I just learned
quite a few things on the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral recently. The façade leans
forward of about a foot, a tilting that took place on the 13rd century then
stopped.
Viollet le
Duc, the architect who restored the cathedral on the 19th century
added apostles carved in copper, set at the foot of the spire.
And he
represented himself as St Thomas, protector of architects. While the apostles
look straight ahead, St Thomas alone turns back and looks at the spire.
The crown of
thorns, the real one, can be found, we are told, among the relics of Notre
Dame, protected by precious metal and fine stones.
I learned all
that thanks to the French class that I facilitate on Thursday night. This class
focuses on pronunciation. After all, if you have a good accent in French, you
will be understood even if your French is not grammar perfect.
So I looked
for ways to help my students to pronounce as well as possible. It is above all
a question of rhythm. Putting the tonic accent at the right place in the word
is essential. And I wanted us to also have a good time!
We sang. I
looked for a new song every week where there would not be too much slang, where
the singer would enunciate and with verbs at the present tense. I realized then
how many French songs rich with conditional, imperative or subjunctive verbs were
out there!
We watched
together « La Grande Vadrouille », an iconic comedy released in the 60s
that is still watched and enjoyed in France. My own nephews know some fun
quotes by heart, just like my brother and I did! So I wrote down the dialogue
for the class to read it together. But a lot of the humor comes with back and
forth between the characters and is not easily transferred in another language.
When you have to say “you know, in French, this is so funny…” you know this is not
working too well.
Eventually we
found exactly what we needed : solid documentaries from the French TV, from the
series “Des Racines et des Ailes” (roots and wings) can be found on Youtube.
They last about 30 minutes and we go through them in 8 to 10 lessons.
We visited
the Louvre and learned about its past as a castle, jail and safe deposit for
the kings of the Middle Age before it became a palace for the royal family then
the museum we know[1]
We went to St
Malo, in Brittany, visited its mansions around the city and the islands facing the coast. We learned about its almost utter destruction during the last
world war[2].
And we just
finished “Notre Dame, au Cœur de l’histoire » (Notre Dame, at the heart of
history) where we saw beautiful images of the cathedral as it looked centuries
ago, painted with vivid colors and surrounded by narrow streets and many little
homes[3].
Thanks to
those Roots and Wings, my students work on their pronunciation skills… and we
learn together more about my far-away home country.
Anne-Cécile, you are a gifted teacher and have managed to help us speak French much better and to have a lot of fun in the process! Thank you!
ReplyDeletePhyllis