EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES FACTS ABOUT LANGUAGES Two sets of 36 facts cards focusing on world languages, 72 facts in total, @ £1.80 each in the bundle - a great whole-group learning activity at any time of the school year, and particularly on or around the annual European Day of Languages. It’s also useful as an ice-breaker in the back-to-school phase, as it’s a very social activity, and really gets students up from their desks, walking around talking to each other. The information addresses a very wide range of languages topics, from world history, history of language, varied fields within linguistics to global languages facts for example. The cards are designed for older students, as the facts do require a certain level of world knowledge and language awareness, and particularly world geography. I always screen a world map first, pointing out continents, countries, regions and territories and so on, because using the cards is also a great way of actually learning about the world, its history, shifting geographical and political borders, migrating populations and so on. I use the cards in various ways: for example, a really popular method is the walk and talk activity, where students take a card each, walk around the classroom, exchanging facts - when they’ve shared the information on their card, students swap cards, and carry on walking — in this way, they encounter the same facts a couple of times, which really embeds knowledge. I tend to do this activity several times across the school year, following it up with an informal whole-group quiz, particularly when I feel that students need a break from more formal learning. I also use the cards as either entrance or exit cards - again, followed by a quick quiz at several points in the year - simply turn the language on the individual cards into a question format. This works really well when students quiz each other, which moves them away from teacher-led learning towards more independent and social learning. Have a browse in my store for more FACTS ABOUT… resources! Please note this is the European Day of Languages bundle version of my Facts about Languages bundle: if you have already purchased that bundle, there is no need to purchase this one. The resource is non-editable in a zipped format. It is copyright, all rights reserved. It may not be copied, rewritten, amended, shared or distributed, in whole or in part, outside your own classroom in any way. The license for purchase is a single-license only. Please read the Terms of Use. THANKS AND ENJOY THE ACTIVITY!

GCSE FRENCH ALEVEL FRENCH ADVANCED FRENCH CONVERSATION STARTERS two sets of 100 French conversation starters @ £2.50 each in the bundle Files are non-editable in a zipped format. The resource is copyright, all rights reserved. It may not be copied, rewritten, amended, shared or distributed outside your own classroom in any way. The license for purchase is a single-user license only. Please read the Terms of Use. Set 1 French Conversation starters features 100 starters in question format, suitable for advanced beginner French to intermediate French students. Set 2 French Conversation starters also features 100 starters in question format, suitable for intermediate French to advanced French students. Speaking is a language skill that learners tend to find very challenging, regardless of level, and increased engagement with language that requires them to both reproduce accurately language they are already familiar with, and to be creative with that language in order to produce new language is integral to successful language learning. In Set 1, the questions focus largely on the present tense, with some examples of the present perfect tense. I include tenses we may not have formally covered, as the activity is not solely about practising language, but also about actively learning it. I encourage students to look for cues and clues in the questions themselves, and this certainly enables them to engage with new or unknown language successfully, and to progress in their learning. In Set 2, the questions feature a range of tenses and moods, such as the present tense, present subjunctive, perfect, imperfect, and conditional perfect. There are several questions focusing on si + imperfect + conditional clauses, and a significant amount of implicit input on a range of grammatical concepts, such as agreement with preceding direct object, use of the subjunctive and so on. I try to include as broad a range of language as I can in the questions, regardless of student learning level, to facilitate learner progress. I encourage students to look for cues and clues in the questions themselves, and this certainly enables them to engage with new or unknown language successfully, and to progress in their learning, which is just as important for more advanced learners. Questions formats are varied, to ensure maximum opportunity to work with the different ways to ask questions in French. Some questions seek to elicit very similar information, but are asked in different language: this avoids learners simply parroting learned responses to fixed prompts. Each card has an image: some of these are specific visual prompts to help students infer meaning; some are more generic images. I do use images as much as possible with this kind of activity, not only to provide the prompt, but also to add to the visual appeal of it, which is a real motivator for learning. I remind students that it is not necessary to tell the truth - the purpose is to create and produce accurate and realistic language. Students can prepare their responses in as much detail as possible on the accompanying planning sheet, remembering that these are conversation starters, so that once they have responded, they should then say something to continue the