Year 8 — French

Term 1: Vive les vacances !

In this unit pupils learn to talk about the summer they have just had. They discover the perfect tense and using the perfect and present tenses together.

For the first assessment of Year 8, students will be tested on Listening and Reading only. A practice Writing task will be completed in class.

J'habite an Angleterre

I live in England

Je suis allé(e) en vacances

I went on holiday

J'ai fait une balade en bateau

I went on a boat ride

Tu as voyagé comment?

How did you travel?

J'ai trainé à la maison

I hung around the house

Je vais en colo à la campagne

I go to a holiday camp in the countryside

C'était amusant/ marrant

It was fun/funny

Je ne suis pas sorti(e)

I didn't go out

J'ai vu des dauphins

I saw dolphins

Je nage dans la piscine

I swim in the pool

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students will consider how culture can transcend country boundaries. They will also express their preferences with justification on a range of sources and content and discover each other's cultures and family habits.

Create a supportive community:

Students will express their opinions and find commonalities with other individuals, groups and cultures.

Term 2: J'adore les fêtes !

This unit will develop what pupils can say about their lives and their likes/dislikes and expand their transactional language in context of buying food at a market. They will revise the present and near future tenses and continue to practise the perfect tense. Pupils learn about festivals and celebrations in the Francophone world and they are introduced to traditional French cuisine.

Students will be assessed on Listening, Reading, Writing and Translation. The assessment will mainly include structures and vocabulary from the current unit, but also recall on prior knowledge.

Quelle est ta fête préférée ?

What's your favourite festival/ celebration?

Faire une soirée-pyjama

To have a sleepover

J'adore rendre visite à mes cousins

I love visiting my cousins

J'attends ... avec impatience

I can't wait for ...

Un artichaut

An artichoke

Une tranche de fromage

A slice of cheese

C'est une specialité salée

It is a savoury specialty

Je vais écouter des chorales

I am going to listen to some choirs

Quelles sont tes résolutions pour l'année prochaine?

What are your new year's resolutions?

Je vais être patient(e) avec mes parents

I am going to be patient with my parents

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students learn about celebration in French speaking countries. They will understand French is not only spoken in France and Francophonie is full of variety.

Create a supportive community:

Students will share their experiences and explore those of other countries and cultures. This is an ideal way to further encourage conversation and develop vocabulary.

Term 3: A loisir

In this unit pupils learn to express their opinions around TV and digital technology and further develop their transactional language in the context of arranging to go out. Pupils are introduced to using three tenses together. Pupils also learn about leisure activities in different Francophone countries.

Students will be assessed on Listening, Reading, Speaking or Writing and Translation. The assessment will mainly include structures and vocabulary from the current unit, but also recall on prior knowledge. For the Speaking, students will prepare answers to a series of questions in lesson prior to the assessment, and will be individually asked these same questions to be assessed on communication, content and pronunciation/ fluency.

Je pense que

I think that

Je suis / je ne suis pas

I am / I am not

Normalement, je porte...

Normally, I wear...

Mes vêtements

My clothes

Qu'est-ce que tu vas porter ?

What are you going to wear?

J'ai un style plutôt chic

My style is rather classy

Ca me rend joyeux/ joyeuse

It makes me happy

Ca me donne envie de ...

It makes me want to ...

Par moments

At times

Ensemble

Together

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students reflect upon their own hobbies and reflect on relationships surrounding the use of the media.

Create a supportive community:

Students can express their feelings more confidently, safe in the knowledge their reflections and ideas will be respected.

Term 4: Le monde est petit

This unit continues to develop what pupils can say about their lives and how they express and justify their opinions. They develop their use of different persons of the verb and introduce modal verbs as well as reflexive verbs in context of daily routine. Further practice with three tenses. Pupils learn about geographical aspects of France and Francophone countries as well as about famous French painters and their works of art.

Students will be assessed on Listening, Reading, Speaking or Writing and Translation. The assessment will mainly include structures and vocabulary from the current unit, but also recall on prior knowledge. Students should be particularly mindful of using and understanding a range of verb tenses.

J'habite dans une jolie maison

I live in a pretty house

Les meubles et les appareils

Furniture and appliances

Le petit déjeuner

Breakfast

Les pièces de la maison

The rooms in the house

Les provisions

Food shopping

Les quantités

Quantities

Une tranche de ...

A slice of ...

Il faut acheter ...

We need to buy ...

dans / devant/ derrière

in / in front of / behind

Chez moi

In my home

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students learn to describe their home and compare it with home lives in other French-speaking countries. They also learn about cultural differences, developing their cultural understanding of the French-speaking world beyond France.

Create a supportive community:

Students can compare their homes and dream homes with each other and with people from other cultures. They can find commonalities in housing, cultures and daily activities.

Term 5: Le sport en direct

In this unit wecontinue to develop what pupils can say about their lives and their likes/dislikes, including comparatives. We introduce the imperative for asking

directions and further practice transactional language in context of talking to the doctor. Pupils also learn about some famous sportspeople in the Francophone world.

Students will be assessed on Listening, Reading and Translation. The assessment will mainly include structures and vocabulary from the current unit, but also recall on prior knowledge. In Writing, pupils should be aiming to use a wide range of vocabulary to demonstrate their ability to use language in a range of contexts.

Mon talent, c'est chanter

My talent is singing

Je veux être magicien(ne)

I want to be a magician

Qui est le meilleur ?

Who is the best?

Tu as raison / tort

You are right / wrong

Participer au concours

To take part in the contest

Fais plus d'efforts !

Make more of an effort!

Chante plus fort !

Sing louder!

Mes rêves et mes ambitions

My dreams and my ambitions

Je peux / Je ne peux pas

I can / I can't

Tu dois avoir confiance en toi

You must be confident

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Students look at similarities in youth culture and art between France and the UK.

Create a supportive community:

Students learn to be diplomatic when giving feedback, while we encourage empathy. They also develop their understanding of similarities and differences between cultures.

Term 6: J'explore...

This unit is about applying French language to explicitly cross-curricular situations: Geography, Science and History, with extensive reading and presentations. Grammar: using a range of tense.

In the End of Year assessment, students will complete Listening, Reading and Translation tasks, and will impress us with their Writing.

This assessment will cover the content we have studied throughout the whole year as well as prior knowledge from Year 7.

La francophonie

French-speaking countries

Les sciences

Science

La Révolution française

The French Revolution

Ce pays se trouve en ...

This country is located in...

Le paysage

The landscape

Il faut + infinitive

You must + verb

La Fête Nationale

The National Holiday (14th July)

Traditionnellement

Traditionally

Attentivement

Carefully

Le climat

The climate

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

This cross-curricular unit helps students consider French as a tool for learning rather than just the language being the learning outcome.

Create a supportive community:

Students will take part in a quiz about Paris at the time of the French Revolution, after watching a documentary as homework about it. They will need to work in small groups, in a collaborative manner. Moreover, finding out about communities of languages around the word will place them in a bigger setting and help heir language learning come to life. The Science part of the module will involve creating a method to make something (object, recipe, technique) of their choice. They will need to work collaboratively to ensure the outcome is outstanding.