Grade 04: French

In this unit, 'Reading short texts', you learn to read and answer. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Reading short texts' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: read and answer, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Read the whole text once for the general idea. Je m'appelle Nora. J'ai neuf ans. J'habite à Lyon avec ma mère, mon père et mon chat. Le matin, je vais à l'école à pied. J'aime lire et dessiner. Le mercredi, je joue au tennis. Ask: who is speaking, and about what? [Nora, about herself.]
2. Step 2, Work out the meaning line by line. J'habite [I live], avec ma mère [with my mother], le matin [in the morning], à pied [on foot], j'aime lire [I like reading], le mercredi [on Wednesdays]. Underline words that look like English, such as tennis, and words you already know, such as chat and école.
3. Step 3, Learn the question words. Qui ? [Who?] Où ? [Where?] Quand ? [When?] Quel âge ? [How old?] Que fait-elle ? [What does she do?] Match: Où habite Nora ? Look for habite in the text, then answer: Elle habite à Lyon. [She lives in Lyon.]
4. Step 4, Answer in a full sentence. Quel âge a Nora ? [How old is Nora?] Nora a neuf ans. [Nora is nine.] Avec qui habite-t-elle ? [Who does she live with?] Elle habite avec sa mère, son père et son chat. Change je to elle and ma to sa when you copy.
5. Step 5, Fix common errors. A child writes Nora habite à Paris without checking the text. Correction: Nora habite à Lyon, so always find the proof. Another says Elle joue au tennis le lundi. Correction: le mercredi. A third writes Je habite; say J'habite.
6. Step 6, Your turn: read Hugo a dix ans. Il habite à Marseille avec sa sœur. Le samedi, il joue au football. Answer the question Que fait Hugo le samedi ? Answer: Il joue au football le samedi. [He plays football on Saturdays.]

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Read and answer: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Writing short texts', you learn to write about me. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Writing short texts' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: write about me, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Start with a sentence frame. Je m'appelle Samir. J'ai neuf ans. J'habite dans une grande ville. [My name is Samir. I am nine. I live in a big city.] Copy the frame and put your own name, age and place in it. Begin each sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
2. Step 2, Add family and pets. J'ai un frère et une sœur. [I have a brother and a sister.] J'ai un chien. Il s'appelle Max. [I have a dog. His name is Max.] Use J'ai, not Je suis, for age, brothers, sisters and pets. Write two sentences about your own family.
3. Step 3, Say what you like. J'aime le football et j'aime lire. [I like football and I like reading.] Je n'aime pas les araignées. [I do not like spiders.] Join ideas with et [and] and mais [but]: J'aime la pizza, mais je n'aime pas le poisson. [I like pizza, but I do not like fish.]
4. Step 4, Put the text together and check it. Write six sentences in order: name, age, town, family, pet, likes. Check capitals, full stops and accents such as école, frère and très. Read it aloud once and listen for a sentence that sounds wrong.
5. Step 5, Fix errors. A child writes Je suis neuf ans. Correction: J'ai neuf ans. Another writes mon sœur. Correction: ma sœur, because sœur is feminine. Another writes frere without the accent. Correction: frère, with the grave accent.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write four sentences about you with name, age, one like and one pet. Model answer: Je m'appelle Lina. J'ai dix ans. J'aime dessiner. J'ai un chat et il s'appelle Mimi. [My name is Lina. I am ten. I like drawing. I have a cat and his name is Mimi.]

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Write about me: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Listening practice', you learn to follow a short dialogue. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Listening practice' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: follow a short dialogue, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Prepare before listening. An adult reads the dialogue aloud twice (script in Step 2). Predict first: the title is À la boulangerie [At the bakery]. Which words might you hear? Likely pain [bread], croissant, s'il vous plaît [please], euro and some numbers. Write them down.
2. Step 2, Listen once for the gist. Read aloud: Bonjour, madame. Je voudrais deux croissants et une baguette, s'il vous plaît. Voilà. Un croissant coûte un euro vingt et la baguette un euro. Ça fait combien ? Trois euros quarante. Merci, au revoir ! [Hello. I would like two croissants and a baguette, please. Here you are. A croissant costs 1.20 and the baguette 1.00. How much is that? 3.40. Thank you, goodbye!] Gist: buying bread.
3. Step 3, Listen again for details. Note: deux croissants [2], une baguette [1], un euro vingt [1.20 each], un euro [1.00 for the baguette]. Write the numbers as figures, not words. Stop the reader after each price if you need more time.
4. Step 4, Check the answer by calculating. 2 x 1.20 = 2.40 and 2.40 + 1.00 = 3.40. The shopkeeper said trois euros quarante, so what you heard matches your sum. If it does not match, listen again for the number you missed.
5. Step 5, Fix common listening slips. Deux [2] and dix [10] sound different: deux ends with an open sound, dix with an s sound. Un euro vingt means 1.20, not 20 euros. Quarante [40] and quatorze [14] begin alike, so listen to the end of the word.
6. Step 6, Your turn: hear Je voudrais trois pommes. Une pomme coûte soixante centimes. Ça fait combien ? Answer: 3 x 0.60 = 1.80, so Ça fait un euro quatre-vingts. [That makes 1.80.]

