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BBC Languages/French

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
Hats off to the BBC! In the past I've used some of their French language teaching videos, notably Le Café des Rêves (still holds up, just about), 15 Minutes Plus and 20 Minutes ("Michael"). But I have recently, and belatedly, explored the BBC web site a bit more carefully and discovered some very usable material.

It's a pity that the above programmes do not seem to be available online. Copyright issues?

However, this week I have been showing video clips from the Ma France series. We are working on the topic of food, restaurants and cafés and Ma France has some interviews with chefs, customers and a restaurant critic from Lyons. The language is very clear and suits able Y11 students. You can just listen for interest, or take notes, or you could even design some simple worksheets if you wanted. It's full of listening material which would be good for revision, at AS level too.

Talk French has short situation-based clips which would suit younger pupils. French Steps is aimed at adults primarily and has short audio clips of situational French with accompanying interactive exercises and grammar points. Could be good for revision at school level.

The French Experience is also aimed at adult learners. It's quite old now, but has some good video clips.

Cool French focuses on young people's slang, with audio clips. It is produced by the same guy who does the French Steps material.

Quick Fix deals with essential phrases for certain situations. You can download them as MP3 clips - again, better for adults.

Finally, you can find the scripts to Déjà Vu, a "Franco-English love story" jointly made by the BBC and Arte, on the BBC site, with the downloadable podcast on the Arte Radio site:

http://www.arteradio.com/son.html?334014

You can stream it live from the web site. Not for school students, this one! Quote from Episode 1: "English women are slappers".

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