1. education
2. school

Quelle est ta
matière préférée ?
Suggested introduction to
the BD
• Before listening to the BD track, ask students to
study Frames 1–19, without attempting to read the
speech bubbles, or use the interactive version of
the BD on Pearson Reader with the text hidden.
Ask students to guess what is happening, in order
to familiarise themselves with the story through
the pictures. Ask them the following questions in
French. Students may answer in English. Confirm
the answers in French.
1
matin.
Lundi, à 7 heures 55 du
.
ège
coll
au
t
von
a
Nin
Léo et
Moi non plus. Tu termines à
dix-sept heures aujourd’hui ?
2
Moi aussi. Je n’aime pas
commencer la journée dans le noir.
Je déteste l’hiver. C’est nul !
3
Bonjour, Nina. Ça va ?
1 Image 3 : il y a combien de personnages ?
Qui sont-ils ?
Il y a quatre personnages : Léo, Kim, Nina
et Quentin.
Salut, Léo.
2 Image 9 : qui est l’homme ?
C’est le professeur.
4
On a histoire-géo, non ? Voyons …
oui … et à neuf heures, on a SVT.
On attend le surveillant ? Mais
il est presque huit heures !
Il arrive. Reg
Regarde !
m
pl
e
Berk !
Tu n’aimes pas les sciences ?
C’est ma matière préférée !
5
7
• Check students have understood the gist by asking
the ‘What’s happening?’ questions on page 20.
Avoid a detailed translation.
Alternative introduction to
the BD (1)
• Before listening to the recording, have students look
at the BD without attempting to read the speech
bubbles, or use the interactive version of the BD on
Pearson Reader with the text hidden.
• Ask students to create a KWL chart in their
notebooks:
– K = what I already know (from looking at the
images without reading the words)
– W = what I want to know
– L = what I have learnt
Monsieur Gauthier ? Moi
non plus. Il est trop sévère.
18 dix-huit
• Have students fill in their individual answers to the
K and W sections. Leave the L section until they
have completed step 3 of Suivez la piste. The
desire to fill in the missing pieces increases their
motivation to discover more about the language
and culture.
• Play the whole track twice without a pause while
students look at the BD.
• Check students have understood the gist by asking
the ‘What’s happening?’ questions on page 20.
Avoid a detailed translation.
IcLL extension
On completion of their KWL charts
(following step 3 of Suivez la piste), have
students reflect on the process. Encourage them to
understand that noticing and reflecting are important
first steps in making sense of a situation and that a
lot of information can be gathered from visual clues
alone.
QDN2 resources
SB: CD 1, track 16
Quoi de neuf ? 2 Teacher Companion
J’aime beaucoup les sciences. Mais
je n’aime pas le prof de sciences.
Voilà ! Entrez !
Sa
• Play the whole track twice without a pause while
students look at the BD.
Qu’est-ce qu’on a à
huit heures, Quentin ?
pa
6
Tell students that they are currently en cours de
français : ‘Nous sommes en cours de français’.
Ask: Où sont les personnages dans l’image 19 ?
Ils sont à la cantine.
• Now repeat questions 1–4 in French and ask
students to answer in French. Tell them that they
will hear some of these words when they hear the
BD track and that recognising key French words that
came up in this brainstorming will prepare them for
the listening and comprehension task on the BD.
J’arrive ! J’arrive !
Une minute …
ge
Ask students to work out the meaning of collège.
Ask: Ils ont quel âge, Nina et Léo ? Then have
students work out that at that age, the characters
should be in junior high school like they are
themselves. The secondary school system in France is
explained in Connexions culturelles, pages 21–22.
s
Oui. Aujourd’hui, je vais commencer
et terminer dans le noir !
3 Où sont les personnages dans l’image 9 ?
Ils sont à l’école / au collège / en classe /
en cours.
18
Oui, pas mal, merci.
UNITÉ
8
Oh non ! J’ai oublié mon livre de maths !
Et mon cahier et mes devoirs !
Alternative introduction to
the BD (2)
En cours de maths …
9
Tout le monde, ouvrez vos livres à la page
cinquante-sept. Commencez l’exercice quinze.
