Ma France - French Video Course for Post Beginners

Hello everyone,

First of all:

Happy New Year!

I've just come across an online 24-unit video course designed by the BBC and called Ma France. Each unit includes 3 videos on a chosen topic such as directions, hotel requests, eating out, football, etc. In each unit, the first video (A) concentrates on introducing topic-related vocabulary and grammar, the second video (B) focuses on a cultural aspect and in the third video (C), the interviewees are given a challenge! All videos are shot in France, with native speakers.

Pupils can watch the videos with or without subtitles and subtitles are available in French and/or in English. If you have a fast connection, I recommend that you choose the interactive flash version.

Now this is what it looks like:

              

For each unit, teachers can also download suggested activities which give additional guidance on how best to use the videos in the classroom.

Hope you find this resource useful!

Audacity

Hello everyone!

Living in Kenya means that I sometimes have to use rather old recorded materials... from audio tapes...

I know...

However, I am in the process of turning all my audio tapes into mp3 files.

Here's how to do it:

Step 1 - Simply dowload Audacity for free onto your computer, along with Lame, which is also free.

Step 2 - Connect your tape player to your computer, check the settings and have a few goes to make sure you get the best recording quality possible, and press record.

THAT'S IT!

All you then need to do is trim the audio if you need to, go to file and choose 'Export'. The file will be saved as an mp3 file!

This can be a very tedious job, but it's worth it. You can of course record the whole side of a tape in one big file and then trim it into individual recordings, which makes it a lot easier.

The programme can also be used to record pupils, if you don't have digital recorders.

Have a great day!

Audio Lingua

Hi everyone!

I've just bumped into a website and am really excited to share it with you! It is called Audio Lingua and it has over 3000 short mp3 files in 10 different languages, of which 455 are in French!

The files are on a variety of topics (recipes, hobbies, opinion on books, films or TV, etc.). They are authentic materials recorded by native speakers only. These files can be listened to online or they can be downloaded. You can also contribute and upload your own recordings on the website. All you then need to do is create your own teaching materials to go alongside these audio recordings.
 

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog!

Today I want to talk to you about my little addiction to My Little Paris. Apart from the fact that the illustrations are simply beautiful, the site has some very good 'insolite' stories and articles which I regularly pin and share with my pupils. I also LOVE My Little Radio, which is a list of playlists (English and French tracks) for every situation... To listen to with or without pupils around! You'll need to sign up to DEEZER to listen to the tracks.

Have a nice day!