Yr10 French 16/11/10 P5 Devoirs

Pour vos devoirs ce soir:

1: Find a photo on which you will base your oral presentation

2: You will need to answer some questions in the oral so practise recognising question words via this link: Exercise 1
Mlle Hardman

Avoir, Être, Faire and Aller

Year 8 French P1 16/11/10
Today we are going to revise the 4 key irregular verbs in French: avoir, être, faire and aller. We are going to:

a)find out what they mean,
b)find out why they are important,
c)and then practise them in different ways.

Practise:

4 Key irregular verb flashcards.

Using the above link:

1) Familiarise yourselves with the four verbs using the flashcards
2) In the "Study" section click on "Learn". Note your score at the end.
3) In the "Study" section click on "Test". Note your score at the end.
4) In the "Play Games" section click on "Scatter". Note your time.
5) In the "Play Games" section click on "Space Race". Note the Level, Kills and score you achieve.

We will publish the best scores for each section at the end of the lesson.

Your homework is to beat these scores! Add your new highest scores in the comments section before next lesson.

(Create a Google ID to be able to add comments to this post. Remember to blog safe and only use a pseudonym/nick name, never your real/full name online. Ask an adult if you are unsure).

Amusez-vous bien en apprenant les verbes irréguliers!

Mlle Hardman

Podcast Entry - YR7German Speaking Assess

We have recently completed some Year 7 German Speaking assessments. Play the entry on the Podcast and leave your comments - What did she do well (WWW)? Even better if (EBI)? Work out what level you think she might be (including sub level and your reasons for it:

Crossing the Channel

As our closest European neighbours, it is unsurprising that many of the current affairs which affect France also impact us in England. On Monday, it became apparent that the French Coastguard is of the belief that a ban should be enforced against those who wish to challenge themselves by swimming the 21 miles from Dover to Calais to cross the English Channel. The main reason for this proposal was fear of an accident occurring. Those attempting the challenge must pass through the world’s busiest shipping lane, which sees over five hundred vessels pass through each day. Several organisations, including ferry operators, have warned that passing swimmers could cause a serious accident, despite assurance from the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation that the crossings are safe and well organised.

It is worth noting that France banned swimmers from using the Calais to Dover route seventeen years ago and also that no swimmer or support boat has ever caused an accident whilst completing the crossing. With this in mind, is the proposed ban a justified, or even necessary, measure?

Olivia, who is a keen swimmer in year 13, agrees that it would be a shame if the ban were to be enforced:

I think it would be a real shame to ban such an iconic event that many swimmers aspire to complete. I understand the obvious safety concerns, however, it is arguable that due to technological advances it is now safer than ever to swim the “Everest of open water”. I can only imagine the feeling of triumph and accomplishment is unparalleled and this should not be taken away from those who are able and determined to take up the challenge.

Language Leaders taking control of blog

Hi. My name's Jess. I am one of the Language Leaders in year 12. Among the other responsibilities that we have been given, we have been asked to contribute actively to the MFL blog. This is exciting, as it means that students will have more control of what appears on the blog! As I am already a keen blogger, I have gladly accepted the role of Blog Manager. I will be listening out for languages-related news in the press, achievements in languages of our students and reviews and write-ups of language events. I will be looking to meet with students who have anything that they would like to add. For now, though, bis zum nächsten Mal!

Why Learn Languages - (USA)

We are way behind in adding this to the blog (this video is from July 2008!), however related to current times nonetheless. Barack Obama illustrates the need for the American population to learn more languages. Interesting debates ensued in the American news highlighting language being very close to identity.

Languages in Exciting Future Career Choice

Below is a write up by Abigail, one of our year 13 English Literature students, who is applying to do a Linguistics degree for her future career choices. This highlights cross curricular links between English and Modern Foreign Languages and the place that they both hold in an exciting career choice. Enjoy!

I have always had a fascination with language and have been interested in how it works and is pieced together. Studying English Language at A Level has made me want to pursue with this into further education. However I have been looking at courses in linguistics. This will mean I am analysing language and looking at how it works, it is the science of language. There is an opportunity to choose some Modern Foreign Languages as modules as this helps when analysing texts in such intricate detail.
In some of the courses I have chosen at university there is a chance to study Forensic Linguistics as a module. This is what I have a true passion for and wish to go into after I finish my degree.