• Before listening to the recording, have students look
at the BD without attempting to read the speech
bubbles, or use the interactive version of the BD on
Pearson Reader with the text hidden. Ask:
Regarde dans mon livre, Léo.
– Who do you recognise?
Léo, Quentin, Nina, Kim.
– What new characters are there?
The two teachers, the surveillant (supervisor),
Catherine.
Chut ! Ne parlez pas.
Travaillez en silence.
Oh, là là là là ! Tu perds la tête, Léo !
– Where is this happening?
On the street, at school, in class, at the school
canteen.
Euh … Mon cahier et mes
devoirs sont à la maison
… avec mon livre.
Où est ton livre, Léo ?
11
10
J’ai oublié mon livre, monsieur.
Mince !
• Play the whole track twice without a pause while
students look at the BD.
s
Alors, va à la salle
de permanence, Léo.
ge
• Check students have understood the gist by asking
the ‘What’s happening?’ questions on the next page.
Avoid a detailed translation.
13
• Look at Frame 2:
– Where are Nina and Léo going? / Léo et Nina
vont où ?
To school / Ils vont au collège.
Léo, à vous.
Harry is not happy.
– But it is night time! What season do you think
it is?
In winter, students start school in the dark in
France.
e
Non ! Non ! Non !
Prononcez le ‘h’, Nina !
m
pl
Arry is not appy.
Sa
12
Regardez le tableau ! N’oubliez pas … on entend
le ‘h’. En anglais, on prononce le ‘h’. Nina, à vous !
IcLL prompts
pa
Tu as tes devoirs, non ?
En cours d’anglais …
– What’s happening?
Nina and Quentin are walking to school, going
to class and eating at the canteen where Léo
seems taken by Catherine, the new student.
– How would you feel about going to school
before the sun rises?
• Look at Frames 2–5:
– The gates of the school are locked and
students are waiting for the supervisor to open
the gate. What does this say about the context
in France?
Security issues, sometimes vandalism.
Bravo, Léo! Parfait ! Léo est
fort en anglais, n’est-ce pas ?
dix-neuf
19
– Is it the same where you live? How would you
feel if your school was locked and you had to
wait on the street for it to open in the morning?
• Look at Frame 3:
– How do the friends greet?
The girls kiss on the cheek, the boys shake
hands.
– Is it common practice in France? Yes.
• Look at Frame 16:
– Why don’t Léo and Catherine kiss hello?
Maybe Catherine and Léo do not know each
other well yet.
– How do you greet your friends and classmates
every morning at school?
Unité 2
19
Pendant la récréation …
What’s happening?
15
14
• What time does school start? 8 o’clock.
• Does Kim like ‘SVT’? No, she says Berk ! in Frame
6, the French equivalent to ‘Yuck’.
• Do Kim and Nina like the science teacher? No, they
don’t like M. Gauthier.
• What is happening to Léo in the maths class?
The maths teacher sends him to la salle de
permanence. / Léo is in trouble, he has forgotten
his book.
Oh là là ! Je suis nulle en
anglais ! C’est trop difficile !
• What is Nina trying to say in the English class?
What letter is she having trouble pronouncing? She
is trying to say ‘Harry is not happy’. She is having
trouble pronouncing the letter ‘h’ (because it is
silent in French).
C’est facile pour toi !
Ton père est australien !
Mais non, c’est facile ! C’est ma
matière préférée. Et c’est très utile !
À midi à la cantine …
17
Salut, Léo. Tu vas manger
à la cantine, aujourd’hui ?
16
Ne boude pas, Nina !
C’est une nouvelle élève, non ?
Oui, et toi ?
• Who is good at English and why? Léo because his
father is Australian.
• How does Nina feel about that? She is upset.
• What does Léo think of Catherine? He thinks she is
nice and smart/intelligent.
Elle est en quelle classe ?
pa
18
m
pl
19
Elle est vraiment sympa …
et très intelligente.
Vraiment ?
Ça alors !
Sa
Alternatively, students could form groups of three
or four and create a Venn diagram to note the
similarities and differences or create a PMI chart
(plus/minus/interesting) on their observations from
the depiction in the BD of school life in France.
