First Step en Fraicais Lesson 101: Bonjour

Before Viewing the Video Lesson

1. Remind the students that they will not understand everything that is said on the video lesson and that this is not important because they are being immersed in the language. Hearing the language being used is very important and only certain words and phrases will be learned from the program. Today’s program introduces Monsieur Dubois and the neighborhood children who are learning French.

. Role play an introductory situation in English with your students. “Hello, my name is ________. What is your name? My name is _________. Nice to meet you_____. How are you? Very well, thank you. Good bye”. Explain that the children on the program and your students will learn introductions, greetings and family names from today’s program. Tell them to watch for these words.

Follow-up Activities

1. Use the First Step en Français Again video lesson to review the emphasized vocabulary and conversations.

2. Review vocabulary words related to the family. Ask each student to draw a picture of his/her family and label the family members: le père, la mère, le frère, la sœur, le grandpère, la grand-mère.

3. Review monsieur, madame, mademoiselle, le garçon, la fille. Show pictures of each and let students tell which word is correct.

4. Do role play situations of greeting and introductions. This could be done in a round robin/circle type game. Do the same with “How are you?” and appropriate responses.

5. Review s’il vous plaît, oui, pardon, excusez-moi, pardonnez-moi, merci. Which would be appropriate to use in short role play situations?

6. After these follow-up activities, let students view the video lesson again so they can respond and practice with the children on the lesson.

Supplemental Activities

1. Let students create a short skit using greetings, introductions, questions about health, and polite words. Invite another class to watch the skit. If they are not studying French in their class, let your students teach those students how to greet and introduce each other. (Remember, avoid mixing English with target language.)

2. Make a suitcase type folder from construction paper or a center cut manila file folder. Write First Step en Français on the suitcase like that on the series opening logo. Do luggage type name tags for student names. Keep copies of students’ work in this suitcase.

3. Do a tally number chart on brothers and sisters (les frères/les sœurs).

4. Let each child create a collage of family members and words. Ask them to bring in small pictures that can be duplicated on the copier. Copy one page of pictures per child by overlapping pictures. Let the child cut out the pictures and arrange them on a piece of construction paper with already written copies of family words. Let students take turns presenting their families to the class, speaking French.

5. Discuss the custom of kissing on the cheek in greeting. What other types of physical contact do people exhibit when greeting each other? Talk about the differences within the United States: Eskimos, Hispanics, Native Americans, etc.

6. Lead a discussion about where Monsieur Dubois is from (France) and locate it on a map. Using a map of the world, discuss other Francophone countries and where they are located. If students have traveled to any of them or have friends or family that have, this would be a good time to discuss where they have been.

7. Draw a family tree and label each family member with the appropriate French name. Follow up with an activity that uses words in context. “This is my sister…”, “her name is…”, “she is …”

Remember to use the vocabulary words in context as much as possible in class during the next week. This should be especially easy since there are words of greetings and introductions, questions and answers about how are you, and polite words.

Culture

French is the major language spoken in as many as 50 countries around the world! There are Francophone countries (countries where French is spoken) on nearly every continent. In Europe, you can hear French spoken in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. In North America, French is spoken in Canada (especially in Québec), and in Louisiana. In the Caribbean, French is spoken in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, St. Martin and in French Guyana (in South America). Africa hosts many Francophone countries such as Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Senegal, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar and many more. Vietnam, Laos and Egypt even have a strong French-speaking population!

In many of these francophone countries the natives speak other languages as well as French. In Africa, many of the natives speak English as well as their own dialect. In Vietnam and Laos, Vietnamese is spoken as well as French. In the Caribbean, natives of the French-speaking islands speak a local dialect called "Créole." This dialect is also spoken in Louisiana. It is a mixture of English, French , Spanish and African dialects. Friends in French-speaking countries usually greet each other by kissing each other on the cheek. Names in French-speaking countries are different from names in English-speaking countries.

Information for the Teacher

1. The letter “r”, as in rouge has a unique sound made in the back of the throat.

2. The names of languages, such as français, are not capitalized except at the beginning of a sentence.

3. The days of the week and months of the year are not capitalized except at the beginning of a sentence. First Step en Français Teacher’s Guide 12

4. Many French words require accent marks with certain letters to create the correct pronounciation. In the French language there are five accent marks. These accent marks are a part of the word's spelling and should not be omitted. *l'accent aigu ( / ) é *l'accent grave ( \ ) à, è, ù *l'accent circonflexe ( ^ ) â, ê, î, ô,û *le tréma (˙˙) is used to indicate that two vowels next to each other are pronounced separately (noël). *la cédille ( ç ) is the only accent mark that does not occur with a vowel. When the letter c is followed by a, o, or u it has a hard /k/ sound (like cat). The cédille changes the hard /k/ sound to a soft /s/ sound (like sat).

5. There is a formal and a familiar expression when using the word “you”. The formal “you” is “vous” and is used when addressing older people and people who are in authority as a sign of respect. It is also used to indicate the plural – you all. Students should use this with teachers.

6. The familiar “you” is “tu” and is used when addressing family members, friends and colleagues. Students should use this with each other.