Le programme de Français       

The French program begins in grade four.

The students begin grade four in the French language. That is to say, it is taught in French and the students are expected to speak only French.

Aim Language Learning

The Aim system is a completely new and different way of teaching and learning French as a second language.

The focus is on learning gestures with almost every word students are taught. The students are expected to ‘read’ the teacher’s gestures (speak in French) and gesture at the same time. This helps students internalize the vocabulary much faster. By doing the actions for the words as they say them with the teacher they are maximizing the class time for language practice.

Gestures are practiced with a set amount of vocabulary so that the students can make logical sentences quite early and also understand more easily what they are hearing and saying in French.

This set vocabulary was determined by studying how young French children learn French (their first language). Small children start out with a limited amount of vocabulary, however they learn to communicate very well using these few words along with the help of common gestures to further communicate their basic needs.

Once students are familiar with the basic set of vocabulary and gestures, they go on to study a simple play (which contains the very simple vocabulary studied with gestures) that is very familiar to them in English. Throughout the study of the play, students will memorize with gestures the entire play. They will also work in class with questions relating to the play. This question work is done with gestures as well. Students first work with the questions orally and then can move on to the written work. Fluency is the goal and through the use of questions and answers and other activities with gestures relating to the play, students are challenged to create sentences that have relevance to what they are studying with vocabulary that is very familiar to them.

Students will begin by practicing the play using student-made puppets and then they will progress to acting out the play themselves and will be able to perform it to family and to classes in the younger grades.

 Another important component of this program is story re-telling and story extension. The students can re-tell the story of the play in their own words and also extend the story beyond the traditional ending.

The biggest plus of this program is the confidence students gain in speaking French. With so much time spent in class speaking and using gestures to communicate meaning, all students (weak or strong) can experience a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment in a second language classroom.

To learn French you must use it regularly. Please encourage your child to actively participate and speak French in class to the best of his or her ability. 

If you have any questions regarding your child's French class, please don't hesitate to call me here at the school.         

Madame MacKenzie-Murray

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