Forensic Linguistics is analysing language for the police. When text messages, emails or letters are involved they can be analysed in order to discover more about the crime being investigated. Also using forensic phonetics, interviews with suspects can be analysed in great detail to help in the same way. This is a fairly new branch of police investigation and has enhanced the ways in which they can solve crime. I am currently carrying out an EPQ on the topic so that I can make sure that it is something that I really do want to do as a career but also so that universities can see that I have a real interest in language outside my core A Level study.

Oxford Language Competition Success

Below is wonderful write up by Jessica, one of our year 12 students who studies AS German with Miss Sheehan, regarding a recent success that they had concerning languages. Enjoy!

On Wednesday 20th October, my parents and I spent a lovely day in Oxford. The reason for this was my success in the “Think Kafka” competition, which was organised by the Modern and Medieval Languages Faculty of Oxford University.
I was sent a link concerning the competition in May by Miss. Sheehan. I immediately decided to enter, mainly because I was eager to find out more about German literature. I also thought it would be a good way to have a break from revising for my GCSEs...
I had heard of the German writer Kafka, but in reality I knew little of his life or his work. There were three categories: “The Best Translation of a Kafka Story”, “The Best Essay on a Kafka Story” and “The Best Creative Response to a Kafka Story”, of which I chose the latter. This was mainly because I had no idea how I would go about writing an essay about one of the stories, and I had little inclination of how to do a translation.
Each of the categories offered a choice of two stories. Of the two that I had to choose between, I chose “Ein Kommentar”, because I immediately saw how I could interpret it as a metaphor for life. After reading it several times and a discussion with Miss. Sheehan, I decided to continue the story. I chose to write it in German, mainly because it felt more natural and I had had little previous opportunity to use the language creatively.
Writing my response was quite difficult; it was tricky to structure it, and I had to teach myself much of the grammar I needed, for it is not usually taught at GCSE level. Several redrafts later, my story was ready to send.
Winners were to be notified a week after the closing date. On that day I was travelling to Elbeuf on the school work experience exchange, so I forgot all about it. It was not until the Saturday morning, when I was strolling peacefully along the pavement in Rouen with my exchange partner and her family, that my Dad rang me. As he read the letter to me over the phone, I learnt that I was a joint runner up in the competition! Having never succeeded in any form of competition before, I started jumping around in excitement, an excitement which quickly decreased when I realised that I would now have to explain in French why I was so happy.
I could not really bring myself to believe it fully though, until I was able to hold the letter in my hands myself. It was only when I popped into school to tell them the news that I realised the significance and importance of what I had achieved.
After a summer of attempting to read Goethe, the day to visit Oxford swiftly arrived. Having known a couple of people who had studied at Oxford, and having considered the prospect myself, I was eager to visit. Despite thinking about it quite a bit, I really had no preconceptions of what it was going to be like.
The first part of my prize was to have lunch at Jesus College. Just walking into a college was fantastic; the building was beautiful and felt so steeped in history. There were ten of us in total, as well as a few current students and lecturers, so we started off by introducing ourselves. This was when I found out I was the youngest by a whole year, which surprised me quite a bit. The idea of the lunch was so that we would be able to get to know one another prior to the evening reception. As we ate, we had a variety of discussions, most of which lead back to German.
The ceremony begun with a speech about the importance of learning languages, and the often lucrative careers that language graduates can enjoy. Then, Kafka’s great nephew made a speech. I was surprised to learn that he does not speak any German, despite being a relation of one of the most prolific German writers ever. He then presented the prizes. I received a personalised copy of Kafka’s “Die Erzählungen”, which includes all the stories used in the competition, as well as a postcard and £20.
After taking some photographs, we had the chance to look at the actual manuscripts of the stories. Although they were in a glass case, it was amazing to see the paper which Kafka actually wrote on, and fun to try to decipher the words which had been crossed out.
Soon afterwards, it was sadly time to leave. I am extremely glad that I had this opportunity, for not only has it left me with a clear sense of my aims for the future, but it has also given me new ideas for how I can explore literature in other languages. I have been inspired by meeting the other prize-winners and sharing our passion for languages.

Importance of Languages NEWS FLASH

The recent media coverage of the Chilean miners rescue has highlighted the importance of languages in the global community. You only had to witness Tim Wilcox, prized journalist for the BBC, switching effortlessly into Spanish in order to interview the family of a miner and then translating the conversation back into English again for the viewers at home, to understand how much of an asset his knowledge of Spanish was to the BBC at this crucial time and indeed, for making him, usually the studio anchorman, the ideal man for the job abroad.

