During this unit, students will be discussing the following categories of information as they pertain to themselves as well as our French-speakers: Name, age, gender, nationality, birthplace, place of residence, language(s) spoken, occupation, activities and interests. See
The Passport
and
Fauxbook Profile Pages
for more information. See also
Appendix B – Passport Template
and
Appendix C – Fauxbook Profile Template
for context.
The following sections are broken down by topic. The sections begin with an indication of which resources – passports, Fauxbook profiles, or both – will be used to share this information, and the particulars of how that will happen. Next there will be a set of question and response formats for each category, followed by important topics to address during instruction. I list the response before the question because we generally introduce statements first and then reinforce them through questioning. In some cases, I have listed variations on questions and/or responses that may be used. The French phrases are written in bold italics and the English in regular italics.
Phrases are introduced as templates with blanks, and our language practice consists of filling in those blanks in as many ways as possible. This allows students the time and space to develop fluency with the phrases, creating a solid foundation for communication. I think it is important to be obvious about this patterning as it can help students develop the skill of combining what they already know with new learning, in new situations. One way I emphasize this process is by saying
blah blah blah
for the blank in our phrases. For example,
J'ai blah blah blah ans
. When I am speaking as myself, the
blah blah blah
gets replaced with
trente–six
, but when my students speak for themselves, it gets replaced with
onze
or
douze
. Students get a kick out of hearing a teacher say
blah blah blah
, and because of that I think it helps them to remember the phrases as well as the ways information, or words, can be substituted to change meaning.
In French, the easiest way to form a question is to make a statement but replace the information word with a question word. For example, to ask someone's name, you could start the question with
Tu t'appelles
/ Your name
is and instead of completing the sentence with a name, insert the appropriate question word, in this case
comment
? / what?
(Tu t'appelles comment?)
A more sophisticated way of questioning uses the technique of inversion. With this method, you start with the question word, in this case again it is
Comment
. Next you invert, or "flip–flop," the subject and the verb (linking them with a hyphen), so that
tu t'appelles
becomes
t'appelles–tu
.
(Comment t'appelles–tu?)
I will list both question forms here, as the first method is much more comfortable for some students, but those who are ready can start experimenting with inversion at their own pace. In class I use both forms, for variety, exposure, and differentiation.
Also, especially when first introducing phrases, I will ask students "guess" questions. This entails following the instructions for the easy questioning technique, but replacing the information word with another information word instead of a question word. Using the example above, I would ask
Tu t'appelles Simone
? or some other name. Sometimes I will use the accurate information word, so that a student named Simone could respond
Oui, je m'appelle Simone
. Other times I will use the wrong information word, so that the student can substitute the correct information, as in
Non! Je m'appelle Julie!
(1) These guess questions are very useful as students are just learning phrases because it lets you see whether or not they comprehend in a simple, non–threatening exercise. And students love when they understand that you've said something silly, something that is obviously not true (like using someone else's name in the class, a name of the opposite gender, or someone well known to the students.)
In a few instances, I have given a variation on the guess question, called a "choice" question. These questions offer two choices from which students may choose, for example,
Tu t'appelles Simone ou Julie?
/ Your name is Simone or Julie?
These questions offer students another opportunity to comprehend, with slightly different parameters. Additionally, there are some categories whose questions are more complex than what I would like to introduce here; in those cases, the choice questions give another questioning option without getting too complex. In other instances, there are several different ways of asking the question that I find it fruitful to explore, and so they are all listed. When an entirely different question phrasing is used, I will simply call it a question without describing what kind of question it is.
NB: Although there are differing theories for what is appropriate, I choose not to stress the more formal
vous
form of the subject pronoun
you
just yet, focusing instead on the more casual
tu
form at this stage of our language practice. It is more important to me right now that students develop comfort and fluency with the
tu
form as that is more conversationally used. In my opinion, adding
vous
into the mix exponentially increases the number of forms and variations students need to think about and remember. As a middle school language teacher I am looking to build an interest and, dare I hope love, of language in my students. Keeping it simple helps students to get comfortable and confident that they can learn a new language. Those who are ready for the extra challenge will get it in small group work, but the exercises as explained here will revolve exclusively around the
tu
form.
Name
Names can be discussed from both the passport and the Fauxbook profile page. The passport presents the information as
Nom
/
Last Name
and
Prénoms
/
Given Names (First Name, Middle Name)
. On the actual Facebook profile page, the word
Nom
is used to indicate full name. Although I will follow that pattern for the French-speaker Fauxbook pages, I have chosen to break the name category down on student Fauxbook pages into the following categories, to give students more practice with each distinct name component vocabulary:
Prénom
/ First Name,
Deuxième prénom
/ Middle Name,
Nom de famille
/ Last Name (Family Name),
and
Surnom(s)
/ Nickname(s).
