Learning to speak French

Theme : Food

You will find links (following the icon) below to various activities. Please have a go, and tell us what you think. Each link opens in a new page and, in most cases, it will include links to other online resources, so take the chance to explore.

As a goal, aim to spend a minimum of 20 minutes each day: little and often is the rule!

    Tasks for Everyone

    To begin with we have a couple of exercises for everybody.

  1. Listening

    2. The first is an assessment exercise to help you establish your current level of comprehension. (This is one to come back to every so often to check your progress) Check your Level

  2. Daily News

    3. We’re also going to include links to topical and news sites. Try to make listening to something like this part of your daily routine – it doesn’t matter how much you understand; it’s all about absorbing the sound and feel of a language RFI: Journal en Français

    The following links are divided into two levels: Beginners and Advanced. Don’t worry too much about these levels - choose the activities that you enjoy doing. Have a go at everything if you have the time.

    This week’s theme is Food.

    Tasks for Level A
  3. Tarte à la praline

    4. Listen to the dialogue and answer the questions Making a Tarte à la praline

  4. Fruit

    5. This is a very straightforward vocabulary reference. Try repeating the names Fruit Vocabulary

  5. Preparing for a party

    6. This is a dictation exercise. Listen to the reading and fill in the blanks Preparing for a party

    Tasks for Level B
  6. The Baguette

    7. Everything you want to know about the baguette- a listening exercise. History of the Baguette

  7. A Thai salad

    8. This little video is about making a Thai salad, and it has a lot of useful vocabulary to do with food and food preparation. Ingredients in a Thai Salad

  8. Regional Specialities

    9. A quiz on French Regional Specialities Regional Specialities

    And finally a couple of regular tasks for everyone.

  9. Conversation

    10. Each week, we hope to be able to organise a group meeting where everyone has:

    1. the opportunity to practice their fluency
    2. ask questions arising from the weeks tasks
    3. chat generally - in French

  10. Review

    11. It is important in any learning exercise to review what you have covered during the week; this is a critical part of helping you remember what you have learned: So set aside some time to review all the tasks you have completed this week and make some notes. Taking notes is a really useful trick to help you recollect - just the very act of writing down a few words can be enough!

That’s at least 7 activities for everyone. Try to do one task every day, and, after you’ve done them all, go back and revise just to consolidate the learning. Meanwhile absorb the sound of the language – listen to French people speaking, put the French TV or radio on. It all helps.