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Parlez Vous Francais? Technology And Languages In The 21St Century Classroom

Some three quarters of the world’s population speak not a word of English. When translated into hard figures, that equates to well over four billion people.

With this in mind, anyone entering the world of business armed with at least one foreign language under their belt will be far better positioned to operate globally; indeed, with the advent of the internet era, globalisation is probably one of the biggest business buzzwords going.

However, it has long been established that the best time to learn a foreign language is when you’re young – in fact, the younger the better. Young minds are like sponges for information and as can be seen across much of Scandinavia and Western Europe where English or another foreign tongue is mandatory from a young age in school, the degree of multilingualism is far greater.

Alas, many English speaking countries such as the UK simply don’t introduce foreign language lessons until age 11 or 12 which, whilst isn’t a disaster, isn’t ideal. However, with the right approach in the classroom, teachers can make language learning fun, interactive and, ultimately, equip youngsters with the right linguistic skills to enter the wider working world.

Given that most children these days are exposed to interactive multimedia devices from a young age, be it laptops, digital media players or mp3 players, a dusty old French textbook may not quite have the same people in the classroom. For children to learn a language, they have to be interested, and this is why technology should be utilised in the classroom to its full potential.

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are becoming increasingly commonplace in classrooms across the country, with the multimedia displays drawing on the imagination of young learners of all ages. Children can watch French films, listen to Parisian dialogue, interact with the on-screen events with a personal learner response system (LRS) and collaborate with each other and the teacher.

Indeed, the LRS facilitates question and answer sessions, with children able to submit answers that are instantly displayed on the IWB – a great way to improve French grammar. Moreover, there are a whole host of interactive whiteboard resources available to teachers and young language learners, which can help bring French or any other language to life in the classroom.

With the right approach and the right tools, it’s possible for any child to learn another language. What better way to equip a young mind for the globalised business world than arming them with fluency in a foreign tongue?

About the Author

Paul Buchanan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

When do you use "de" in French adjectives?

I know that most French adjectives come after the noun, with a few exceptions such as petit, joli, etc. (Like un petit chat or des chaussures blanc). But when do you use de? For instance, I know that "French book" would be "un livre DE francais" instead of just "un livre Francais." What's the rule for using de?

'De' means 'of', so:
'un livre Francais' = the french book
'un livre de Francais' = the book of french
In French, the first sentence wouldn't make sense to them, the book is about french so it is a 'book of french' not a 'french book'. I hope this makes sense, kind of hard to explain.

Hugh Laurie doesn't speak French ???