-
Response:
Je m'appelle [name].
/ My name is….
-
Guess Question:
Tu t'appelles [name]?
/ Your name is…?
-
Simple Question:
Tu t'appelles comment?
/ Your name is what?
-
Inversion Question:
Comment t'appelles–tu?
/ What is your name?
When students learn that
Je m'appelle
means
My name is
, they often erroneously conclude that
Je
means
My
and
m'appelle
means
name is
. This is an opportunity to introduce a confusing concept to students, that different languages sometimes employ different sentence structures and grammar rules. It is often difficult for students to wrap their brains around this idea, so I try to point out the logic in this alternate way of doing things, thereby honoring difference while also recognizing sameness.
For example, when introducing in future lessons that in French, adjectives generally come after the noun described rather than before (as in English), I will talk about how much sense it makes to first identify the item or person being described and to then describe it. In regards to naming, I spell out that
Je m'appelle
functions as
My name is
even though literally it means
I call myself
. It is important here to have the phrase written down, so that I can point to the pieces as I say them, and students can see the different structure in action – the correlation between
appelle
and
call
and
m'
and
myself
, rather than connecting
m'
with
call
and
appelle
with
myself
as would happen if the English sentence structure were followed. We can visually communicate the additional structure difference of placing the object before the verb rather than after, without spending unnecessary time explaining a grammar point that will only be used in isolated instances in middle school.
Age
Age can be discussed from both the passport and the profile page. The passport gives the
Date de naissance
/ Date of Birth
, from which the age can be calculated. The profile page indicates
Âge
/ Age
as well as
Date de naissance
. For deceased French-speakers, the category will read
Âge au moment du décès
/ Age at Death
.
Students will need to be reminded that, when writing the date in numeric form, the date comes before the month, contrary to the American way of putting the month first. Since this is a confusing concept for students to remember, although both formats are acceptable I always use periods to separate the terms of the date rather than slashes, so that the date looks different enough to trigger memory of the different format.
-
Response:
J'ai [#] ans.
/ I am … years old.
-
Guess Question:
Tu as [#] ans?
/ You are … years old?
-
Simple Question:
Tu as quel âge?
/
You are how old?
-
Inversion Question:
Quel âge as–tu?
/ How old are you?
-
Here again is a difficult concept for students, that in French we talk about
having
years or
having
an age as opposed to being a certain age. Although this concept occurs in Spanish as well, even my Spanish speakers struggle with consistent application of this difference. I try to make a joke about it using clichés they may have heard adults say (in life or on television), that I am "more than my age," and that "age is just a number." I stress that I just happen to
have
this many years under my proverbial belt. Yet still students are heavily drawn to saying
Je suis # ans
/ I am # years old
instead of
J'ai
/ I have
. Sometimes I will try to convey making my body into the shape of numbers as I say
Je ne suis pas trente–six! Je suis une femme, prof, américaine, mais je ne suis pas trente–six!
/ I am not thirty–six! I am a woman, (a) teacher, American, but I am not thirty–six!
Gender
Gender can be discussed from the passport, in the section labeled
Sexe
/ Sex
.
-
Response:
Je suis [gender identifier, with indefinite article].
/ I am a….
-
Guess Question:
Tu es [gender identifier, with indefinite article]?
/ You are a…?
-
Choice Question:
Tu es [g–i, w/indef. art.] ou [g–i, w/i.a.]?
/ You are a… or a…?
Rather than get into more complex question formats or questions with too many options for answers, I decided here to keep the questioning simple, by asking if the person is a man or a woman
(un homme, une femme)
, or a boy or a girl
(un garçon, une fille)
. This will set us up for discussing occupation with the Fauxbook pages, as well as the instruction that will occur immediately after this unit, in which students will start talking about others by asking the question
Qui est–ce?
/ Who is this?
and will answer in basic terms like
C'est un homme / une prof / un ami / une copine
.
This is a man / female teacher / male friend / female friend.
The instruction that has occurred prior to this unit will dictate how much or in what way you will need to address the use here of indefinite articles
(
un, une
/ a)
rather than definite articles
(
le, la
/ the)
. Be prepared for the introduction of occupations later, as the indefinite article is retained when combined with
C'est
, as in
C'est une artiste
but not when used with other conjugated forms of the verb
être
, as in
Je suis artiste
.
Nationality
Nationality can be discussed from the passport, presented quite simply as
Nationalité
/ Nationality
.
-
Response:
Je suis [nationality, gender–specific].
/ I am….
-
Guess Question:
Tu es [nationality, gender–specific]?
/ You are …?
-
Simple Question:
Tu es de quelle nationalité?
/ You are (of) what nationality?
-
Inversion Question:
De quelle nationalité es–tu?
