French Skills - Whitstone School

Year 9
French Home Learning Booklet
Learning Skills
Name:
Tutor Group:
Teacher:
Given out:
Monday 6 June
Parent/Carer Comment:
Staff Comment:
Target:
Hand in: Monday 13 June
This homework booklet will help you to develop and practise your skills in languages
and give you a chance to reflect on your progress.
It contains some of the key skills you have learned this year and which will be vital
for your GCSE course.
Each exercise is labelled as:
Must: All pupils must try to complete.
Should: All pupils should attempt.
Could: Some pupils could try to complete.
Pupils must complete the self-evaluation boxes at the end of the booklet.
All learning objectives are in accordance with the new Key Stage 3 framework for
languages.
Exercise 1a
Cognates are words which are the same or similar in another language e.g. le
college = school. They are sometimes called vrais amis (true friends). If you don’t
have a dictionary to hand you can often work out the meaning of a French text by
guessing the meaning of words which look similar to words in English.
Guess what these cognates mean in English based on words they look like. To check
your answers use a dictionary or an on-line dictionary such as wordreference.com.
égalité
-
…………………………………
démocratie -
………………………………..
banane
-
…………………………………
victoire
-
…………………………………
couleur
-
………………………………
idée
-
……………………………
mémoire
-
…………………………………
signer (verb)-
……………………………….
juger (verb)
-
……………………..
Exercise 1b
There are also lots of false cognates or faux amis (false friends). These look very
similar in both languages but actually mean different things. This can confuse you
but they need to be learned. Words can also often have two meanings, one which is
similar to English but one which is completely different.
See if you can guess what these false cognates mean but check them in a
dictionary before you write them in.
ancien
-
………………………………..
librairie
-
……………………………….
avertissement-
……………………………..…
pièce
-
……….……………………….
coin
-
..……………………………..
propre
-
……………..………………..
commander -
…………………………………
supporter (verb)- …………………..……………
fournitures -
………………………………..
decevoir
-
………………..………………
Exercise 2
French adjectives change to agree in gender and number with the nouns that they
modify, which means there can be up to four forms of each adjective (masculine
singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural).
Most French adjectives add E for feminine and S for plural. Example:
Adjective: vert (green)
Masculine singular vert
Feminine singular verte
Masculine plural verts
Feminine plural vertes
However, there are a number of irregular endings. These need to be learned. Example:
Adjective: personnel (personal)
Masculine singular personnel
Feminine singular personnelle
Masculine plural personnels
Feminine plural personnelles
Fill in the gaps on these irregular adjectives. To find the answer use a dictionary or use
the internet to search e.g. ‘bon adjective endings’.
Adjective: bon (good)
Adjective: cher (expensive)
Masculine singular bon
Masculine singular cher
Feminine singular (1)……………….
Feminine singular chère
Masculine plural bons
Masculine plural (3)…………….
Feminine plural (2)……………………
Feminine plural (4)……………
Adjective: complet (full)
Adjective: heureux (happy)
Masculine singular complet
Masculine singular heureux
Feminine singular (5)…………………………
Feminine singular (7)…………………………
Masculine plural complets
Masculine plural heureux
Feminine plural (6)……………………
Feminine plural (8)…………………………..
Adjective: blanc (white)
Adjective: neuf (new)
Masculine singular blanc
Masculine singular neuf
