Conversation Class Lesson Summary

Language Resident Name: Marina Simonnet

Day and Date : Monday, May 1                          

Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced

Class theme/topics discussed: French Slangs

Goal of the class:

Discover about French interjections, slangs and cursed words. This is supposed to be a light class about how to sound more French with vocabulary they can only use in an informal context.

How did you structure the class?

  1. Warm-up: We watch a short excerpt from Matrix and students have to recognize the French cursed words. We will brainstorm on French cursed words: Oh la vache, Zut, Flûte, Putain, Merde, Bordel, Dégage!, Sacrebleu, Bon sang, etc.
  2. How to sound more French? Use of interjections like Bref/Euh/Bah/Donc/Beurk/Miam/Pfff/Ohlala/Pitié/Chut/Tiens/Oups : I asked the students to draw one of the word and either to give an example with the word or to explain a situation in which we could use this word.
  3. The students are given handouts (see below) and have to match the slang with their academic translation.
  4. With all the vocabulary they’ve learnt, by pair, they have to invent dialogs using the more vocabulary they can. The other students who listen have to count the slangs.

What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaU3bE7M2UA

What worked well in this class? What did not work?

I made four groups of two students: two groups worked on the first list and two groups on the second list. Then I asked to one student in each group to pair with another student who worked with a list they didn’t work on: consequently, everybody had the chance to work on both list and to exchange their opinion! They had a lot of fun, it worked great because some students studied abroad and were very curious about some expressions they’ve heard! It was more dynamic for everyone…

How could this class be improved/ modified?

Be prepared to give clues to the students, explain the “verlan”, and some concepts (like how “abusé” is not used in its literal sense for example) that can be evident for a native-speaker but are not for foreigners, etc. This class is challenging for the instructor!

 If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that).  Please attach any handouts as well.

2017-05-01 ADV.2 Slangs (handouts)