/ What nationality are you?
Here we need to address the idea that adjectives must match the noun they are describing in gender (and number, but that will not matter here, as we are focusing on only one person.) (2) I like to provide a list of lots of nationality adjectives, in columns for masculine and feminine. Then students can start to make observations, like that the feminine form is a variation of the masculine, that it is longer than the masculine (meaning that something was added to the masculine to make it feminine), that there are certain patterns followed (sometimes you just add an
e
for the feminine version, sometimes you double the final
n
and then add an
e
, etc.).
Students will want to say
Je suis de américaine
because the question now has a
de
in it. I suggest practicing this phrase in conjunction with the phrase from the following section concerning where we are
from
, so that they can see the connections between
Je suis américaine
. and
Je suis d'Amérique
.
Birthplace/Where One is From
Birthplace/Where one is from can be discussed from the passport as well as the profile page. The passport presents the information by
Lieu de naissance
/ Place of birth
and the Fauxbook page refers to
Originaire de
/ Originally From (Native To)
. You could just as easily change the Fauxbook entry to
Lieu de naissance
if it seems that it will be too confusing for your students.
Ville natale /
City of birth
is also an option. Although the passport sample I provided just gives a city, when you make (or have the students make, if you prefer) the student passports, you may want to include the state as well. Even though the French-speaker passports will indicate country on the front cover, you may want to add the country here as well for clarity.
-
Response:
Je suis de [country/state/city].
/ I am from….
-
Guess Question:
Tu es de [country/state/city]?
/ You are from …?
-
Simple Question:
Tu es d'où?
/ You are from where?
-
Inversion Question:
D'où es–tu?
/ Where are you from?
-
-
Simple Question:
Tu es de quel pays?
/ You are from what country?
-
Inversion Question:
De quel pays es–tu?
/ What country are you from?
-
Simple Question:
Tu es de quel état?
/ You are from what state?
-
Inversion Question:
De quel état es–tu?
/ What state are you from?
-
Simple Question:
Tu es de quelle ville?
/ You are from what town/city?
-
Inversion Question:
De quelle ville es–tu?
/ What town/city are you from?
-
-
Guess Question:
Tu viens de [country/state/city]?
/ You come from …?
-
Simple Question:
Tu viens d'où?
/ You come from where?
-
Inversion Question:
D'où viens –tu?
/ Where do you come from?
-
-
Simple Question:
Tu viens de quel pays?
/ You come from what country?
-
Inversion Question:
De quel pays viens –tu?
/ What country do you come from?
-
Simple Question:
Tu viens de quel état?
/ You come from what state?
-
Inversion Question:
De quel état viens –tu?
/ What state do you come from?
-
Simple Question:
Tu viens de quelle ville?
/ You come from what town/city?
-
Inversion Question:
De quelle ville viens –tu?
/ What town/city do you come from?
There are clearly lots of options for this line of questioning, depending on how detailed you are getting with the geography and how linguistically ready your students are for more complex phrasing and new verbs. If you get into asking about
which city
and
which country
/
quelle ville
and
quel
pays
, you will want to make a connection between masculine and feminine nationality adjectives and these masculine and feminine interrogative adjectives. If you choose to add the questions using the form of the verb
venir
you will need to explain the idea of
being from /
être de
versus
coming from /
venir de
.
Place of Residence/Where One Lives Now
Place of residence/Where one lives now can be discussed from the Fauxbook profile page, indicated by
Ville actuelle
/ Current City
. The term
actuelle
can be explained with what I call a stepping stone. Although the word looks like the English word
actual
, here
actual
is a stepping stone to the meaning, because you need to take another step to arrive at the true meaning. If we are talking about the
actual
town you live in, it is the town you
currently
live in, or your
current
town. So
actuelle
here means
current
.
As suggested in the previous section, you may want to include state or country here for clarity. Since the category requests a city only, you can just put that state or country in parentheses.
-
Response:
J'habite à [city].
/ I live in….
-
Guess Question:
Tu habites à [city]?
/ You live in …?
-
-
Simple Question:
Tu habites où?
/ You live where?
-
Inversion Question:
Où habites–tu?
/ Where do you live?
-
-
Response:
J'habite en [feminine country (3)].
/ I live in….
-
Guess Question:
Tu habites en [feminine country]?
/ You live in …?
-
Response:
J'habite au [masculine country (4)].
/ I live in….
-
Guess Question:
Tu habites au [masculine country]?
/ You live in …?
-
Response:
J'habite aux [plural countries or islands].
/ I live in….
-
Guess Question:
Tu habites aux [plural countries or islands]?
/ You live in …?
-
Response:
J'habite à [singular island].
/ I live in….
-
Guess Question:
Tu habites à [singular island]?
/ You live in …?
