My School — Mon école by Dawn-Michelle Baude, Ph.D.
Describing your school is a fun thing to do. There are so many things to talk about! You can say the name of your school, the grade you're in, and the subjects you study. You can give the names of your teachers and what kind of activities you do. You can even describe the playground and what you had for lunch!
The Name of the School — Le nom de l'école
Start by describing the name of your school. “What is the name of your school?” becomes Quel est le nom de ton école?
You probably can already see how this question formula is put together. It begins with a question word, Quel (“what”). In French, “what is…” becomes Quel est….? Then we add the noun, just like we did in the other questions you saw. This time it's le nom (“the name”). Lastly we complete the sentence with de ton école (“of your school”). And voilà: Quel est le nom de ton école?
Now — how are you going to answer it? The easiest thing to do with questions is to use the same key words in your answer. So you begin with Mon école and follow it by your name verb s'appelle, and then you add the name. A French kid growing up in the Luberon area might say, Mon école s'appelle Ecole René Char (“My school is called the René Char School”).
The Teacher's Name — Le nom du professeur
The next question is simple because you already know the question formula: Quel est le nom de ton professeur? (“What is the name of your teacher?”) And you reply using the answer formula: Mon professeur s'appelle… (“My teacher is named…”). But wait! Instead of “Mr., “Mrs.,” or “Miss,” the French use Monsieur, Madame and Mademoiselle. Here's an easy chart so you can remember:
English |
French |
Mr. |
Monsieur |
Mrs. |
Madame |
Ms. |
Mademoiselle |
Miss |
Mademoiselle |
FUN FACTS Pour s'amuser
In French, you can refer to someone you don't know as just Monsieur or Madame or even Mademoiselle. You say, Bonjour, Madame (“Hello, Ma'am.”). In French, you don't have to follow Madame with her last name!
Your Grade — Ta classe
The next question — “What grade are you in?” — is a bit trickier in French. Not because the French language is difficult! Quelle classe? (“What class?”) is easy because you already know the question word quel/quelle (“what”) in French. And classe means “grade.” The tricky part, Dans quelle classe es-tu? (“What class are you in?”) has to do with names of the grades! French kids don't go to first grade, second grade, and all the rest. At primary school, the grades have long names that everyone abbreviates to save time. The French assign numbers to the grades in middle school and high school, except they count backwards!Here's how it works:
English |
French |
primary school |
école primaire |
kindergarten |
maternelle |
first grade |
CP1 |
second grade |
CP2 |
third grade |
CM1 |
fourth grade |
CM2 |
fifth grade |
CER |
middle school |
collège |
sixth grade |
sixième |
seventh grade |
cinquième |
eighth grade |
quatrième |
freshman |
troisième |
sophomore |
seconde |
junior |
première |
senior |
terminale |
high school |
lycée |
TRY THIS Essaie ceci
Make a Schedule — Fais un programme
Using the French 24-hour clock and your school schedule, translate your timetable into French. Write the hour and the subject you study, such as 11:00 — Biologie, 13:00 — Musique, and so on. That way, you can practice your French while keeping yourself organized, too.
I'm not — Je ne suis pas
To tell a French friend what class you're in, you use the familiar Je suis, add a linking word, and end with the name of the grade. Je suis + en CP2, or Je suis en CP2 (“I am in second grade”). Since the French grade system is probably new to you, let's practice it a bit. Use the negative sandwich, ne… pas, like this: Non, je ne suis pas à la maternelle (“No, I am not in kindergarten”). Fill in the following sentences with the classes you're not in and finish with the one you are!
Non,
Non,
Non,
Oui,
My Subjects — Mes matières
Sometimes you want to tell your friends about the subjects (matières) you study. French kids study math, reading, and history, just like you do. Many of the subjects even share the same word roots. Here they are:
English |
French |
history |
l'histoire |
geography |
la géographie |
mathematics |
les mathématiques |
science |
les sciences |
social studies |
la sociologie |
biology |
la biologie |
spelling |
l'orthographe |
literature |
la littérature |
grammar |
la grammaire |
writing |
l'écriture |
French |
le français |
reading |
la lecture |
Spanish |
l'espagnol |
music |
la musique |
art |
l'art |
computer |
l'ordinateur |
physical education |
l'éducation physique |
You probably have subjects you like a lot,and maybe subjects you don't? On each line, write either J'aime… (“I like…”) or Je n'aime pas (“I don't like…”), and fill out the complete sentence using the list of subjects:
J'aime… Je n'aime pas…
