Level 2 French

Year 12 French

In Year 12, we…

• read an authentic French book.
• have a debate around French music.
• become “fluent” by the end of the year (as long as we complete our homework): we are able to say anything we want to say in French. We might not know the best way of saying it or the correct word, but we know enough French to be able to find a way to communicate what we want to.
• learn to talk about what we would or wouldn’t do and what we would have or wouldn’t have done.
• learn to describe what we had done a long time ago in the past.
• do a crash course on the history of France using an authentic French book.
• continue with French Fridays.
• listen to many of the French songs that all French people can sing along to.
• learn about French Polynesia through authentic books and a documentary.
• have 20 weekly vocabulary lists where we will learn approximately an extra 500 words, therefore growing our French vocabulary to over 1250 words. As usual, this is done through Education Perfect or Quizlet and weekly vocabulary tests.
• have the opportunity to take the B1 DELF exam. B1 is the level required to become a French citizen. We can take B1 in Year 12 or Year 13.
• continue to participate in the French senior shared lunches.
• watch a French film that French people cherish.
• lead a group during French immersion day.
• can participate in the French Senior Interschool Quiz night.
• and so much more.

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Music debate

We cover the following topics in Year 12:

- Le Petit Nicolas - a collection of short stories.

- Francophone Music - the iconic songs and famous singers of each decade from the 1920s until now.

- French Polynesia - short stories, its beauty, its culture, the connection between France and French Polynesia.

- French History - from 23000 BC to now.

- Technology - the benefits, the disadvantages and what it would be like to have a technology-free day.

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Senior Quiz Night

Why should I keep studying a language/French?

It's enriching and fun.

It's your second tutor group.

It brings you new experiences.

You can stretch your brain in new ways.

You become close friends with your classmates.

You start to really see your French knowledge grow.

You learn more about yourself and your own culture(s).

French is an official language in many international organisations.

Learning a language helps you to understand English/your other language(s).

Not many people who grow up in NZ speak French, so it will mean you stand out.

Unfortunately, once you drop a language, it is highly unlikely that you will ever become fluent in it, because you will never have regular classes like this again. Starting a language at university doesn't give you long enough to become fluent. However, studying a language at university (as a major, minor, elective, certificate or diploma) after studying it at high school strengthens your language knowledge incredibly.

Languages are extremely relevant if you are thinking of entering politics, doing law, business, medicine or sport.

Who knows where life will take you! You may end up in a job working with French clients or moving to a French-speaking country.

Politics: you are likely to need to talk to people from other countries to achieve what you want to achieve or to learn about what other countries do.

Business: Our closest neighbour is New Caledonia, which is French-speaking. French Polynesia is also close by. Many NZ businesses wanting to expand look at these places as we are their closest big neighbour, which means they want our products and businesses. It's much easier to expand to those countries if you speak their language.

Medicine: People from New Caledonia and French Polynesia are regularly transported to NZ for medical care. Refugees also need medical care. Can you imagine how scary it would be if you don't understand the doctor or the nurse?

Law: French-speaking refugees come to NZ. They may need your help.

Sport: Many training camps, clubs or competitions run out of Europe and in particular around France, Switzerland, Andorra and Belgium, where French is spoken. It makes it a lot easier to contracts and to work with teammates if you speak French.

Example of a Year 12 Interaction:

Assessments

Writing: Students compile a portfolio throughout the year. They will write 3 texts under test conditions in class and over several periods. The teacher will give them a grade based on their draft and a couple of guiding comments. Students then have until mid-Term 3 to improve their writings. They choose their best 2 and they receive 5 credits in total for this assessment.

Speaking: Just like in Year 11, students will complete an interaction portfolio. They will carry out 3 to 4 interactions and choose their best two. Students are only expected to talk for four minutes across both interactions, but at Year 12 level, students' French ability and interest in the topics mean that their interactions generally end up lasting over 15 minutes each. This is however not a requirement of the assessment.

Listening: This is an external assessment, sat as an exam in November. Students hear 3 passages, three times each. They write or type their notes in any language they want and they answer questions in English based on what they hear. Students are expected to use as much of the passages as possible in their answers as well as make connections between the ideas in the passages. The listening passages can only include vocabulary from the official NZQA Level 1 and Level 2 vocabulary lists. We will have learnt these in great detail over Year 11 and Year 12.

Reading: This is an external assessment, sat as an exam in November. Students read 3 texts and answer questions in English based on these texts. Students are expected to include as much of the texts as possible in their answers as well as make connections between the ideas in each text. The reading texts can only include vocabulary from the official NZQA Level 1 and Level 2 vocabulary lists. We will have learnt these in great detail over Year 11 and Year 12.