Thank you, Google!

I am a big fan of all things Google.  And today, I was charmed by the video that Google put up as a Valentine's Day gift to its users.  It is a wordless animated story of boy meets girl, with a lovely little moral at the end.  The original shown here in Canada has Tony Bennett's "Cold, Cold Heart" playing, but the one I found on YouTube has an instrumental track, which lends itself to a French classroom a bit better!

I saw it this morning and immediately changed my plans to include this video in my lessons today.  We watched it, and the kids helped me retell the story, (with the help of some newly introduced vocabulary).  Then we talked about how to be a good friend to those you care about, and all in all, we had one of the nicest Valentine's days lessons!

If you didn't catch the doodle on Google's homepage today, you can see it here.

Monsieur Bean

Ahhhhh, Mr. Bean (or, as we say in French class, "Monsieur Bean")!  Rowan Atkinson's character actually got its start here in Canada, at the "Just for Laughs" festival in Montréal.  Although he didn't speak a word of French, he insisted upon being put on the French-language performers' list.  It was at the "Just for Laughs" festival that Rowan Atkinson discovered that M. Bean is funny in any language, because for him, it's not about the words - it's all about body language!

M. Bean makes such a great FSL resource because so much of his comedy is physical.  Words aren't necessary, and instead we focus on his actions, his physical appearance, the silly situations he gets himself into and his peculiar solutions to "normal" problems.  In class, we use M. Bean videos often.  It's an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary words, review grammar (past tense, anyone?), and do it while having fun!

I hope you enjoy the following M. Bean video.  This one has always been one of my favourites!

French music

When you think of the term French music, what comes to your head?  If you're an anglophone, the first thing that pops into your mind is probably something like this, or perhaps, thinking of  the turn of the century Belle Époque with Toulouse Lautrec, Impressionist painters and the Moulin Rouge, something like this may come to mind.  If you've seen "La Vie En Rose", you might even think of Édith Piaf.  If you grew up in the 80's, you might even be familiar with Mitsou.  But that is certainly not all the French music out there!

When you think of the term French music, I bet you would never have thought of Québec singer Éric LaPointe, whose Terre Promise is a rock anthem.  You might not have thought of French pop princess Lorie.  Then there's the Québec folk-rock band Okoumé.  And even if you're not a "soft-rock" fan, how can you possibly avoid singing along to Roch Voisine's Hélène?  And thanks to some fellow French teachers, I have just discovered the fun Ontario band Swing.

I love exposing the students to all kinds of music - the "traditional" and the "nouveau".  So if you know of some awesome French music - share it!