Thanks for coming back to my blog! This week is a check in to see the bigger picture. An exploration of a new ideas, and how to use it simply within context.
I’ve been working with Doulingo which gives me the regular practice. I’m learning there mostly about feminine and masculine differences at the moment. I also did some research and saw the common thing for the resources I liked most is that they are more applicable daily. May it be daily in practice (apps) or daily in content (commonly used verbs) or daily in ways if use (focusing the present tense at the moment, and using my verbs and sentences in forms of “I am doing…. I am learning… I am seeing….” to make it as useful in my classes as possible. After coming to the conclusion that it is the daily practice I need to keep focusing on I tried to find more ways to use French daily in a fun and useful way. I Here is how I uses French daily this week, and hopefully in many more weeks to come:
Bringing French to the classroom
I’ve decided to start using it in my class when I have students that speak French, in a simple, inclusive and fun way. This week we learned art with line work styles (continuous line, outline, broken line and decorative lines). By the way, this is also a great cross curricular for literacy at grade 1 as it helps them learn how to write letters! Ok, back to French. We drew whales and learned with them how to draw line works. I asked than how do we say Whale in French and tried to use it in the class, normalizing multilingualism, and ensuring the French speaking students felt ok with it and that they got to share a word in their language. They were so happy!
This can be used in simple ways as google translate, but beware- it works for words individually, and even so I still check with French speaking parents just in case, plus the longer the sentence the more lost the meaning will be. I tried it once in Hebrew, my first language, and it translated a “do not eat and drink” sign to “please eat and drink” ! haha!!!
Taking down the overwhelm
As I continue with my Doulingo app, I’ve had less time for it this week. So I decided to stay committed to 5-10 minutes daily (sometimes I go more, but there’s not pressure) and this way I’m not overwhelmed (which makes me procrastinate).
I also save more time to practice it in daily opportunities when I can, and staying flexible when I miss it.
I’ve learned so many words, and I need to start using them and practice them in a daily context otherwise they’ll leave as soon as they came.
Local Newspapers
Which is why I added more local context to my reading and practice by reading some of our local Yukon Newspaper called “L’aurore Boreal” and is ALL in French! I may not get most of it, but I’ll scroll through and just get in the habit of immersing myself with the language and culture. I know the places and people they write about, and can get some from context to fill in the big picture.
This is a collection of stories about the awesome woman we have in Yukon! will be fun to share this in class sometime!
Optimizing your efforts
I’ve looked for the most commonly used words in French to make sure I’m investing my energy in the right place. I checked here in a website called Language Daily a saw I have been keeping well with Doulingo so far as it covered the most common verbs well. This is a good check in that made me feel good about choosing doulingo, as I’m still exploring that app.
Keep exploring!
For future classes, I checked out this link that has 35 free resources to learn French. I also read this article at Read Naturally about learning to read- because what kids do is exactly what I do now too- learning a new language. So going back to the basics. I loved especially the contexts references, showing how it matters and impacts the reading to learn in context and connections to our environment. Easy to remember when making a unit plan for the kids but easy to forget when learning my own subjects!
So now that I feel like I’m getting more resources, a handle on the context and new ways to keep my online platforms supportive, I need your help! I’m more confident in speaking for my final project. What should I start focusing on for my final project? This is all within context haha, I love eating, looking forward to traveling again one day, and love art! Can’t decide….
Photo by on Pexels
What’s your experience with google translate? how do you use learning a new topic in a daily way when needed? or balancing the daily practice/ weekly big ideas classes? Would love to hear from you!
Colorfully yours,
Maya
Maya,
Your blog was very well done and I loved the many perspectives you are taking while learning French! I am in a class right now that teaches how to teach English as a second language. One lesson plan that I have developed is for students to write words in English and translate it to their L1. This is to show students that Google Translate doesn’t always capture the depth or context of the words. I think it can be a super useful tool to use in desperate circumstances, but I have heard many warnings against always relying on it.
I am excited to see what you choose as your final project!
Hi Trista,
That’s a great idea to translate it to the L1! I agree google can be useful with awareness in mind. I’m learning so much not just about online tools but lots on how to use them well- each for their strengths and being careful with the defaults.
Thanks for the message! Looking forward to see your project in the next few weeks as well, it’s been so great and motivating- I love your creativity!
Hi Maya!
This was a fantastic post. I really enjoyed reading it! Everything you said about google translate is so true, and it definitely should not be relied on when learning/teaching a language. When I was in elementary school our French teacher went on maternity leave, and they replaced her with a new teacher who did not speak French at all. It was clear that all of our lessons and assignments came from google translate, as they were awfully inaccurate. My Nana is French, and I remember how frustrated she was when she saw my French homework. I feel bad for that teacher, as she was obviously placed in a situation she was not trained for and had little to no resources provided to her. I love that you incorporated some French into your classroom, especially since you have French students! I think including multilingualism in the classroom is so important. Also so glad to hear you have parents to check in with to make sure your French is accurate and appropriate, as this is a great way to avoid what happened to me in elementary school. I am excited to see what you end up doing for your final project!
Thanks Sarah,
That’s awesome your Nana is French! I have a French friend and always love (pre COVID for now….) eating the French food she cooks- SO good and so much cheese! And I sure hope my students will feel included and happy. My dad speaks and writes Romanian, Hebrew, English and French fluently, so I have a good role model and support. It must have been so hard on your teacher with limited resources, I agree!
I noticed I also feel better now that I am teaching my partner some words in Hebrew, my first language, so including my students reminded me to also include myself haha… Lucky for me he speaks some German so he can pronounce Hebrew more easily. I get so mixed up with all the languages but it makes me happy to feel like our home and my classes are world wide inclusive!
Thanks for the message, your comments always bring me a huge smile!
Maya
Hey Maya!! I loved reading your blog post. So awesome that you could connect your learning project to your teaching and bring it directly into the classroom! It’s been almost 2 years now since I graduated high school, which was the last time I was immersed in speaking french on a daily basis. As I was reading about how you asked your students what the french word for whale was, my head was going ????? and then all of a sudden I shouted “BALEINE!”. I love following along with your blog because it helps me get back into the loop of practicing my french. Also, yes Google Translate can be great in a pinch when you just need one word, but it is absolutely dreadful for any more than that (your little story about that made me laugh!). A resource that I highly highly recommend is http://www.wordreference.com (there is also an app). It’s like Google Translate – but better. My favourite part about it is that gives you all the different meanings of the word. For example “date” could mean the day of the week, a period in history, or a dinner meeting – which are all different words in french! It even tells you if the word is masc. or fĂŠm. (nm or nf). PLUS it puts the word into different sentences for you. I find it really helpful! Hopefully it can be of good use for you as well.
Chat soon,
Haley đ
Thanks so much Haley, I love your messages!
This is so helpful- I love how this gives me the context and examples of context in a sentence- this is exactly what google translate is missing… I found more than half the challenge is not grammar or conjugating, but getting the context and flow of a language in a practical way. This will be so useful for this! Thanks- as always ! đ I’m glad the blog reminds you of words in French – I find it’s such a lovely language! As much as it makes my brain tired with exceptions, I do love hearing it. It’s like a cheerful song đ
Looking forward to see your next blog and creations- I saw you got new AMAZING textured clay supply! đ
Chat soon!
Maya