I have written before about using the old Channel 4 Extra series with Year 7 French. I am going to go into more detail here, in case you want to try it out with your own classes.
I use it at the end of a lesson, in the last 5 minutes. Sometimes we re-watch from the start, and sometimes we carry on from where we left off. Pupils love it and it's a great way to get them listening to native French speakers.
The video is available on YouTube. Here is exactly what I do with the first 1 minute 49 seconds the first time we watch it.
1. Tell the pupils it's in French. Otherwise they shout "It's in French."
2. Turn off the subtitles so they are watching and listening like a hawk.
3. Tell them that you are going to be asking questions. Mainly about what they see but also about what they hear.
4. Play the first 1 minute 49 seconds.
5. Ask the following questions immediately after watching. You can do it for hands up, or give them paper to write down the answers individually or in teams pub quiz style for points and prizes.
What city is this set in?
What are the names of any of the characters?
What is the name of the series?
Describe (or draw) what is on the inside of their front door.
Describe their pet.
She dumps her boyfriend by email. What is his name?
Who rings up?
She says she has received his present. What was it?
What does she remember to say just before she puts the phone down? If they don't remember, remind them it was, "Bon anniversaire."
And just like that, they are comfortable - I would even say enjoying - watching the TV show in French.
Either immediately, or at the end of the next lesson, I then watch the video again from the start. This time I freeze the video as Sasha types her email and ask the class to tell me the meaning of the words on the screen: nouveau message / c'est fini / envoyer. And I ask them what he's no longer allowed to call her.
As we continue, pupils often find themselves calling out what they think she is saying on the phone: "What, Patrick?" "Yes, I got your cushion." "It's over." "Bye." "Oh, Happy Birthday." Putting in much more detail and correctly interpreting sentences all based on what they know of the situation, observation of what happens, and Sasha's intonation.
I can't resist interrupting the post here to point out that this isn't supposed to happen. Ofsted in their recent Research Review are very clear that in a foreign language, you are supposed to work out meaning by parsing known words and grammar. Obviously this isn't true. Not even for people who are fluent. You constantly monitor the situation, the interaction, tone of voice, what makes sense... in a feedback-loop with what you think the words are. And Year 7 can do it too, very confidently, enjoying the story and excited about being able to understand it in French. Including correctly and successfully understanding the meaning of sentences containing unfamiliar language.
Carrying on. We watch the next section up to 4 minutes 30 seconds. And at the end, I ask these questions:
What is the name of the dog?
Did you hear anyone say "dog" in French? This always gets them - avoid confirming if they do or don't until you listen again and then they hear it!
What are the 3 bills that have arrived?
Who is the letter from?
What colour is the post-it?
The letter contains another letter, from her old American penfriend. What is his name?
She says they were penfriends "il y a sept ans". What does this mean?
She reads his letter - what can you tell about his French?
He says, "J'arrive en France". What does this mean?
What number rule is "No visitors"?
When we watch it again (straight away or at the end of the next lesson) I may or may not let them in on the "Je veux dormir avec toi" joke. And we look at the other rules on the printed sign.
Next section. Watch first. Questions after.
When is Sam arriving?
Who is at the door?
He has brought back their "lait d'il y a trois semaines." What does this mean?
When he sits on the sofa he does something stupid. What does he do? Apart from looking at her bum.
Annie has to ring him up. What does she ask? What is the answer?
Stop at 6 minutes 22 before the glass of coke actually appears if you like and see if they can still get the answer to the last question.
I think you are getting the hang of it now, but I've been doing it for over 15 years, so I may as well let you know the questions that seem to work their magic.
When Annie tells Nico that Sam from America is coming, what does he think?
He is jealous. What does he do?
What gets him thrown out of the flat?
Next section, next lesson? You are now ready for Sam to arrive.
What is he wearing that makes him look odd?
What happens when he tries to introduce himself?
He shows them a photo and they think they are toy ones. What are they?
He shows them his house. What do they think it is?
How many bedrooms are there in the flat?
How many bedrooms does Sam say he has?
How many do they think he means?
Watch it again, and see them picking up on whole sentences, and of course, picking on much more than they would if we were just parsing known vocabulary and grammar.
There's a whole series of this, ending with a marriage proposal. And I think you can probably make up your own questions from now on. Watch first. Ask them questions which focus on things they can see and hear, and which do guide them gently as to what is happening. Then watch again and see how much more they can understand.
Before you know it, it will have become a regular feature of your lessons, and you will have Year 7s confident in listening to native French, focused on interpreting the situation, the relationships, the intonation, words they know, and adding all that up to a successful experience of listening to French.
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