Feminine singular (9)………………………
Feminine singular (12)……………………….
Masculine plural (10)…………………….
Masculine plural (13)…………………………
Feminine plural (11)……………………….
Feminine plural (14)………………………….
Adjective: flatteur (flattering)
Adjective: idéal (ideal)
Masculine singular flatteur
Masculine singular idéal
Feminine singular (15)……………………….
Feminine singular idéale
Masculine plural flatteurs
Masculine plural (17)……………………..
Feminine plural (16)…………………………
Feminine plural (18)………………………
Exercise 3- Forming the Past (perfect) Tense
Avoir – to have
j'ai
tu as
il/elle a
nous avons
vous avez
ils/elles ont
Être – to be
je suis
tu es
il/elle est
nous sommes
vous êtes
ils/elles sont
Remember most past participles are formed by knocking the –er from the end of the
verb and adding é. e.g. jouer = joué.
If you’re not sure what the past participle is look it up in a dictionary (verb tables are
often at the back) or search the internet e.g. What is the past participle of faire? =
fait.
Don’t forget that most verbs use avoir in the perfect tense but some (mainly movement
verbs) use être. Look up ‘Dr and Mrs Vandertramp’ if you’re not sure. Those past
participles have to agree with the subject so don’t forget to add an extra e if feminine
(allée), an s if plural (allés) or even both (allées).
Fill in the gaps in these sentences. In all the sentences you need to include the correct
form of avoir/être followed by the past participle. Where necessary I have included
the infinitive to help you in brackets:
Example: Vous …..avez…. ….lu…… un livre. – You read a book.
1. J’………...
………………………….. au foot.
2. Il ………….
…………………………….. la télé.
–
I played football.
–
He watched TV.
3. Nous ………………………. ………………….… de la natation. – We went swimming.
4. Ils …………………
…………………….. une pizza. –
They ate a pizza.
5. Nous …………………… …………………. en ville. –
We went to town.
6. Tu …………….
You drank some lemonade.
…………….. du limonade.
7. Elle ………………
8. Je ………………..
9. Il ………………
–
…………………… [choisir] un DVD. –
………………………. [tomber]. –
………………………. [partir] hier. –
10. Elles ....................
She chose a DVD.
I fell over.
He left yesterday.
……………………. [venir] à la fête. – They came to the party.
Exercise 4
The near future tense describes events that are going to happen. You therefore use the
verb aller (to go) in the present tense + the infinitive e.g. Je vais jouer au rugby – I am
going to play rugby.
Aller – to go (present tense)
je
tu
il/elle/on
nous
vous
ils/elles
vais
vas
va
allons
allez
vont
Fill in the blanks on the same sentences but turn them into the near future tense.
Remember, you won’t be using any past participles, only infinitives (jouer, faire, boire,
etc).
1. Je ……………
2. Il ………….
…………….. au foot.
–
I am going to play football.
…………………………….. la télé. –
He is going to watch TV.
3. Nous ………………………. ………………….… de la natation. – We are going to go swimming.
4. Ils …………………
…………………….. une pizza. –
5. Nous …………………… …………………. en ville. –
6. Tu …………….
8. Je ………………..
9. Il ………………
We are going to go to town.
…………….. du lemonade. –
7. Elle ………………
You are going to drink some lemonade.
…………………… un DVD. –
……………………….
10. Elles ....................
She is going to choose a DVD.
–
………………………. Demain.
They are going to eat a pizza.
I am going to fall over.
–
He is going to leave tomorrow.
……………………. à la fête. – They are going to come to the party.
Exercise 5
Read the interview with Guillaume, a film star and decide if the statements underneath
are true , false , or not mentioned (?).
Look for names, dates and places to help you answer them.
1. Guillaume played the hero in Johnny Malchance.