Students can expand on their charts as the unit
proceeds and as they reform and revise their
opinions.
e
IcLL Student Book
answers
• Here are some observations that
students may make:
School starts early, at 8 a.m. It is still dark when
they get to school. It is winter; it seems cold
(winter coats and scarves). Classrooms are very
plain. Teachers are strict. Students do not wear
a uniform. There is a self-serve school canteen.
Desks are in rows, etc.
ge
Dans cinq minutes. À bientôt.
• What is Nina’s reaction? From her facial expression
and intonation, she does not seem to be willing to
meet her. She may be jealous.
• Mlle Moutarde chooses to be formal with her
students while M. Gilbert chooses otherwise.
This is a teacher’s personal choice and both are
acceptable.
• Model Léo’s ‘Oh non !’ gesture in Frame 8: hit
your forehead with the palm of your hand with
a grimace to show you have suddenly realised
you have forgotten something, saying ‘Oh non
!’ or just doing the gesture. Discuss students’
interpretations. They will explore this gesture on
page 22 in Sans mot dire.
QDN2 resources
p. 24, task B
20
Quoi de neuf ? 2 Teacher Companion
s
• Who is Catherine Thibault? She is a new student.
20 vingt
IcLL extension
• Do you think all schools are like this
in France?
• Are all schools in Australia/New Zealand the
same as your school?
These questions enable students to see diversity
and to challenge stereotypes. A quick class survey
will reveal differences students have experienced
by attending various schools within the local
community, their state or interstate.
The BD is showing one example only of a school in
France. Have students work in small groups to create
a mind map of what they gather the French school
life is like from the BD. They can use text, colours
and drawings. They will add to the mind map as they
work through Connexions culturelles.
Elle est en quatrième.
Oui. Elle s’appelle
Catherine Thibault.
Cathe
Ah bon ?
Remarquez !
š BeeaYbei[boWjj^[BD. What similarities are
there between this school day and one of yours
in Australia? What differences do you notice?
š BeeaW]W_dWj<hWc[i'&WdZ'($>emmekbZ
you explain M. Gilbert’s use of tu with Léo
and Mlle Moutarde’s use of vous with Nina?
š M^WjZeoekj^_da_ij^[c[Wd_d]e\BƒeÊi
gesture in Frame 8? You can find out more
WXekjj^_i][ijkh[edfW][(($
With some classmates, you are going to choose roles
and act out all or part of the BD for the class. But firstly,
work through steps 1–4 on the following pages.
UNITÉ
Cultural note
Education in France is free and compulsory from the
age of 6 to the age of 16. In 2010, there were around
2.5 million students enrolled in collèges publiques,
and fewer than 700 000 in collèges privés.
Le système scolaire français
Compare the French school system to your own.
What similarities and differences do you notice?
Extension
Create some labelled drawings or a table in French to
show how your school system works. Then discuss
the similarities and differences with the French system
in class.
e
Troisième (3 ) 14–15 ans
Terminale (Tle) 17–18 ans
Cinquième (5e) 12–13 ans
Première (1re) 16–17 ans
Sixième (6e) 11–12 ans
Seconde (2de) 15–16 ans
École primaire :
6–11 ans
Collège :
11–15 ans
Cultural note
The school council decides if a student can move to the
next grade, based on academic results; some students
repeat the year, redoubler. However, this practice is
increasingly rare, with only 3.6% of students repeating
a year at junior high school (2010).
Lycée :
15–18 ans
IcLL Student Book
answer
ge
Collège is the first level of secondary school in France. Notice that
classes are numbered in the opposite order from the way they are
in our system. When students start college, they are in sixième.
The following year, they are in cinquième, and so on.
s
École maternelle :
2–5 ans
Quatrième (4e) 13–14 ans
A French student would probably feel
quite jealous of our shorter school hours.
La vie scolaire en France
pa
In most secondary schools in France, the school day starts at 8 am or 8.30 am.
Students finish anywhere between 4 pm and 6 pm, depending on the year level
and subjects studied. At collège, there are no classes on Wednesday afternoons.
