French

Don't let French lose the tu/vous distinction

France's Twitter and Facebook generation treats formality as a relic of the past, but there's value in having two forms of address ...

Date: Mon 10 Sep 2012

Source: The Guardian

Tu and Twitter: Is it the end for 'vous' in French?

The informal version of "you" in the French language - "tu" - seems to be taking over on social media, at the expense of the formal "vous". As in many countries, online modes of address in French are more relaxed than in face-to-face encounters. But will this have a permanent effect on the French language? ...

Date: Fri 07 Sep 2012

Source: BBC News

Modern foreign languages - Ooh la la, he's a star

We netted a footballer when producing a video in French ...

Date: Fri 10 Aug 2012

Source: The Times Educational Supplement

ALL French Online: Tips and Tricks for GCSE

MFL HoD, Isabelle Jones at The Radclyffe School in Oldham has written a useful blog post providing tips for the GCSE language examinations drawn from a virtual discussion carried out with the free videoconferencing tool Flashmeeting. 

Level: Secondary

Test your French

Test your French, German, Spanish and Italian are free resources available on the BBC languages website designed to gauge users' proficiency in listening, speaking, reading  and writing. The free diagnostic tools assess your level and then suggest ways ways in which you can improve.

Level: Secondary

Cost: Free

Free iBook from Radio Lingua

Focus on French is a free iBook from Radio Lingua available now on iTunes designed to help you with your conversational French straight from your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone.  Read more about this exciting multimedia resource here.

Level: Secondary

Cost: Free

The Importance of Intercultural Understanding in MFL

Suzi Bewell, PGCE MFL Course Leader at the University of York has written an article for the Boardworks MFL blog on the importance of intercultural understanding in helping to promote language learning. Check out her top tips and download the post for free. There are other useful articles on the site worth checking out too such as free GCSE French resources, Healthy Living at KS4, Interdisciplinary Learning and watching authentic television programmes in German.

Level: Cross-phase