Weekend in France to encourage DC in learning French??

[AnotherDayOlder]

Eldest DC has started learning French in secondary school this year and is struggling a bit and not enjoying it. I was thinking a long weekend in France might be a nice way to put the language into context a bit and encourage them to learn. But other than getting them to look at menues and order lots of lovely food, are there other language related things we can do? So far they don’t know all that many words so eg seeing a play on French would be far beyond them.
Has anyone done something similar? Would love some ideas.

Could you create some kind of scavenger hunt so they have to use public transport (short distance!), maybe something they have to ask people??

My parents took us to France most summers, and would send us on errands with the appropriate vocabulary - I still hear my 8-year-old recitation of "Un GRAND PAIN, s'il vous plait" whenever I see a large baguette!

More usefully, I think, we were staying on camp sites, which meant instant friendships with the United Nations of kids playing outside.

Can you stand camping/campervanning? If not, there are very good French family holiday chains such as https://www.pierreetvacances.com. France also has a lot of resorts set up for children, but the only one I can think of right now is Isola 2000 for skiing. I'm sure MNers have several lists to hand!

I went to France every year from 9 - 16, I used to try to speak French but, to be honest, who the hell cares? Spanish (apparently) is better.

What type of music do they like?
Find a french musician/band of same genre.

Maybe introduce a different language as just something generally interesting, get a french newspaper or weekly delivered once a week.

Cartoons in french?

Age 4, I went to a French speaking school (in the UK, long story). I can still remember my DDad storming into the boulangerie in the village where we stayed a few years later a shouting (ish) at me "Just ask for the bloody bread!".

I think there is a big difference between understanding a language a bit, and having the courage to use it with native speakers.

Could you watch familiar films with French subtitles on?

Thank you, some good ideas and things to think about.
Will look into music and treasure hunt ideas. Won’t manage a Eurocamp this year but may be one for next summer.
On films, actually some French films with English subtitles might be a good shout. The only one that comes to mind is Amelie but I can’t remember it well enough to know if it will be too adult for a 12yo??

A lot of the benefit is in seeing everything written down around you in French. Just walking around there are loads of opportunities to look at stupid things, like bus timetables, menus in places you don’t eat in, hang around in a train station to try to work out what the announcements are saying. hearing and recognising numbers etc all help. Looking in book shops, posters for events etc so start to form a good picture.

i always found self catering was useful because you had to be able to use shops, understand cash and numbers etc. maybe less so now with contactless

Is French definitely the language for her?

I hated French, but got on really well with German. And in my experience, Germans are far more cooperative if you practice with them.

Watch peppa pig with French dub and subtitles. Advantage is that it's Simple and repetitive.
Watch Lupin in French when a bit more advanced. It's excellent.

On netflix you can choose french with English subtitles or vice versa on any film or programme

Put post it notes around the house so le four on the oven, la porte on the door etc.

Asterix!

Comic books and graphic novels en francais.

Do watch Lupin. My teenage boys love it. Call my agent and Emily in Paris might be a bit much for a 12 year old.

it’s difficult to know what’s best to encourage the language and I say that having A level French and studied there. My younger son has chosen French A level and I’m delighted.

I would say that a holiday - not a weekend - would be best. If they get to know other (ideally cool French) kids that might help. Camping could work well….

good luck!

which meant instant friendships with the United Nations of kids playing outside.

Definitely this. Find a camp site with lots of French speaking children and your DC will be surprised by how much they understand.

Children do pick up language quickly because their play is quite concrete and not really too language based.

This will build their confidence and increase their interest in finding out more.

Starting off with films in French and sticking in subtitles isn’t going to help her. That’s not how we learn language. Children don’t go from no words to 2 hour long movies. You need to start more simply.

French and English words don’t go in the same order so she won’t be able to match up what they’re saying and it will go too fast anyway.

I watch a lot of subtitles movies; I can’t speak Arabic or French or German just from watching those. I would need to actually start somewhere more basic before working up to that.

A weekend away where she has to speak French, at 12 is going to kill any sort of interest in France, unless she is a massively outgoing kid. A lovely weekend away somewhere in France, where you pick out some leaflets in French, buy her a magazine or two and just enjoy yourselves, whilst looking out for a bit of vocab in the street, like exit or metro or whatever, might be good.

I agree with the Asterix. Buy her Asterix chez les Bretons in French, (which is Asterix in Britain), and also in English. Buy both because she won't understand but she might like to compare the two like a parallel text.