These are reserved for school sports, detentions and extra classes for students
behind in their work. Schools used to have classes on Saturday mornings, but this
is being phased out. The school day is long with lots of homework at the end of it.
After reading and discussing the paragraph,
imagine you are a French student on exchange at your
school. Write an email home with your thoughts about
the school. Say what you find different and what you
like and dislike.
m
pl
e
If you do not do well enough,
you have to redoubler –
repeat the year!
This is a cross-curricular activity (English) and an
opportunity for you to see your own culture through
someone else’s eyes.
Sa
Réfléchissez !
What do you think
French students
would think of our
school canteens?
What do you notice
about the students’
clothing?
QDN2 resources
>emZeoekj^_daW
French student would
feel about our school
hours?
Le système scolaire
The lunch break in French schools can be anywhere between one
and two hours. Many students have lunch at the school cantine,
where they can have three-course hot meals at a low price.
IcLL prompts
• Discuss students’ reactions to the
French school day. Then ask:
– What would a French student coming
on exchange to your school need to know
about schooling in Australia?
• Discuss with students the concept of ‘redoubler’.
Ask:
– How does it work in Australia/New Zealand?
Is it common to repeat a year?
– Who is involved in the decision?
– Whose decision do you think it should be: the
school’s, the parents’ or the student’s?
– How would you feel if you had to repeat
a year?
ICT writing task
We
b Desti nation
vingt-et-un
Go to Pearson Places for websites
featuring the French schooling
system and high schools.
21
• Develop thinking skills to make meaning of the
word cantine, to think about the culture behind
the language and to explore the notion that there
is not always a direct translation. Ask:
– Does your school have a canteen? What does
it offer?
– Although ‘cantine‘ and ‘canteen’ are the same
words in a French–English dictionary, what
differences can you see in school canteens in
France as they are described and pictured here
and at your school?
Explain that French students would call canteens in
Australian schools ‘cafeterias’.
IcLL extension
• Use a French search engine to investigate some
weekly cantine menus (menu de la semaine) from
a collège in France.
– How many courses are there? There are at
least three courses.
– What else do you notice? There are usually
no menus for Wednesdays (no classes on
Wednesday afternoons).
Encourage students to conclude that the menu is
usually healthy, balanced, and with multicultural
influences.
• Compare and contrast with your experience.
Note: Sites will give further impressions of French
schools: photographs and information to share.
Unité 2
21
Photos du carnet
• What type of information does the first page (blue)
of the carnet de correspondance offer?
The name of the student, the class they belong
to, their photo for identification, a note from the
parent to say what to do in case of absence of the
teacher, the timetable.
Le carnet de correspondance
This document is not only the student’s ID – it also
contains the student’s timetable and the school
regulations. There is a section where teachers record
the student’s progress, any learning or behavioural
problems, absences, lateness and detentions.
• This student is in 5e. How old is he?
He must be 12–13 years old (based on information
seen on page 21).
It is a major means of
communication between
the school and the student’s
family. It must be carried by
students at all times.
• How many lessons a week does he have? 24.5.
• What do you think the page on the left is for?
It is observations from the teachers addressed to
the parents, a dialogue box between the educator
and the parents.
Le/la surveillant(e)
Teachers in France are not expected to do non-teaching
duties, like yard or canteen duty. This is the work of les
surveillant(e)s. These supervisors are usually university
students who work part-time in schools to pay for their
studies. They lock and unlock the school gates
Who at
and supervise the yard. They also supervise
your school
la salle de permanence – a special room
performs these
where students go for private study lessons
supervising
duties??
or when their teacher is absent.
IcLL prompts
• Would a carnet de correspondance work at your
school?
• Which solution do you think works best and why?
L’année scolaire
IcLL extension
pa
Look at this French school holiday calendar. How do
your school holidays compare with those of students
J y
in France? Why is the longest holiday in July–August?
Why do you think there are three zones?
• How is the situation at your school different to the
situation in France?
• What do you do at school if a teacher is absent?
