Course Description: In this course, students will use their oral, reading and writing skills to develop cultural awareness and the ability to recognize the products, practices and perspectives of the French popular culture. They will also use the target language to expand their knowledge and understanding of the French culture through role playing and group activities.

Course Objective: The goal of this course is to help students communicate in the target language by gaining a deeper understanding of France, its culture and everyday customs. As a result of taking this course, students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the various French cultural subjects we will be investigating and will improve their use of the language.  

Texts and Resources: A Bonne Ecole will provide all students with a booklet of all the texts studied, along with the 2 comic books included in the registration fee.

Course Schedule:                

-          Comics are great supports in helping students practice their oral, writing and reading skills. Our group activities will make use of blank comic’s sheet; each group will have the same sheet and will need to create texts adapted to the images, by using clues available in the drawing. We will use sheets of Nathalie, Nestro Burma, Claire Bretcher, Florence Cestac…

-          We will collectively read ‘Asterix en Corse’ and look at the popular cultural references found throughout the comic, being reference to the Roman invasion of France or to the political situation between France and Corsica, the famous and sometimes stereotyped customs of Corsicans. We will also collectively read Tintin’s ‘Objectif Lune’ and explore the exotic imagination around space travel, as the album was published 14 years before Apollo 11’s travel to the moon.

-          Music: Music is a major vehicle of cultural and social values while being a great entertainment. We will listen to the music and explore the lyrics of some of the best TOP50’s French songs: Christophe Mae’s ‘C’est ma terre’, IAM’s ‘Je danse le MIA’, Alliance Ethnik ‘Simple et Funky’, Diams ‘La boulette’, Guillaume Grand ‘Toi et Moi’.

-          We will discover classic French songs by Edith Piaf ‘Mon manege a moi’, Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Bonnie and Clyde’,…

-          We will also look at how a poem from Jacques Prevert written in the 40’s ‘Pour faire le portrait d’un oiseau’ has been read by different personalities throughout the years and how each one has influenced the reading, and finally how it has been adapted to become a house music hit by Stephane Poupomgnac.

-        Literature: Les fables de Jean de la Fontaine from the 17^th century offer both an insight on the life and customs at the court of Louis XIV, and a lesson in morality. We will read and explain ‘Le corbeau et le renard’ and ‘La grenouille qui veut se faire aussi grosse que le boeuf’.

-          Le petit Prince by Saint Exupery is a famous French tale published in 1943. It is often mistaken to be a simple children’s story but the message behind the story is loaded with philosophical reflection on what it means to become an adult.

-          The French language is used in many countries around the world, and we will have the opportunity to learn about the oral culture of Senegal’s story telling with a native Senegalese.

-          Cinema: Movies are of course a great way to understand a culture, because they offer access to visual and oral information. Because of time constraint we might not be able to view complete movies, but we will work with extract and trailers (whole movies will be shown daily between 3pm and 4pm, during extended care hours). To follow up on our discovery of Asterix and Obelix, we will watch the comedie ‘Asterix aux jeux olympiques’, and the acclaimed movie ‘Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain’ set in modern Paris.