French Teaching Tips and Tools

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.

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.

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.

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.

Combining different levels of French classes is fine for the school budget, but it can be very tricky for French teachers to meet the needs of both levels. Here are some ideas to keep your sanity and make class interesting for your students.

Don't miss this forum just for French teachers. You can trade ideas, find inspiration, share lesson plans, or just commiserate with other French teachers. Come take a look!

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.

Kids often enjoy choosing a French name to use during their lessons. These pages include more than 200 of the most popular French names, along with their pronunciation and English equivalents.

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!

Recommended learning and teaching tools for kids as well as beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, including dictionaires, grammar books, software, and audio resources.

There is a common myth among English speakers that Spanish is easier than French. In reality, there are "more difficult than" elements in both. Here is a detailed comparison of the two languages - use it to convince your students!

Champs-Élysées is an audiomagazine aimed at intermediate and advanced French students, but is versatile enough to be used by independent students, homeschoolers, teachers, travelers, or anyone else interested in regular French listening practice.

This bilingual story (French-English) plus grammar book all in one is aimed at upper beginning- to intermediate-level students. Click the above link for ideas on using this book in the classroom, or read my review.

The new school year is just around the corner - time to start dusting off last year's French notes and figuring out whatever happened to that beat-up old dictionary. To help you get back into the French mood - pun intended - here are some links to general information about French, lessons, online resources, and recommended tools and supplies to help you get back to school.

National French Week is an annual celebration of French language and francophone cultures, and a perfect opportunity to organize in-class and/or extracurricular events for current or potential students. Take a look at this page for ideas.

Resources for 7-12th grade teachers of all subjects, from About.com guide Melissa Kelly.

Miscellaneous information about teaching French, including a lexicon of literary terms and advice for passing the BAC.

French language and literature listserv to permit Advanced Placement French teachers to exchange documents.

Support and ideas shared between French teachers, with daily archives.