Films are a good idea, but try age appropriate stuff that she might enjoy, so not Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain or the netflix stuff. Try an Asterix film or Les Visiteurs (a bit sweary but ok), Le petit Nicolas, Moi, César 10 ans et demi.

Labelling stuff around the house is a good idea, but also just going over her lessons with her so that she knows them really well and is more confident might help.
She could watch things like la chaîne méteo, which is not fascinating, but I bet she has done or is doing the weather at school. actualite.lachainemeteo.com/actualite-meteo/2023-03-17/meteo-du-prochain-week-end-un-passage-a-l-heure-d-ete-arrose-et-vente-66314

Music in French, perhaps try Angèle, although K pop is really big in France...
Perhaps try to find what she likes in order to find the French equivalent. So for example, if you put The Voice France into youtube, you get loads of clips.
Basically find something she likes doing and see if she will do it in French.

We went to Normandy recently, we did some of the big tourist bits but the things that really exposed them to the language were

• supermarket shopping , especially picking treats for themselves (helps some of them have allergies so we have to check all labels)
• hearing me speak French (I didn't push them to, but they were surprised to hear me chat away)
• going to a french swimming pool- it was lovely anyway with an outdoor heated pool (in Feb!) And slides and inflatables,, and of course they were surrounded by the chatter of french children
• going to an indoor climbing wall (the ones with self -belaying). The instructor and I set them up with him speaking English sometimes and me translating sometimes, but the signs for different challenges were all in french (eg. Climb using only the blue squares). And all the other children in there were french. My daughter (8) had always thought her french lessons at school were a bit silly (she hadn't been to france since before the pandemic).and I saw the light go on for her as she realised she recognised all the colours.

As a child I used to do sailing /skiing courses with the ecole du ski francaise /ecole du voile francaise. The teachers would teach in English for me but I made friends with french children that way and had several penpals as a result. We also used to eurocamp and make friends on the campsites with a mix of children from all over Europe - some of them french.

I know it has its critics, but Duolingo combines a gaming aspect to learning French. I already knew some French but wanted to revisit after watching Call My Agent. And I'm enjoying it. Have picked up Spanish as well. Used in combination with other resources (not just by itself), it has it's uses.

I agree with this. Just seeing the road signs/shop signs etc, it all starts to help understand that learning the language is the key to unlocking a different world.

I agree with this. Just seeing the road signs/shop signs etc, it all starts to help understand that learning the language is the key to unlocking a different world.

I love languages and did French at university. I really think the whole reason is because of Eurocamp. We used to spend a couple of weeks on French campsites when I was a kid and I used to love hanging out in the playground and "making friends" with French children. I know that's more than a long weekend but if you can arrange something where they're doing what they would be doing normally (playing football, hanging out with children etc) but in French that might help.

Children's books and shows are a good way to learn a language as they usually have a more limited and simple vocabulary.

Myself I learnt english in no small part thanks to Harry Potter. Other languages I struggled with a bit more as I didn't love their novels/series as much.

She could also have a look at the magazine "Julie" online, it's aimed at her age group: www.juliemag.com/

We did a boating holiday in Alsace when dc1 started learning French. She was excellent at buying bread and other things in bakeries - she liked to go into the little villages on her own with her younger brother and come home with her hoard 😁

Bakery/ shopping vocabulary is something that they learn early and which functions similarly to the role play script, unlike free conversation or even restaurants, where waiting staff go "off script" more with small talk.

She was knocked a bit when a French girl her age tried to befriend her on the tow path with a long barrage of conversation and she understood very little though - that knocked the confidence from the more scripted bakery conversations a bit. Still it was overall a good experience for her French.

We also went to Disney land Paris which you would think was utterly pointless language wise but she was proud to be able to read French on signs and understand announcements in French then compare to the announcement that followed in English.

After a few years of French she and I went to Paris together without the rest of the family (she was 14 by then and also into art so we went to galleries her younger siblings wouldn't have enjoyed) and she spoke a lot of French despite the reputation Paris has - I guess Parisians are more indulgent towards one young teen speaking French than someone older, or than a bus load of teens one after the other on a school trip!

It is worth it I think - DD got really good grades and more importantly kept her French up afterwards (she actually paid out of her own pocket to do an evening course and then arranged a language tandem with a young woman wanting to practice our other family language).

I think you need to go somewhere where they are more likely to appreciate foreigners mangling their language ie not a city, not somewhere overly touristy and definitely not Paris.