A Scottish primary classroom, circa 1970. Our French lessons had reached a crescendo. We had chorused words we didn’t understand, cut out maps of France, made strange noises with pencils between our teeth, and sung “Il etait une bergere”. And here was the moment it had all been for the visit from the “Mademoiselle from France”.
She came into the room, trailing clouds of foreign glory, positioned herself at the desk and grilled us individually in a terrifyingly French accent. “Avez-vous un hamster?” she asked 30 times and, having established that the majority of us were hamsterless, she left. Relieved that the excitement was over, we abandoned our “communicative language” and continued to colour in France.
Perhaps our response to Mademoiselle’s infatuation with hamsters would have been greater if we’d had the incentive of some of the Poster Lingua goodies as rewards for our efforts. These badges, keyrings, stickers and pencils are bright and exciting, with various possible slogans including “Souriez en francais”, “Te quiero”, “Ich spreche Deutsch” and “Ciao!”. Jotter stickers have encouraging comments (“Bravo”, “Youpi”, “Viel besser”) and make a fun contribution to lessons in all areas of the curriculum. So do the rulers with vocabulary on them and the brilliantly-coloured bookmarks which include “Bonne fete” or “Feliz cumpleanos” for celebrating children’s birthdays.
Card games are effective teaching aids which provoke spontaneous linguistic reactions. Children love the bright, attractive little Miniflashcards and invent all sorts of games to play with them in addition to those suggested in the notes. Miniflashcards have pictures on one side and words on the other and can be used alone or as part of a board game.
The Bis card game from ELI consists of 60 picture cards and the corresponding word cards. Various games can be played with these, from the ever-popular “Snap” to more complicated matching games. Part of the appeal of these games is their flexibility: there is such a variety of possibilities that children are unlikely to become bored.
The ELI Elikit consists of large, entertaining flashcards with the picture on one side and the word on the back. The cards can be written on, so structures can be added. There are also smaller loto cards and various speaking, writing, mime and role-play activities can be initiated by the larger flashcards.
These are excellent for presenting vocabulary, as the association between the written word and the sound can be made immediately, thus encouraging good pronunciation. Young children love stories, especially if they can become act- actively involved in them. The ELI Raconte et chante series allows children to do just that. The A3-sized presentation book shows the story in colourful pictures and words and children hear the spoken and musical versions on cassette. The visuals are entertaining and there are fun activities in the workbook, providing scope for music, mime and drama.
Another workbook accompanied by a cassette of songs is produced in French by La Jolie Ronde. Chante en francais encourages four to eight-year-olds to participate actively in the songs, to colour in the workbook and complete puzzles. Children love singing along to the ELI video Voila le karaoke. The eight traditional songs are performed by children, accompanied by cartoons and presented in a lively karaoke format.
Each song is featured monthly in the magazine Voila. Specially geared towards early learners, these magazines include comic strips, games, things to make and adhesive Flintstones stickers. The language is simple and the magazines make a popular addition to class reading boxes.
ELI flip posters are guaranteed to entertain children and encourage linguistic involvement. There are 20 spiral-bound posters, each presenting a topic via wonderful cartoons. The bold colours and appealing characters make this great fun and the posters, which can be written on, can initiate a range of activities. ELI also produces a series of 10 wipe-clean posters accompanied by peel-off word labels which make a cheerful addition to the classroom and allow vocabulary to be permanently on display.
The labelling idea is taken up by Linguistickers which produces a series of stickers for the home or the classroom that enables objects around the child to be permanently labelled in the foreign language. They can be used in the child’s own bedroom, extending the language-learning environment into the home and providing constant exposure to the foreign language.
All a far cry from “Mademoiselle” and her hamsters. Now that foreign-language classes are becoming widespread and permanent in primary schools, materials which stimulate pupils’ imagination and creativity and produce a learning environment based on enjoyment are particularly valuable, and help to establish a solid base for future learning. They also demonstrate that, thankfully, as far as language teaching is concerned, “the past is a different country”.
Rulers in French or Spanish (32) Pounds 5.30; stickers in French, Spanish or German (120) Pounds 4.90; bookmarks in French, Spanish or German (32) Pounds 3.80; badges in French, Spanish, German or Italian 55p each; key rings in French or Italian Pounds 1.80; French pencils 55p each. Poster Lingua (incorporating Buttons a la mode), Dralam House, 23 Kerry Street, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4AW
Miniflashcards Language Games, topic packs Pounds 3.80, resources pack Pounds 49.90, available in eight languages. Miniflashcards Language Games, PO Box 1526, London W7 1ND. Chante en francais book and cassette Pounds 13.94 plus 89p pp. La Jolie Ronde, 11 Priors Close, Bingham, Nottingham NG13 8EP. Linguistickers for the home, French, German, Spanish or Italian, Pounds 6.99 per pack; for the classroom, French or German, Pounds 10.95 per pack. Special rates for schools buying in bulk. Linguistickers Ltd, Rose Cottage, Chaffcombe, Chard, Somerset TA20 4AH Bis card game, English, French or German, Pounds 7.95 plus VAT; Elikit, five topic choices in English, French, German, Spanish or Italian, Pounds 16.95 plus VAT; Raconte et chante, six possible stories in English and French, Pounds 12.95 plus VAT; Voila magazines, Pounds 10 subscription for eight issues, video Pounds 20.95 (beginners’ English version, Ready, also available); flip posters with notes for use in English, French, German, Spanish or Italian Pounds 25 plus VAT; set of 10 posters in French, German, Spanish, Italian, English or Latin Pounds 33 plus VAT. All distributed by European Schoolbooks, Ashville Trading Estate, The Runnings, Cheltenham GL51 9PQ.