• Would you consider working as a surveillant(e) if
you were a university student? Why? Why not?
e
The French school year begins and ends at a
different time to ours. Being in the northern
hemisphere, France has summer in June, July and
August. Schools break up at the end of June for
two months of summer holidays. Then it’s back to
p
r.
school for la rentrée in earlyy September.
• Give one advantage and one disadvantage of
riding to school.
Student Book answers
Sa
• Give one advantage and one disadvantage of
using a scooter.
m
pl
• Which person in the photo is the surveillant(e)?
• How do you get to school?
ge
s
• Discuss what is done at your school to
cater for these aspects of school life and
compare with the French way to do it.
• How do students get to school? They walk, go by
bicycle, scooter, probably also by bus.
• The longest holiday is in July–August because it is
summer time, les grandes vacances.
• The three zones show different regions in France
with different holiday dates, so not everyone is on
holiday at the same time and the flux of people is
managed efficiently.
22 vingt-deux
p. 25, task C
22
Quoi de neuf ? 2 Teacher Companion
Périodes
Zone A
Zone B
Zone C
Rentrée scolaire
des élèves
Mardi 4 septembre 2012
Mardi 4 septembre 2012
Mardi 4 septembre 2012
Toussaint
Samedi 27 octobre 2012
Jeudi 8 novembre 2012
Samedi 27 octobre 2012
Jeudi 8 novembre 2012
Samedi 27 octobre 2012
Jeudi 8 novembre 2012
Samedi 22 décembre
Lundi 7 janvier 2013
Samedi 16 février 2013
Lundi 4 mars 2013
Samedi 22 décembre
Lundi 7 janvier 2013
Hiver
Samedi 22 décembre
Lundi 7 janvier 2013
Samedi 23 février 2013
Lundi 11 mars 2013
Printemps
Samedi 20 avril 2013
Lundi 6 mai 2013
Samedi 13 avril 2013
Lundi 29 avril 2013
Samedi 2 mars 2013
Lundi 18 mars 2013
Samedi 27 avril 2013
Lundi 13 mai 2013
Début des
vacances d’été
Jeudi 4 juillet 2013
Jeudi 4 juillet 2013
Jeudi 4 juillet 2013
Noël
Oh non !
Do you use any particular gesture
when you suddenly remember something?
In France, hitting your forehead once with the
palm of your hand shows a sudden realisation
that you’ve forgotten something. You can also
say Oh non !, Mince ! or J’ai oublié !
IcLL prompts
IcLL prompts
Explain: l’année scolaire is not actually an
‘année’ as such, as it starts in September
and not January. Encourage students to conclude
that a meaning is not always literal; it is influenced
by the culture, the customs, the climate, etc.
• Explain the phrase ‘Oh non !’ and
model the gesture.
Extension
QDN2 resources
How does your
school record
these different
aspects of
school life?
Create a table in French which shows how your school
year is divided. Include the term start dates and finish
dates, as well as all the public holiday dates. Use the
table on this page as a model.
How would
you feel about
starting a new
school year in
September?
• Have students mimic the gesture.
• Ask: What do you think of this gesture as
a means of communication? Is it effective /
comical / useful / offensive / confusing?
• Ask: Have you ever used that gesture before?
In what context?
• Could this gesture mean something else in your
culture?
UNITÉ
Prononciation
h
You may have noticed that when some French people speak English, they don’t always
pronounce the letter ‘h’. This is because in French, the ‘h’ is always silent. Try these:
horrible
th
habite
hamster
Hugo
heure
histoire
• Ask students to close their books. Write the
following English words on the board: knife, knight,
night, honest, honour, climb. Ask: Which letters
are not pronounced in these words? Write them in
brackets, e.g. (k)nif(e), (k)ni(gh)t.
’Arry is not ’appy.
hiver
Most often, the sounds either side of the silent ‘h’ flow together. For example:
J’ habite là-bas. Je déteste l’ hiver.
• Ask: Can you think of other words in English that
have silent letters?
But with some words, the sounds either side of a silent ‘h’ do not flow together, even though
the ‘h’ is still not pronounced. For example, you say: le hamster and NOT l’ hamster
• Read the information provided about the silent ‘h’
in French. Explain that in Latin languages (Spanish,
Italian, Portuguese and French) the letter ‘h’ is silent.