"And the other secret weapon the BBC had was its remarkable on-site anchor, Tim Wilcox. He is normally an anchor on the domestic BBC News channel but he was sent to Chile three weeks ago and he showed a remarkable change in persona anchoring on-site rather than from the studio. It was obvious how well he knew his story, that he knew and had spoken to all those involved – officials, family, and the like, his Spanish was impeccable in being able to interview family members and officials live and give instant translation – he was just so natural." (http://followthemedia.com/writeon/bbcchile14102010.htm)

His Twitter feed also shows the benefits of his language knowledge, as well as the power of Web 2.0 technologies:

Just spoke to the father of the first miner expected up, Florencio Avalos. Father Alfonso says he is excited but anxious.
1,286,908,596,000.00 via web

Interpreters were also important in the international communication process of the rescue attempt:

The voice of an interpreter on hand to translate the words of the miners and rescuers for the English-speaking audience watching at home, could sometimes be heard directing the miners to get out of the way of the camera set up to beam images across the planet.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=177177

Interpreters were also used to communicate Presidential speeches abroad, and Chile's President, Sebastian Pinera, even showed up or own PM by speaking to him in fluent English.

All in all languages were at the heart of international affairs. So if you want to get ahead in the world - learn languages!

European Week of Languages Videoconference

On the 28th September 2010 we (a year 8 French class) conducted a videoconference with our partner school in France: Lycée André Maurois in Elbeuf, near Paris. We focused on the topic of careers - the chosen topic for European Week of Languages. This was not the first videoconference we have done jointly with our French partner school, and so this time the official language was English. The French side asked us questions about our future career choices and whether that would need languages or not. Our answers formed a listening exericise that they completed the other side.

Here are some of the pupil reviews...

Lara: On the 28th of September 2010 we had a video conference to France. We prepared answers to the questions they asked us. We answer these three questions in English we took it in turns to answer. I enjoyed getting the chance to see how alike our two schools are. All in all it was a great opportunity.

Holly: …I feel a bit more confident about speaking out loud to other people now. …It was cool to see what schools are like in different countries. … I gained a lot out of the video conference and I would love to do it again some other time!

Anna: … I found out what it was like to talk to somebody French, and it was interesting to hear how they spoke English. It was the first time I had seen a video conference with France.

Frederica: It was good practice to speak to them in English and speak loudly and clearly because this skill will probably be used in your job when you are older.

Emilia: The video conference was a lot of fun and a great experience to see how they learn languages in other countries like France. I would most definitely like to do another conference with the school in Elbeuf again as it was a very amusing and unique experience.

Freya: I found the video conference really interesting because we got to hear real French people speak to us and hear their accents! It was also a really good opportunity because we could answer questions and the class felt involved in the link between the schools. I really enjoyed it because I have never spoken or heard a French student before and also I found it was a really fun activity in class and a good way to learn.

Eleanor: …it was very interesting to hear how the French speak our language. I have learnt to speak clearly when speaking to people and I have also learnt that it is important to have your answers prepared … Also, that you should not speak into your book and that you should speak directly into the camera.

Olivia: The video conference was a great opportunity for us to practise public speaking…

Sophie: … I have now learnt how to speak clearly and slowly so people can understand you and also how to keep eye contact with that person through the web cam.

Grace: I would definitely like to do this again because it was really fun and is a good way of learning French pronunciation.

Ella: I think the video conference, was a very fun and educational experience. It gave us the opportunity to practice speaking to real French people, and it taught us how to speak at a steady pace and confidently.

Zara: I really liked taking part in the video conference as I enjoyed listening and speaking to French people... I also liked the fact you can have a link with a school so far away.

Molly: Even though it was in English it gave us a chance to see what other schools in different countries are like and their similarities and differences. Over all it was a great opportunity and I really enjoyed it… I would love to do it again.

Abigail 2: I think that the video conference was a brilliant experience; it gave us a chance to speak to some French people inside school as well as getting to use some new technology.

Katya: I think the video conference was educational and…it is better if you look directly at the camera and watching it back I can see this is the mistake that most people made.

Jessica: I enjoyed the video conference a lot because it was a good experience talking to different students from another country.