conversation going. Frequent and regular engagement with the activity brings the best results: with the planning sheet, students can create and prepare increasingly detailed and more complex responses, reflecting their learning progress. I definitely find it useful to read through the questions together as a whole-group, with students offering initial suggested responses. This ensures everyone can actually access the language, and they also benefit a lot from each others’ ideas. As a whole-group activity, distribute the cards amongst your students, one or several. Ideally, they should walk around the classroom, asking questions, and swapping cards. For pair or small-group work, students can work in a designated area. This really helps them focus closely on the language, and helps learners who are slightly less confident working with a larger group. The cards work particularly well as ice-breakers at the beginning of the school year. They’re also great as both entrance and exit tickets, and also for five-minute refreshers, which I use quite frequently during the school year. In the preparation phase, having access to bilingual dictionaries and / or the internet, this can be really helpful. These tools can help them prepare detailed responses to questions in ways that do not necessarily always focus on their own life and experiences. The starters in Set 1 broadly address the following themes: personal information family & routines at home hobbies & free time likes & dislikes local environment food & drink school & studies sport & healthy living countries & languages weather & seasons The starters in Set 2 broadly address the following themes: music, film & television literature & culture personal life, information & preferences leisure & free time health & well-being history & society recent & current events travel, tourism & holidays technology & social media likes & dislikes local environment environmental & social issues education & studies Try this freebie to see if this kind of activity would work well for your students: 10 FRENCH CONVERSATION STARTERS FREEBIE https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/french-conversation-starters-freebie-12903468 Have a browse in my store for more French independent learning activities, and a wide range of other French teaching and learning materials, with French resource boxes, special offer bundles, and lots of freebies - I’ve included a couple here for you to try. MERCI BEAUCOUP ET BON APPRENTISSAGE !

PRIMARY FRENCH VOCABULARY KS3 FRENCH VOCABULARY BEGINNER FRENCH VOCABULARY CARDS FIVE SETS @ £1.65 EACH IN THE BUNDLE 990 matching French and English games cards with two Reference, Recall & Write Workbooks, focusing on 495 beginner French words and phrases. Files are non-editable n a zipped format. Please read the Terms of Use - the resource is copyright, all rights reserved. It may not be copied, rewritten, shared or distributed outside your own classroom in any way. The license for purchase is a single-user license only. The vocabulary groups are as follows: =Les salutations =Les jours de la semaine =Les mois et les saisons de l’année =Les nombres 0-100 =Ma famille =Les animaux =Les matières scolaires =Les fruits et légumes =Les couleurs =Les parties du corps =Le temps =Les pays =Quelle heure est-il? (o’clock/half past) =Les adjectifs =La nourriture et les boissons =Verbes français =En ville =Mots fréquents =Le français pour la salle de classe =Bavardons ensemble ! Conversation =Questions et réponses My students really like to work independently, in pairs and in small groups, and these vocabulary cards enable them to do that. There are lots of games and activities to play, and I’ve described several that are successful with my groups. I’ve found that giving students regular and frequent opportunities to play with the cards, not only when we’re focusing on these particular vocab groups, but across the school year, and even when they’re far more advanced in their learning - all learners benefit from going back to the start! There’s definitely some prep involved - printing, laminating and cutting out - laminating is certainly worth the effort, as the cards are a lot more learner-friendly, and do last for years. Students don’t have to play with full sets - they can work with selected vocab groups. There is an 18-page workbook for each set, which gives students a different way of consolidating their vocabulary - writing it out really helps to embed language, and is great for spelling too. There are 3 differentiated recall and write challenges, as well as a full alphabetical French-English vocabulary list, which works well as a longer-term reference resource too. My students learn a lot from applying their French practically with the game card templates - they enjoy creating cards for each other. I use the workbook for homework, holiday work, practice and revision or cover lessons - they’re really versatile. Written Recall Challenge One: students write the English word / phrase from a French prompt, with all the words and phrases grouped together in the same category Written Recall Challenge Two: with this challenge, students write the words / phrases in French from an English prompt, and again, they’re all group together in the same category Written Recall Challenge Three: this final challenge ‘switches’ at each question from French to English, and lists words and phrases randomly from each category - I’ve found that this really does encourage my students to think hard about their French vocab. Have a browse in my store for more French independent learning activities, and a wide range of other French teaching and learning resources, with French resource boxes, special offer bundles, and lots of freebies - I’ve included a couple here for you to try. MERCI BEAUCOUP ET BON APPRENTISSAGE !