Another sound that French speakers often find difficult to pronounce is the English ‘th’.
So how are the letters th pronounced in French? Listen to your teacher say these words.
maths
thé
Gauthier
• Look at the written French words together and read
them out loud. Repeat several times.
Catherine Thibault
Note: Most dictionaries use a symbol to indicate when
an ‘h’ is aspirated or elided.
Notice that the ‘h’ is also silent in th so it simply sounds like ‘t’.
Try saying the words above. Then, with your teacher’s help, pronounce
these new words and expressions from the BD.
W
Words
are often
abbreviated
a
in
French.
F example:
For
prof, géo,
m
maths,
récré.
Useful words & expressions
bouder
commencer
entrer
oublier
parler
prononcer
terminer
travailler
attendre
entendre
perdre (la tête)
ouvrir
moi non plus
si
Bravo !
en silence
pendant
presque
du matin
à midi
Adjectives
facile
préféré(e)
quatrième
sévère
utile
• What is Nina’s issue in Frame 12?
She can’t pronounce the ‘h’.
• What aspect of English pronunciation do you think
would be difficult for a French speaker learning
English? Apart from the ‘h’, the ‘ough’ words are
the best examples.
ge
tout le monde
… en quelle année ?
Qu’est-ce qu’on a … ?
en cours de …
… n’est-ce pas ?
être nul(le) en …
être fort(e) en …
j’ai oublié
s
Verbs
Note: If there are any students whose mother tongue
is not English, ask them to share their experiences of
what they found difficult about learning English.
pa
la cantine
la journée
l’histoire-géo(graphie) (f)
la matière
la salle de permanence
les devoirs (mpl)
les maths
(mathématiques) (fpl)
les sciences (fpl) de la
vie et de la terre (SVT)
Faux amis
Look at the words la journée and
travailler. What do you think they mean?
Occasionally, French words which
look like English words have a different
meaning to the English words. Words like
these are called faux amis (false friends).
Don’t let them stop you from guessing
at meanings, but if your guesses don’t
make sense, use a dictionary.
IcLL prompts
Why do you think it is important to pronounce French
words with the correct accent?
Vocabulaire
m
pl
l’élève (m, f)
le/la prof(esseur)
le/la surveillant(e)
l’anglais (m)
le cahier
le collège
le cours (de maths)
l’exercice (m)
l’hiver (m)
le livre (de maths)
le noir
le tableau
la classe
la récré(ation)
e
Nouns
IcLL scaffold
Have students repeat words and expressions until they
are reasonably confident before doing the Qu’est-ce
que ça veut dire ? task.
Sa
Now do the Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? task in your Activity Book.
For some ways to make repetition lively and fun, see
page 5 of this Teacher Companion.
Return to the BD and listen several more times, imitating the voices. Then
rehearse with some friends and perform for the class. Don't forget the gesture!
Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ?
Learn how to learn
• Before students start the task, discuss their ideas
on techniques for understanding and learning new
words. In groups, they generate a list of tips. Then
each group shares their thoughts to create a class
poster.
– When you encounter a new word do you go
straight to the dictionary, or do you try to
understand the word in its context?
– Do you have your own glossary?
– What tricks do you use to remember gender?
– How can you effectively learn by heart?
vingt-trois
Student Book answer
La journée means ‘the day’, travailler means ‘to work’.
23
– What type of learner are you? Do you learn with
your eyes? Ears? Hands? Or all three? Or through
speaking?
• In pairs or individually, students write in the numbers
in the Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? task. Correct
and have students write in the English meanings.
IcLL prompts
Point out that French speakers can also
be fooled by faux amis in English. Ask:
What might a French speaker think the English words
‘travel’ and ‘journey’ mean?
• Play the BD track again while students read the BD,
aiming for greater understanding.
Learning how to learn
If students have started their own dictionary
or glossary (see page 6), remind them to update it.
QDN2 resources
p. 22–23, task A; p. 25, task D;
p. 26, task E
AB, task E: CD 1, track 18
Unité 2
23