French Immersion
French Immersion is designed for students whose first language is not French. The objective is full mastery of the English language, functional fluency in French, as well as an understanding and appreciation of the French culture.
Grade 1 to 8 French Immersion Curriculum:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/fsl18-2013curr.pdf
Supporting Your Child's Success in French Immersion and Extended French
French Websites to Support You and Your Child
FSL Homework ToolboxThis site supports parents who have children in a “French Immersion” (FI) program and wish to assist them with homework in French. It is also a resource for FI students who require an accessible user friendly reference tool to help with homework. Learners and educators in other FSL programs will also find it helpful.
- recommended for all ages
Natural ReaderNatural Reader is a text-to-speech software for Windows. This easy-to-use software with natural-sounding voices can read to you any text. It is a great way to help with pronunciation of words that you may not know.
- recommended for all ages
Sylvia Duckworth's Youtube Channel
This is a varied collection of videos to support students in learning the French language. Please be sure to preview the videos first.
- recommended for all ages
DuolingoLearning with Duolingo is fun and addictive. Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up. The bite-sized lessons are effective, and use gamification, allowing students to earn points as they proceed through its lesson plans. Also available as an app in both Apple and Android platforms.
- recommended for all ages
KidilanguesThis site allows your child to have fun while learning a new language. Activities have been created in conjunction with educators and can be accessed by theme or by language. You can listen to stories, sing songs, listen to nursery rhymes and play games which reinforce subjects learned in school.
- recommended for ages 4 - 10
Il était une histoire This site has a collection of French stories, legends, songs, nursery rhymes, documentaries, fables and poetry to explore. You can read, listen and watch the stories in order to help develop French comprehension and vocabulary.
- recommended for ages 4 - 10
BBC, Primary Languages FrenchThis site provides resources for children to learn to speak French: words, phrases, sounds, vocabulary through various activities, videos and games. Categories include: Sounds, Numbers, All About Me, Families, My Calendar, Food & Drink, School Day, Things to Do, Our World and Culture.
- recommended for ages 4 - 10
Jeux géographiquesThis site has games that allow students to learn geography while having fun. Go to the Francophonie tab to identify Canadian provinces and or cities. There are many other countries that can be explored.
- recommended for ages 8 - 12
Word ReferenceThe site has two of its own dictionaries plus those of Collins. The French dictionary has over 250,000 translations. It also offers a forum that will provide feedback regarding expressions or words that are not found in the dictionary. Also available as an App for both Apple and Android.
- recommended for ages 10 - 18
Finding the right words has just become easier with the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank. In recent years, TERMIUM Plus® has grown to more than four million terms in English and French.
- recommended for ages 10 - 18
Bon PatronBonPatron is a grammar checker that finds common spelling errors and grammatical mistakes in French. It provides hints for students to either change or check their work in order to help them revise their writing.
- recommended for ages 10 - 18
French Apps
Jeux pour lire avec Sami et Julie
This French app helps children learn to read with syllables through four progressive games.
Free LTE version (complete app is $3.99), available for Apple
Recommended for ages 4-10
French Word Wizard
French Word Wizard is a unique app that lets kids hear the sounds of letters and words using a talking movable alphabet. Featuring advanced text to speech capabilities, the app can pronounce and spell-check an unlimited number of original French words.
$3.99, available for Apple
Recommended for ages 4-10
French Words for Kids
This app teaches spelling of easy words in a fun and instructional way. The opening menu lets you choose the types of words you want to work with. There are 14 themes to choose from, for a total of 236 words!
$3.99, available for Apple
Recommended for ages 4-10
Touch, Look, Listen Bundle
These apps combine superb photographs, simple word labels and friendly narration. In addition, you can turn the app into a language-learning tool for students of all ages, simply by choosing a second language in the menu.
$3.99 for the 4 app bundle for Apple, $1.99 per app for Android
Recommended for ages 4-10
Le bonheur de lire
This app welcomes children to a village where animals will teach them how to read in French.
« In a fantasy world, a kangaroo helps children aged 3 or 4 learn pre-set or chosen words. The app is very stimulating, as much on a phonetic level as in terms of recognizing simple first words. »
$4.99 for Apple, $3.99 for Android
Recommended for ages 4-10
Gus on the Go: French for Kids
This app offers 10 interactive lessons with 89 words that allow kids to explore vocabulary in a new language (includes numbers, colours, shapes and more). Exciting games can be unlocked by completing lesson reviews.
$3.99, for Apple, $2.99 for Android
Recommended for ages 4-10
French Numbers
This is an original app that only focuses on learning numbers in French! It is simple and easy to use yet very effective. You will learn how to recognize numbers up to one million!
Free, for Apple
Recommended for ages 4-10
Qui est-ce? (Guess Who I Am?)
This is a great app to learn how to describe someone. You have to click on the British Flag (little circle) to change the language to French. There are five different ways to play this game
$1.99, for Apple
Recommended for ages 7-12
Motel Monstre
This app is based on the television show from TFO.
« The graphics are super, the sound is excellent and the games are interesting and fun. »
Free, for Apple and Android
Recommended for ages 10 -14
Sur la piste des jumelles
Sur la piste des Jumelles is a treasure hunt that allows children to access 12 Historical quests in which they must resolve riddles. It is very relevant to the Canadian History in a fun learning context. The design is appealing, navigation is easy and the language is well suited to a young audience.
Free, for Apple and Android
Recommended for ages 10 -14
Letris
Letris 3 is a game app that lets users move letters to create words.
« The whole concept of the app is brilliant and the different steps of the game are very well thought out. However, I didn’t like the ads that were sometimes irritating. »
Free, available for Apple
Recommended for ages 10 and up
J’accorde
This app is aimed at overcoming difficulties with French grammar through over 2,500 exercises.
« Exercises, detailed grammatical rules, a proper learning method and a way to follow your progress…everything is there! I loved this app»
Free, available for both Apple and Android.
Recommended for ages 12 and up
La Cible
This app invites children to answer fun questions inspired by the subjects studied in the classroom: science, ancient civilizations, Canadian identity or math ... But before answering a question, the player must hit a target with a slingshot with marshmallows!
$0.99, available for both Apple and Android
Recommended for ages 10-14