What’s the best way to teach a language?

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Recently, I read Fluency Through TPR Storytelling. This book tells how to use TPRS to  teach real world, practical fluency through verbal storytelling.  The claims that it makes regarding student fluency and retention are impressive. If true, then this is a method that should be looked at more closely by more teachers. Mr. Ray claims that students who learn through TPRS enjoy language more, have far greater and more accurate fluency, remember vocabulary longer, and do better on standardized grammar exams than do students in traditional high school language classes.

Wow.

A lot of what he says makes sense. In Fluency through TPR Storytelling, Mr. Ray focuses on making language fun, funny, repetitive, and comprehensible. He argues that by hearing language structures over and over in the context of a story, students are more likely to use these structures correctly than if they study them as part of a grammar concept.

His claims are impressive and his theory is logical, but I am not entirely convinced. After reading the book, I was left with some questions and concerns.

-Mr. Ray does not argue that grammar should be entirely ignored. In fact, he seems to think there is some place for grammar lessons in the classroom, but while these are referenced in the book, they are never explained.

-This book is a fascinating introduction to TPRS, but it does not delve deeply enough into the day-to-day nuts and bolts of teaching in a TPRS classroom to be used as a teaching guide.

-This book is not the first edition, and it shows. It has clearly been edited multiple times and what remains is a repetitive text with whole chunks copied bodily and pasted into other chapters. It is in desperate need of a proper edit to refine the writing, remove typos, and clarify the authors’ points. I recognize that this does not detract from the value of the theory, but I find it difficult to take language instruction advice from a book that needs such significant linguistic assistance.

-I do not personally know anyone who uses this method, and I’m curious: Do people find that the results are as impressive as this book claims?

I have tried this approach in somewhat modified form with my tutoring students. To give you an idea of how this teaching style works, here is one of the stories that I told: (TPRS is supposed to be extremely repetitive and have more question than story. I’ve abbreviated things a bit for the sake of this entry. Keep in mind that all questions are to be answered by the student(s), preferably in full sentence format. When the students don’t know the answer because you haven’t told them yet, they make an answer up.)

 Il y a un garçon qui s’appelle Drago.
-Est-ce qu’il y a un garçon ou une fille ?
-Comment s’appelle le garçon ?
Drago a un manteau rose.
-Qu’est-ce que Drago a ?
-Est-ce que le manteau est rouge ?
-Quelle couleur est le manteau ?
Il y a une fille qui s’appelle Ginny.
Ginny a un chat rose.
-Qui a un chat rose ?
-Est-ce que Ginny a un chat rose ou un chat blanc ?
-Qui a un manteau rose ?
Drago veut un manteau bleu.
-Qui veut un manteau bleu ?
-Qu’est-ce que Drago veut ?
-Pourquoi est-ce que Drago veut un manteau bleu ?
Non, Drago veut un manteau bleu parce que le chat de Ginny mange les manteaux roses.
-Que mange le chat de Ginny ?
-Est-ce que le chat de Ginny mange les manteaux bleus ?
-Pourquoi est-ce que le chat de Ginny mange les manteaux roses ?
Le chat de Ginny mange les manteaux roses parce qu’il est rose.
Drago va à Londres pour acheter un manteau bleu.
-Où va Drago ?
-Est-ce que Drago va à Londres ?
-Est-ce que Drago va à Paris ?
-Est-ce que Drago va en France ?
-Est-ce que Drago va en Angleterre ?
Ginny va en Californie pour voir un vétérinaire.
Elle doit voir un vétérinaire parce que son chat mange les manteaux roses.
Elle va en Californie parce que le meilleur vétérinaire du monde est en Californie.
Le meilleure vétérinaire du monde est un singe.
Drago va à Londres pour acheter un manteau bleu.
Drago ne peut pas acheter un manteau bleu.
Il n’y a pas de manteaux bleus à Londres.
Il n’y a pas de manteaux bleus à Londres parce qu’il y a beaucoup de grands chats bleus à Londres.
Chaque grand chat bleu pèse deux cent onze livres.
Les grands chats bleus ont mangé tous les manteaux bleus.

* * *

Among other things, we were working on prepositions for countries, cities, and states, so having the characters go to different places made an excellent excuse for asking questions and making statements that required the use of à, en, etc.

This story was something of a hit and went on to be the basis for most of the rest of our stories. (At one point, Drago ended up getting swallowed by a hippopotamus. -Hey, that’s what happens when the textbook says you need to study animals and wilderness vocabulary.- I don’t believe Drago ever did get his blue coat. Poor Drago.)

So, this is what I am looking for – your opinion.

