The Big Picture – La Grande Image!

Year 8

What is involved in learning French in Year 8?

In Year 8 you will learn the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in French through a wide range of activities.

What will I be learning?

The topics for each term are:

Term 1

____ Unit 1 Greetings, Where you live, Likes and dislikes

____ Unit 2 Brothers & sisters, Age, dates, birthdays, Numbers 1-100

____ Unit 3 School subjects, School equipment

____ Unit 4 Food & drink in a café, Places in town, Family

Term 2

____ Unit 5 Sports, Daily routine, Weekend activities

____ Unit 6 Town, Arranging to go out

____ Unit 7 Free time activities, Visiting other countries

____ Unit 9 Hobbies & music, Past tense activities

Skills - Now I am able to…

Unit 1 Use my knowledge of sounds to say words correctly

Understand instructions

Unit 2 Ask how to say something in French

Listen for key sounds

Unit 3 Look up words

Work out the meaning of new words

Unit 4 Recycle words I know already

Skills - Now I am able to…

Unit 5 Learn verb endings by heart

Listen for pronunciation

Unit 6 Make statements into questions

Read for gist

Use a dictionary

Unit 7 Work out meaning in a text

Unit 9 Say longer phrases

Winter revision

Summer revision

Term 3

____ Unit 10 House, bedroom

____ Unit 11 School day, uniform, travelling to school, favourite subjects

____ Unit 8 Talk about your favourite things, talk about a friend / a group.

____ Unit 12 Holiday plans and activities

Skills - Now I am able to…

Unit 10 Say that something belongs to someone.

Recognise links between some French and English words.

Unit 11 Use a dictionary.

Recognise different word order.

Unit 8 Raise the level of your French.

Explain patterns based on what you know already.

Read a longer article in French.

Unit 12 Learn key phrases for letter-writing.

Summer revision

What about exams and tests?

At the end of November / May, you will have an exam, which will test each of the 4 language skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing). Throughout the year, you will also have regular spelling tests! These are important as you cannot learn a language in a few days before an exam!

Also read over the ‘stratégies’ in each unit to help you deal with unfamiliar language and recycle language you already know. (see table of contents p4-5)

What about homework?

You will have regular learning homework and written homework. Progress in a language depends on thorough learning of new words! Refer to your checklists in your Learning Organiser for how to learn vocabulary and how to set out written homework.

What will I need?

You will be given the text book Voilà 1 and an activity booklet. In addition, you will need 3 lined exercise books and a small notebook for tests.

It is a good idea to keep all your French books in a plastic folder to protect them.

Can I use computers to help me learn a language?

Of course! You will have the opportunity to use computers in class. Your teacher will also give you some useful websites with lots of fun activities.

E.g. www.linguascope.com (Your teacher can tell you the user name and password)

www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french www.channel4learning.net

www.mflgames.co.uk www.languagesforall.co.uk

www.zut.org.uk (free after 4pm, Year 7 England = Year 8 N.I.)