Petit Nicolas

You have just finished your second unit en francais.  Felicitations!  (Congrats!)  Tuesday we will take our test and on Wednesday and Thursday you will watch your first film in French.  Petit Nicolas is based off of a series of French children's books about a little boy and his classmates.  I enjoy this film and can't wait to share it with you.

Le verbe "avoir"

We have already learned about ER verbs.  This week we are learning about the verb avoir.  It is an irregular verb that you need to memorize.  It is frequently used, and in the future you will be using it to form the passé composé.  Use the song below to help memorize this useful verb.

Vive l'école!

In our next unit we are going to concentrate on school.  It is only natural that we learn about the French school system as well.  Click on the link below to discover how the French school differs from our's in the United States.

Je suis obsedée par Stromae

So last year I discovered Stromae.  However, he has been around since 2009.  He is from Belgium (a French speaking country), and has quickly become one of my favorite artists.  His stage name Stromae is Verlan, a type of French street slang.  To form Verlan you take the syllables of a word apart and reverse them.  Let's take the word "maestro" which means a distinguished musician. Mae....stro. Now reverse it.  Stro.....mae....STROMAE!  Stromae is very big in Europe, but is now trying to make his mark in the United States.  He performed at Coachella  this summer and he is performing at Madison Square Garden October 1st.  Here is a clip of Stromae in New York.  Enjoy!

I Would Like to Buy a Hamburger

Next week we will be learning how to discuss our likes and dislikes in class. French pronunciation is very different from English.  It takes practice.  One of our vocabulary words is hamburger.  If you are able to pronounce it like Inspector Clouseau you will be golden!

Bienvenue au cours de français!

Welcome back to school.  I hope you had a great summer.  I am so glad that you decided to take French.  Before we begin on our journey I would like you to watch this video on learning a new foreign language.  Remember you do not need to be perfect at a language.  (I still make mistakes in English.)  Just jump in and do your best!