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Follow a short dialogue: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Speaking practice', you learn to give a short talk. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Speaking practice' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: give a short talk, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Choose a simple topic and plan four points. Topic: mon chat [my cat]. Points: name, looks, likes, how I feel. Write one keyword for each point on a small card: nom, petit et noir, dormir, je l'aime. The card helps you remember without reading every word.
2. Step 2, Build one sentence per point. Il s'appelle Pixel. [His name is Pixel.] Il est petit et noir. [He is small and black.] Il aime dormir et jouer avec une balle. [He likes sleeping and playing with a ball.] Je l'aime beaucoup. [I love him very much.]
3. Step 3, Add a start and an end. Start: Bonjour ! Je vais parler de mon chat. [Hello! I am going to talk about my cat.] End: Merci de m'écouter ! [Thank you for listening!] Your whole talk is now seven short sentences, about 30 words.
4. Step 4, Practise the sounds. Say each sentence slowly. The s at the end of petits is silent. In beaucoup say bo-koo. Say the talk three times: once to a mirror, once to a toy, once to a friend. Speak loudly, slowly and look up at the end of each sentence.
5. Step 5, Fix errors. A child says Il s'appelle est Pixel. Correction: Il s'appelle Pixel. Another says Il a petit. Correction: Il est petit, because we use est with an adjective. A third says Il a aime jouer. Correction: Il aime jouer, with only one verb.
6. Step 6, Your turn: give a five-sentence talk about your family. Model answer: Bonjour ! Je vais parler de ma famille. J'ai une sœur et un frère. Ma sœur s'appelle Rima et mon frère s'appelle Adam. Merci de m'écouter ! [Hello! I am going to talk about my family. I have a sister and a brother. My sister is Rima and my brother is Adam. Thank you for listening!]

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Give a short talk: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

On the slide: L1 Basic · First words and greetings

Notes: Greet someone, give your name and count to ten in French. Notes: teach Bonjour (hello) and Je m'appelle... (my name is...) with a smile and gesture; learners greet five classmates and say their own name, with no reading or writing needed yet.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Sounds, spelling and simple phrases

Notes: Pronounce common French sounds and read short phrases about family, colours and food. Notes: show that final consonants are often silent, as in petit (small); learners read ten word cards aloud, then match each to a picture.

This course: Grade 04 French is at this level. Its units include Reading short texts; Writing short texts; Listening practice; Speaking practice.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Present tense and simple sentences

Notes: Write and say ten sentences about yourself using regular verbs and the verbs être (to be) and avoir (to have). Notes: give a gap-fill on Je suis... and J'ai...; learners complete it with their own details and swap with a partner to check agreement.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Past and future in conversation

Notes: Talk about yesterday and next week using the passé composé and the near future. Notes: model J'ai mangé (I ate) and Je vais manger (I am going to eat); learners interview a partner for three minutes, then write six sentences in the past and the future.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Argument, texts and accuracy

Notes: Write a 250-word opinion piece and summarise an authentic article, using the subjunctive where needed. Notes: practise Il faut que je parte (I must leave); learners mark every verb in their draft, fix agreement errors, and defend one opinion in a spoken minute.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Literature, linguistics and style

Notes: Analyse a literary or media text for style, register and historical context, and write a critical essay in French. Notes: choose one page of prose; learners find three stylistic choices, compare them with a modern translation, and argue in 600 words which reading is stronger.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Research, translation and teaching

Notes: Plan and carry out an original piece of French-language research or translation with a documented method. Notes: choose a narrow question, such as how one word's meaning has shifted; collect twenty sources, code them, write up findings in French, and submit them for peer review.