Tips and Tools for French Teachers
By Laura K. Lawless, About.com Guide
Teaching Tips
Teaching advice from French teachers around the world.
French Assessment
See what your students already know and what they still need to work on with assorted quizzes and proficiency tests. Encourage them improve their study habits and to use my proofreading page before they turn in homework.
- French quizzes
- Beginning French proficiency test
- Intermediate French proficiency test
- Advanced French proficiency test
- DILF - DELF - DALF
French Class Exercises
Take a look at these detailed exercises for in-class French practice.
French Lessons
This site has hundreds of French lessons for all levels.
French Practice
You know as well as anyone that practice makes perfect. You can use these pages in your classes, and encourage your students to visit them at home.
- Daily French features
- French audio lab
- French listening comprehension
- Q & A and practice forum
- French club ideas
French Projects
Language classes are as fun or as boring as the teacher and students make them. These project ideas are suitable for traditional French classes, homeschoolers, and independent-study students looking to spice up their self-instruction.
- Create a photo album or family tree
- Design a travel brochure
- Do an online translation project
- Go on a webquest
- Invent a magazine
- Keep a journal
- Make flash cards
- Plan a village
- Put together a language scrapbook
- Report on a francophone country
- More French projects
Holidays and Celebrations
Bring some francophone culture into your French class by celebrating Christmas, Halloween, and more à la française, and learn some French vocabulary related to other holidays.
- Bastille Day
- Birthdays and other special occasions
- Christmas in France
- Crêpe Day / La Chandeleur
- Ephiphany
- Halloween in France
- Hanukkah vocabulary
- Kwanzaa vocabulary
- Mardi Gras
- National French Week
- New Year's in France
- Poisson d'avril / April Fools Day
- Premier Mai / Fête du Muguet
- Thanksgiving vocabulary
- Toussaint
- Valentine's Day vocabulary
- More holidays and celebrations
French Inspiration
You might be a French teacher because you love French, but chances are at least some of your students are only studying it to fulfill a language requirement. Use these links to show them how useful and interesting the French language really is.
- Are you a Francophile?
- Are you a French fanatic?
- French gestures
- French in English
- French-speaking celebrities
French Class Fun
At certain times of the school year, especially before holidays and weekends, students can be preoccupied and lose their motivation to continue learning. When that happens, games can make French class a bit more interesting and interactive.