What do you think of this approach? Have you tried it? Have you learned language through this method? Does it work? Do you have a favorite book or resource to recommend?

Why French?

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I’ve often been asked: “Why would you study French?” Since I live in California, this is a question I encounter often. People argue that French isn’t useful, it isn’t practical. To this I say that:

a) Not everything in life has to be practical.
b) Some of the best and most important things aren’t.
c) French is one of the best and most important things.
d) And it’s practical to boot.
e) So there.

—

The other day in Target (“Target” pronounced à la French in my household when I was a child; you know, with an é and a silent “t” at the end) I ran into a French couple. They were at the cash register and didn’t understand what the cashier meant when she said “ID please.”

(I think the language encountered at the cash register is often the hardest for a foreigner to understand, but that’s a different story.)

I enjoyed being able to step in and help bridge this linguistic and cultural gap.

—

Today I’ve been reading a book by Dorothy Sayers, one of my favorite authors. She’s British so I shouldn’t have any trouble with the language, but Dorothy (we’re on a first-name basis) often throws in quotations or dialogue in French. No translation provided.

I love being able to understand these little tidbits and always feel like this makes me part of the inner circle.

—

 «On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.»

Le Petit Prince, and oh so many other books and poems originally written in French, just don’t sound the same in English. A different language grows out of a different culture, different shared experiences; it expresses a slightly different perspective on the world. I enjoy discovering books in the original whenever possible.

—

“Would you like a lot of tea? Or just un petit peu?”
“Oh I just love this design! It’s very pretty; it’s very joli.”

This is the language that I grew up with. This is how my mom speaks. In fact, it’s why I studied French in the first place. If you read a linguistics book on bilingualism, you will see many logical explanations for why someone would switch from one language to another in mid-conversation or even mid-sentence. If you ask my mother, she’ll say, “because it’s fun.”

If you were to push for more, she would say something like: “It’s a way of adding emphasis. It’s like putting italics on your words; it adds color. It takes the mundane and adds gusto.”

Who wouldn’t want that?

—

But why should you study French? I mean, these examples might be fun, but they aren’t necessarily practical. They don’t really suggest that you should study French instead of some other language. Well, Robert Lane Green makes a very compelling and well formed argument in his post in New York in French. He even tackles the question of which is more useful, Chinese or French. I know many people today that think Chinese is the language to learn. Mr. Green opts for French over Chinese (unless, of course, you do a lot of business with China or have some other vested interest in Chinese).

Take a moment to read his excellent article here: Which is the Best Language to Learn?

—

Finally, I’ll let Antoine de Staint-Exupéry make the final argument for studying French:

«C’est véritablement utile puisque c’est joli.»
-Le Petit Prince

 

 

School Lunches in France

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In keeping with my trend for Friday posts, this post is not heavy on French language learning. But learning a language is not just about the language, it’s about the culture and I think this video is an interesting glance into one important aspect of French culture.

Here we see one view of school lunches. They are not only a time to feed children a healthy meal, but they are also an opportunity to introduce children to the national cuisine, to a proud shared culture of culinary confections. I love this approach to school lunch, and I love the lesson about lunchtime not just being about sharing food. We share time and conversation too, and this should be respected.

For anyone in France, from France, or with knowledge of life in France – I’d love to know if this matches your experience. Are these schools anomalies? Or are they representative of schools in France in general?

One Language, Two Languages, Three Languages, More…

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This is not, strictly speaking, related to learning French, but I just couldn’t resist. I remember having, as a child, a long list of world languages that I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn everything from the everyday to the exotic and esoteric. As I grew older this list was whittled away by the harsh knife of practicality and limited time.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so quick to let the list evaporate. If languages fascinate you, if the capacity of the human mind boggles and enthralls you, check out this video. I think you’ll like it.

Mademoiselle Se Meurt

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Mailing lists are great. I received this little video via mailing list and almost passed it by. I’m glad I didn’t.

Several of my recent posts have mentioned the possible disappearance of the word “mademoiselle.” I understand the battle against this word. I do. But I really enjoy this rather artistic rebuttal.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Dans son billet humoristique d’aujourd’hui, François Morel regrette la suppression du terme mademoiselle et le choix de conserver le mot madame (9 mars 2012 – 8h55).
Retrouvez tous les billets de François Morel sur www.franceinter.fr

 


Mademoiselle se meurt by franceinter

What happened to the Mademoiselle?

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Just the other week I posted briefly about one French town doing away with the word “mademoiselle” on official forms. This really isn’t anything new. The national government in France has declared the this word should be removed from forms before. And now it’s saying it again.

