Texts

Hanning, Robert. Ferrante, Joan. The Lais of Marie de France. [Grand Rapids, MI]: Baker Books, 1978.

This is an English translation of a book of poetry written by a young French girl named Marie de France. Written in the early 12th century, this was some of the earliest French literature of the Renaissance. While there is not very much known about Marie, it is deduced from her writing that she was living in the English courts. After the Norman invasion, English royalty spoke French for a period. We can also tell that she was educated by her use of classical Latin and French material. Her poetry is characterized by her use of a central object, such as a nightingale, or a hazel tree, and she writes much about love and courtly love. Her poems, or Lais, are short stories that have a very fairy tale like quality to them, and even though they are close to 1000 years old, are a fairly easy read.

This is one of my most favorite books. Even though I first read it in college, I think that high school students would certainly be able to read and understand the stories being told. I would use the stories in English, because the original French would be very difficult. These would be great for critical reading, though. We could discuss courtly love, which is very different from our views of love today. I love to talk about historical women, especially because kids – and even adults - tend to think that women in history couldn’t read or write. I also like to show kids how much literature there was hundreds of years ago. We can talk about French history, French life. There’s a lot of different things we could do with this book.

Meredith, Susan. French for Beginner’s Flashcards. Usborne Books. 2010.

Usborne is a British publisher of mostly children’s books, and they do a great job with educational material. Besides flashcards, they also have several other French dictionaries and other books that can be ordered in French This set of flashcards has 200 words, with pictures. They put it for ages 3 and up, but they would be useful for any beginner. They also have a matching computer program where you can go online and listen to the correct pronunciations.

As I said, these can be used in any beginner class, to work on automaticity and vocabulary recognition. We can play games with them as a class, students can work with them silently on their own, or they can use them in small groups or with partners.

Paris, Je T’Aime. Dirs. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Wes Craven, Gerard Depardieu, Gus Van Sant, et al. Perf. Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, et al. Victoires International, 2006.

In this charming movie set in Paris, 20 filmmakers each filmed 5 minutes to create a movie pieced together from experiences happening across the city. Each segment is filmed in a different arrondissement, which are the neighborhoods, or sectors of Paris. The movie is mostly in French, some with subtitles some without, and some English also. It visits areas in Paris beyond the normal tourist areas, and gives the viewer a look into modern French culture.

I have to admit, I’ve only seen clips from this movie, so I would definitely have to watch it all before showing it to students. The parent guide says there is some strong language, so I would need to check on that first. However, from what I have seen, and from what I’ve heard from others, it is fantastic. It’s very touching and poignant. I chose it because A. The French language is good to hear, and students can hear some slang and get more comfortable with it. B. Students will see modern French culture, and see what life in Paris is like. C. There are lots of interesting things that happen, so it gives opportunities for students to think critically and evaluate their opinions on many different topics.