more interesting and interactive.
Combined-Level
French Classes
Budget cuts and low interest in language are always bad news for French
teachers, and one common solution is to combine
different levels of French classes, particularly levels 3 and 4. While
this is fine for the school budget, it can be very tricky for French teachers to
meet the needs of both levels. Here are some ideas to keep your sanity while
making the class interesting for
your students.
First Day Teaching
Tips
What should you do on the first day of French class? Students may be new to language learning or coming back from vacation, so is it better to have some fun or dive right into grammar and vocabulary? Take a look a these excellent suggestions shared by teachers.
French only
In French classes, teachers usually want to encourage students to speak only
in French. Practice makes perfect and the more French students speak in
class the more they will learn and remember. However, it can be difficult to
enforce French only. Here are a variety of creative and effective
techniques.
Les portes tordues
- Teacher's Guide
Les portes tordues is an upper-beginning-to-intermediate-level,
bilingual audio/grammar book (read
my review). Author Kathie Dior has kindly shared some ideas for using it in
the classroom - please feel free to print this out and use it in your French
class.
Profs de français
forum
The internet is an amazing tool for teachers. This forum is especially for French teachers and tutors to find information and support from
our virtual colleagues. You can trade lesson plans, discuss teaching ideas,
share tips and strategies, request activity suggestions, find ways to motivate students,
and commiserate with other teachers.
Projects
Language classes are as fun or as boring as the teacher and students make them.
The following project ideas are suitable for traditional French classes,
homeschoolers, and independent-study students looking to spice up their self-instruction.
Teaching Tools
These pages include links to the best French tools around. I've broken up Francophiles and Francophones into six main categories: kids; beginning,
intermediate, and advanced students; translators; and teachers. For the first five categories, I
put together a page of my
favorite tools and resources, so if you are in one of these categories, take a look at these pages for
ideas. If you are a French teacher, use the page that corresponds to the age/level of
your students.
Warm-Up Activities and Fillers
Most language teachers find that there is a bit of dead time during class.
This may occur at the
beginning of class, as the students are arriving; at the end of class, as they
are thinking about leaving; and right in the middle of class, when transitioning from one lesson to
another. During this dead time, the best option is to spend five or ten minutes
on a short, interesting activity.
Information and Fact Pages
French in English
The English language has been shaped by a number of other languages over the centuries, and most English speakers know that Latin and German were two of the most important. What a lot of people don't realize is how much the French language has influenced English. Learn about how French has affected English vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
French-Speaking
Celebrities
If your students don't see any point in learning French, maybe Jodie Foster
and Johnny Depp can help: we've compiled a list of famous non-native French
speakers around the world - if your students know how many cool people speak
French, they might realize how cool French really is!
Introduction to French
If your students have ever wondered where French came from and how it fits in
with other languages, or what exactly a Romance language is, here is some
basic information.
Jobs Using French - Teacher
I would say that the majority of people who love language become teachers in
order to share this love with others. There are different kinds of teaching, and
the professional requirements vary greatly from one job to the next.
Spanish is Easier than French...
Not!
There is a common myth among English speakers that Spanish is much easier to learn than French. When asked for more information, perpetrators of this urban legend invariably mention how difficult French pronunciation and spelling are, in comparison to Spanish. While there is some truth to this, there are also things in Spanish that are more difficult than French. This article is a detailed comparison of the two languages so that you can decide for yourself if one of them is more
difficult.
What is Fluency?
One of the questions that I - and I'm sure all French teachers - get asked all the time is "How long will it take me to speak French fluently?" Unfortunately, the answer to this question is difficult for several reasons. Read this article to learn the "what, where, when, and why" of fluency.
What is French? Facts and Figures about the French
Language
How many French speakers are there? Where is French spoken? In which international organizations is French an official language? Read this introduction to some facts and figures about the French language.
Why learn French
There are all kinds of reasons to learn a foreign language in general, and
French in particular.
More Teaching
Resources
Links to additional French teaching resources.
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