-
-
Simple Question:
Tu habites en quel pays?
/ You live in which country?
-
Inversion Question:
En quel pays habites–tu?
/ In what country do you live?
This topic of questioning is complicated because there are different prepositional formats depending on where we are saying one lives. Below is a more concise breakdown of when to use each phrase:
-
À
+ city; singular island
-
AU
+ masculine country starting with a consonant
-
AUX
+ plural countries; plural islands
-
EN
+ feminine country; masculine country starting with a vowel
I suggest having students make their own chart categorizing when to use each prepositional format, with examples. A fun way to practice this concept is to either pick prepositional phrases out of a hat or else make your own dice with them. Pick/roll and have pairs of students go back and forth and list as many ways to complete a sentence using that phrase as possible. Or pick a "place" card out of a pile and have students, again in pairs, use white boards to complete a sentence with that place, then compare/correct.
Language(s) Spoken
Language(s) spoken can be discussed from the profile page, indicated by
Langue(s)
/ Language(s)
.
-
Response:
Je parle [language]
. / I speak…
.
-
Guess Question:
Tu parles [language]?
/ You speak …?
-
Simple Question:
Tu parles quelle(s) langue(s)?
/ You speak what language(s)?
-
Inversion Question:
Quelle(s) langue(s) parles–tu?
/ What lang.(s) do you speak?
As with nationalities, I like to give an extensive list of languages spoken. I find it beneficial for students to start comparing categories at this point. I give students a grid with columns for country name, language name, masculine nationality, and feminine nationality, so they can see the similarities among word roots as well as the differences, in spelling as well as capitalization. You can start adding follow–up questions as well. For example:
-
A: Tu parles français?
-
B: Oui, je parle français.
-
A: Tu es français?
-
B: Non, je suis marocain.
Occupation
Occupation can be discussed from the profile page, indicated by
Profession
/
Occupation.
-
Response:
Je suis [occupation, without indefinite article].
/ I am (a) ….
-
Guess Question:
Tu es [occupation, without indefinite article]?
/ You are (a) …?
-
Question:
Qu'est–ce que tu fais comme travail?
/ What do you do (for a job)?
The best question for this category involves an entirely different phrasing than the response, so I have decided to limit the other methods of questioning here. You will need to address the idea that in French, you don't say you are "a" so–and–so, you simply say that you are so–and–so.
Je suis professeur
and not
Je suis un professeur
. Be sure to note that you do, however, use the indefinite article when identifying people, as in
C'est un professeur
. See the next section, "Activities and Interests," for a discussion of gathering/supplying vocabulary for this category. The student entry in this category will be
étudiant(e)
or
élève
(student.)
On the student Fauxbook page I have also added the category of
Collège
/ Middle school
so that they may get used to the idea that
collège
does not actually mean
college
(université.)
(5)
Activities and Interests
All the information on activities, interests, and likes will be found on the Fauxbook profile page. I will have students fill in every category on their own pages, or as many as are fitting, from the following categories:
Musique
/ Music,
Films
/ Films,
Télévision
/ Television,
Livres
/ Books,
Sports
/ Sports,
Autres intérêts
/ Other Interests.
-
Response:
J'aime [x].
/ I like…
.
-
Guess Question:
Tu aimes [x]?
/ You like…?
Question:
Qu'est–ce que tu aimes comme [musique / musiciens / films / émissions à la télé / livres / sports]?
/ What do you like in/as/for music / musicians / films / t.v. shows / books / sports?
There are so many different types of questions that can get at the given information. As stated previously, I want to keep things as simple as possible at this stage of language learning, teaching patterns that can be used for many different scenarios by substituting vocabulary. So I have decided to introduce only the one additional question format here. As students advance, you will want to offer more question options.
Vocabulary words, like types of music, films, television programs, and books, as well as sports and activities, will be indicated in French. You will either want to provide vocabulary lists or create a structure for looking up needed vocabulary, in dictionaries or online. Whichever method you choose, be sure to provide appropriate explanation and support. For example, selecting the best dictionary entry based on part of speech or usage is not something that comes easily to most students, so it must be taught if you are going to have them find their own vocabulary. Film, television program, and book titles, as well as band names, will be listed in English (or whatever language they are known in). Otherwise this will turn into a translation exercise, which is not the intent. As students explore the language options, it is helpful to have students classify vocabulary according to nouns and verbs. Be sure that nouns are accompanied with the corresponding definite article, and that verbs are in infinitive form.
For our French–speaker pages, only those categories that obviously apply will be completed. When you are doing research in your personalities, you may discover surprising information that can be introduced here. For example, French basketball player Tony Parker also released a rap CD, so in the
Musique
section it could be indicated that he likes
le rap
and under
Autres intérêts
could be listed
faire du rap
.