2. In Muscles au maximum, Guillaume worked with Jean-Claude Vin-Blanc.

3. Guillaume played the role of a robot in the film Robot, je t’aime.

4. Guillaume was in a horror film which was on TV yesterday.

5. Guillaume did kickboxing in his last film.

6. Guillaume’s girlfriend watched Lapin et Serpent.

7. Guillaume liked his holiday in Guadeloupe.

8. Guillaume didn’t go to Paris in 2005.

Exercise 6
In the table underneath write which tense each paragraph is written in (past, present
or future).
1
2
3
1
2
3
Find the French equivalent of these phrases in the text and write them in the box
below.
French
English
My favourite author is…
I read them all the time.
The story is interesting and original.
My favourite characters…
The fourth Harry Potter book…
My friends are going to come to my house.
Exercise 7- Error checking
Draw a circle around all the errors in this text about films.
They could be spelling mistakes, tense errors, wrong endings, missing accents, etc.
There are 11 mistakes in total.
J’aime bien aller au cinéma. Je vais au cinéma une fois
par semaine. J’aime buaecoup les film d’action. Un de
mes films préféres c’est Die Hard avec Bruce Willis.
J’amie ce film parce qu’il est plein d’action et les effet
spéciaux sont excellent.
Le weekend prochain je suis allé au cinéma et j’ai
regarder Battleship. C’est l’histoire des extraterrestres qui attaquent le planète. Je ne ai pas
beaucoup aimé ce film parce que c’était nul. Pourtant les
effets speciaux sont bien.
La semaine prochain je vais acheté Mission Impossible 4
en DVD. Un de mes acteurs préférés, c’est Tom Cruise.
J’aime livre de temps en temps mais je préfére aller au
cinéma ou regarder la télé.
Exercise 8 Connectives
Connectives link sentences together and improve the quality of your writing. Here are
some French examples:
et - and
parce que - because
aussi - also
ou - or
donc - therefore/so
mais - but
d’abord – first of all
enfin - finally
d'habitude - normally
pourtant - however
Below is a text about a holiday.
Place the connectives in a gap where they make sense.
Some of them can go in a few different places but try to use as many as possible.
__D’habitude__ je vais en vacances en France avec ma famille.
_____________ l’année derniére on est allé en Italie. La voiture était en
panne _______ nous avons pris l’avion. Le voyage était nul
______________ c’était ennuyeux. Pendant les vacances _____________
j’ai joué au tennis ________ j’ai fait de la natation. ___________ je suis
allé à la plage. C’était super ________ la mer était froide ! J’ai mangé une
______ deux pizzas. ________ j’ai mangé des salades vertes avec des
tomates. C’était délicieux !
Vocab : en panne (broken).
Exercise 9 -Thinking about French sounds
French people use text-speak just like us.
See if you can match the text speak from the box at the bottom with the actual
French.
Look at acronyms, abbreviations, etc and think about how accents & pronunciation will
affect your answers.
French Text speak
C
Actual French
C’est
C'est bien
Je suis
D'accord
English
It is
That's good
I am
OK
Je vais
I'm going
Merci
Ne sais pas
thanks
I don’t know
Au
In the, at the
Parce que
Cinéma
S'il te/vous plaît
occupé
weekend
J’ai un problème
Où est-tu?
énervé
Je t’aime
because
Cinema
Please
busy
Weekend
I have a problem
Where are you?
Annoyed
I love you
o
JTM
Chuis
Wétu
parske
mr6
WE
J'vé
6né
cb1
OQP
dak
STP/SVP
G1 pb
NRV
NSP
Exercise 10a
Read this letter and underline every example of the past (perfect) tense. (9 more to find.)
Paris, le 12 mai
Cher Patrice,
Salut! Ça va? Moi, ça va bien. Merci de ta dernière lettre que j’ai reçu avec plaisir.
Le weekend dernier était magnifique! Vendredi soir, je suis allée au cinéma avec
mes copains. On a vu le film “X Men 2”. C’était superbe!
Samedi matin, j’ai fait de la natation à la piscine avec mon frère. J’adore faire de la
natation! Samedi après-midi, J’ai fait du shopping avec ma cousine, Aline. C’était
amusant. Hier, j’ai joué au tennis au parc avec ma mère. Malheureusement, ma
mère a gagné! Hier soir, je suis allée au disco avec ma copine. C’était formidable
parce que j’ai rencontré un beau mec!
Qu’est-ce que tu as fait le weekend dernier?
A bientôt!
Janine
Exercise 10b
Find the time phrases below in the letter above.
Saturday afternoon
-
…………………………………………
Yesterday
-
…………………………………………
Last weekend
-
…………………………………………
Saturday morning
-
…………………………………………
Yesterday evening
-
…………………………………………
Friday evening
-
…………………………………………
Exercise 10c
Answer these questions in English.
1.
What did Janine do on Friday evening?
-
…………………………………………
2.
What did she do with her brother?
-
…………………………………………
3.
What did she do at the park?
-
…………………………………………
4.
Who did she go to the disco with?
-
…………………………………………
5.
Why did she enjoy it?
-
…………………………………………
Self Assessment


Fill in the boxes based on how you feel you have done in these exercises.
Write your target/comment about how you feel you did.
I can …….
recognise/use the past/future
tenses in French.
find key language within a text.
spot errors in a text.
use connectives correctly.
scan information correctly.
confidently use a dictionary.
Very well
Fairly well
Need more help
Self Evaluation of my Homework
I am a R____________________ learner.
I know this because:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
I believe that my effort and attitude to learning for this booklet is a:
1
2
3
4
I know this because:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________