Idiom of the Week

Today's idiom of the week is 'j'ai les jetons,' which can literally be translated as 'I have the tokens!'

However, the French use it as an expression to talk about being scared or frightened. You could use this in your work to talk about a horror film you've seen recently.

Here's my example...

Le weekend dernier j'ai regardé un film d'horreur avec mes amis mais j'ai eu les jetons; c'était extrêmement effrayant!




Try and use it in your work this week!

Bonne chance!

Top Tip: Reading Skills!

Ever felt like when you're reading a long text in French it all just blurs into one?!

Today's top tip is all about reading skills and how to extract key points from long passages. There are several techniques which can help if you're struggling to gain meaning from a text.

1. First things first... look at it! Are there any pictures that might give you clues as to what the text is about?

2. Next, what do you understand? Focus on what you know not on what you don't! You're not expected to translate every single word of a text and once you have the key points you can usually link them together and make sense of it.

3. Look out for cognates. Cognates are words in the target language that look or sound similar to English and can help to develop comprehension.

4. Still stumped? Take an educated guess! Use what you already know about a passage to make a sensible judgement!

5. Stick with it! Stay focused and persevere; practise makes perfect!

Hope this helps! Try using these tips this week!

Bonne chance!
 

Top Tip: Use it or Lose it!

Learning new vocabulary can be tricky as there's so much to remember! Although you frequently test your knowledge with vocab tests, this isn't enough! 

I often find that I forget new vocabulary unless I use it on a regular basis. My top tip this week is to use your new vocabulary as often as possible so that you don't 'lose it!' I like to use new vocab in conversations or find a way to pop it into something I've written. Using it in a meaningful way helps you to connect more to the language and also for it to stick in your brain!

Try learning these 10 words on the topic of cinema by using them as much as possible this week:

Prévisible = predictable

Émouvant = moving/ touching

Le grand écran = the big screen (cinema)

Lent = slow 

Le/ la protagoniste = the main character

Plein d'action = action-packed

Les effets spéciaux = the special effects

Le scénario = the screenplay 

Les personnages = the characters

La bande sonore = the soundtrack

Hope this helps! Bonne chance!

Idiom of the Week

Today’s idiom of the week is…

Je me suis ennuyé(e) comme un rat mort = I was bored to death.

 

Literally, this can be translated as “I was bored like a dead rat!” But we would translate it as “I was bored to death."

You may want to use today’s 'idiom of the week' to talk about a TV show you have watched recently or to use it when writing a film review.

NB: Don’t forget to add the extra ‘e’ if you’re a girl!

Try and include it in your work this week!

Bonne chance!

Les Devoirs

Your homework is listed below. Remember all of the key points needed for a successful piece of writing.

         

Don't forget to justify ALL opinions!

Use as many different tenses as possible.

Try and include an idiom, and use a wide range of connectives and time phrases.

This homework is due in for: Monday 24th March.

Bonne chance!

Top Tip: Combined Tenses!

When carrying out a writing task remember that examiners look out for combined tenses. The conditional perfect is a great way of using combined tenses, impressing the examiner and scoring those key marks!

We use the conditional perfect to describe things we could/ would have done if the circumstances had been different, eg. "Miss, I could have done the homework but I was out last night!"

Here are some useful phrases that can be applied to any writing assessment. The first three expressions are ALWAYS followed by an infitive so they are quite easy to pop into your work.

• Le gouvernement aurait dû... = The government should have...
• J’aurais dû... = I should have...
• Il aurait pu... = He could have...
• Il aurait pu être pire = It could have been worse

Hope this helps! Try them out in your work this week!

Bonne chance!

"J'aime, j'aime, j'aime!"

We all know that including a variety of justified opinions in our work is important but it's easy to get into the habit of writing 'j'aime...' over and over again!

Here are some more sophisticated ways of including opinions in your work:

Selon moi = in my view

J'ai toujours pensé que- I have always thought that

Je trouve que - I find that

En ce qui me concerne - As far as I'm concerned

À mon avis - In my opinion

Je pense que - I think that

Here's my example, which links in nicely to the work we've been doing on the topic of cinema and television. Can you translate it?

J'ai toujours pensé que les feuilletons étaient stupides mais ma mère les regarde tous les soirs.

Try and use them in your work this week!

Bonne chance!