We all know that reading is a very important practice when it comes to language mastery. An area that parents are frequently looking for support with is how they help their child with French reading at home. I’ve shared a newsletter about Useful websites for French Reading but I wanted to provide another tool, so I asked one of our awesome teachers, Jackie what she recommended and this is what she shared with me:
For someone who is proficient in English and who is learning French, reading and writing can often be a challenge. This is because many sound combinations (also known as blended phonemes) differ between the languages. An example of a blended phoneme in English can be “ch” or “ph”.
Here is a list of phonemes in French which I find helpful to use during my tutoring sessions and can be useful for you when helping your kids at home.
Some engaging activities to pair with learning these sounds:
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I spy – while reading, look for these sounds in books. Can you be the first one to spot them and say their sound?
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Dice roll/sound bingo – create a ‘bingo-like’ chart with as many boxes as desired. Where the traditional ‘b-i-n-g-o’ letters would be, write numbers 1-5. In each box, write 1 word to practice your desired sound(s). Roll a dice. Whichever number it lands on, read the corresponding column on your chart.
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Apprendre à lire – This website is fantastic and engaging to young learners. You can play games, specific to the sound you wish to practice.
It uses listening, reading and writing skills. The website also reads the words/sounds aloud, and you can repeat to practice orally.
Jackie has been teaching with us since she was in university, and then teacher’s college and now she is a full-time French teacher in Brantford, Ontario!