“Mademoiselle” disparaît des formulaires administratifs

LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | 21.02.12 | 20h45   •  Mis à jour le 21.02.12 | 20h45

Les “mademoiselle” ont vécu. Ce terme, de même que le “nom de jeune fille” ou le “nom d’épouse”, va disparaître des formulaires administratifs, selon une nouvelle circulaire des services du premier ministre publiée mardi 21 février. Rappelant que “par le passé, plusieurs circulaires ont appelé les administrations à éviter l’emploi de toute précision ou appellation de cette nature”, le document souligne que “ces préconisations méritent aujourd’hui d’être réaffirmées et prolongées pour tenir compte des évolutions de la législation”.

 

Interested in reading more? Check out the full article at the Le Monde.

So will France really do away with mademoiselle? Or is the word too firmly engrained in the public psyche?

Is this word just an archaic, chauvinistic hangover that is just one more sign of the inequality between men and women? Or is it an important part of French culture that should be respected and kept? Does it even matter?

What do you think?

Valentine’s

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This time of year many people turn to French, the language of love, to help them craft the perfect billets doux (love letters). Back in this post about learning French vocabulary online, I mentioned turning to Wikipedia to pick up new French vocabulary.

Today is no different. The French Wikipedia post about Valentine’s Day is full of basic vocabulary (and comes complete with obligatory photo of disturbing cupid).

Some words and phrases picked out from the first couple of paragraphs:

la fête des amoureux et de l’amitié – the holiday for lovers and friendship
les couples – couples
les mots doux – sweet nothings
les cadeaux – gifts
les preuves d’amour – proofs of love
les roses rouges – red roses
les emblèmes de passion – symbols of passion
le jour de la Saint-Valentin – Saint Valentine’s Day
l’amour romantique – romantic love
l’amour physique – physical love
les billets doux – love letters
un valentin – a Valentin (card)
les cartes de vœux – greeting cards
un cœur – a heart
un Cupidon ailé – a winged Cupid

Didn’t find what you were looking for? Try last year’s post about Valentine’s Day in French.

Joyeuse Saint Valentin !

One less word to learn in French?

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One French town has removed the word “Mademoiselle” from official forms and now only offers the options “Madame” and “Monsieur.”

Read one brief article on the story here: “Mademoiselle” sur les formulaires administratifs

What do you think? Will other French towns follow? Is this a step forward or an unnecessary example of over-sensitivity?

AVOIR et ÊTRE

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I was sent this fun little gem via a mailing list. (Merci Joan !) So for all you grammar, language, and poetry geeks out there:

Avoir et Être

Loin des vieux livres de grammaire,
Écoutez comment un beau soir,
Ma mère m’enseigna les mystères
Du verbe être et du verbe avoir.

Parmi mes meilleurs auxiliaires,
Il est deux verbes originaux.
Avoir et Être étaient deux frères
Que j’ai connus dès le berceau.

Bien qu’opposés de caractère,
Tant leur histoire est singulière.
Mais ces deux frères étaient rivaux.

Ce qu’Avoir aurait voulu être
Être voulait toujours l’avoir.
À ne vouloir ni dieu ni maître,
Le verbe Être s’est fait avoir.
Son frère Avoir était en banque
Et faisait un grand numéro,
Alors qu’Être, toujours en manque.
Souffrait beaucoup dans son ego.

Pendant qu’Être apprenait à lire
Et faisait ses humanités,
De son côté sans rien lui dire
Avoir apprenait à compter.

Et il amassait des fortunes
En avoirs, en liquidités,
Pendant qu’Être, un peu dans la lune
S’était laissé déposséder.

Avoir était ostentatoire
Lorsqu’il se montrait généreux,
Être en revanche, et c’est notoire,
Est bien souvent présomptueux.

Avoir voyage en classe Affaires.
Il met tous ses titres à l’abri.
Alors qu’Être est plus débonnaire,
Il ne gardera rien pour lui.

Sa richesse est tout intérieure,
Ce sont les choses de l’esprit.
Le verbe Être est tout en pudeur,
Et sa noblesse est à ce prix.

Un jour à force de chimères
Pour parvenir à un accord,
Entre verbes ça peut se faire,
Ils conjuguèrent leurs efforts.

Et pour ne pas perdre la face
Au milieu des mots rassemblés,
Ils se sont répartis les tâches
Pour enfin se réconcilier.

Le verbe Avoir a besoin d’Être
Parce qu’être, c’est exister.
Le verbe Être a besoin d’avoirs
Pour enrichir ses bons côtés.

Et de palabres interminables
En arguties alambiquées,
Nos deux frères inséparables
Ont pu être et avoir été.

-Yves Duteil

And, of course, the video:

La Chanson