In our sessions children initially learn to count from 1-10, but we offer progression through out our classes and reinforce and build upon important vocabulary.  We always enrich learning by enhancing their vocabulary and taking them to the next level.  We often find really young children who are able to count really well in French.  Check out some of our video clips of our the videos on our social media sites that many of our parents have kindly shared with us!

Did you know that it is highly important that your child can count effectively to 20 in French as numbers are quite different once they go above 69 – soixante-neuf [swass-ante-neuf].  The next number literally translates as sixty-ten, soixante-dix [swassante-deess] and this is how you say seventy in French! It is followed by sixty-eleven,ie 71, soixante-onze [swassante-onz], then sixty-twelve ie 72, soixante-douze [swassante-dooz] and so on until you reach sixty-nineteen ie 79, soixante-dix-neuf [swassante dees neuf]!

Enjoy the song and please feel free to share your videos of your own children singing!  We just love it seeing how well everyone is progressing and #MakingLanguagesFun!

https://youtu.be/x4ayzlhMrZM

At Petits Poussins everything we do is interactive and upholds our motto of ‘Making Languages Fun!’ Think back to when you were at school or any time you had to learn something, a little bit of fun or a lot (in our case) injected into your learning experience changes how you learn and retain what you have been taught.  We tap into all learning styles, including children with special education needs, we advocate that everyone is capable of learning a foreign language, without exception!

Les roues [lay roo] – the wheels

L’autobus [lohto-bewss] – the bus

Toute au tour de la ville [toot oh toor deuh la veel] – all around the town

Les essuie-glaces [layz ess-wee glass]- the windscreen wipers

La porte [la port] – the door

Les sous [lay soo] – the money

Le klaxon [leuh klaxohn]- the horn

L’essence [less-ohnss]- the petrol

One song that sticks in everyone’s head in our sessions and provides lots of fun learning for our children is ‘Jean Petit qui Danse.’

The song is great for all ages to learn the body parts in French, from toddlers to GCSE students and even adults!

The song speeds up as it advances and provides a real test on the children’s ability to remember the song words, and even test our bilingual teachers delivering the classes! Give it a go and enjoy interacting with your children.  Here’s the words just in case you need a ‘coup de main’ a helping hand!

Check out the link to the video clip, le camion de pompier- the fire engine.

Leo is a curious truck and he has parts loaded on his back.  What is he going to make with the parts?  Enjoy watching the videoclip with your Peits Poussins and dicuss the vocabulary with them.  Remember it’s all about Making Languages Fun!

le camion [leuh camee-ohn] the truck

la voiture [lah vwa-tewr] the car

le camion de pompier [leuh camee-ohn deuh pomp-ee-ay] the fire truck

un [uhn] – one

deuc [deuh] -two

trois [twra] – three

les sièges [lay see-ej] the seats

le volant [leuh voh-lohn] the steering wheel

une cabine rouge [oon cabeen rooj] – a red cabin

un pare-choc en avant [uhn par-shock ohn avahn] – the front bumper

trois roues [trwa roo]  three wheels

à côté [ah coat-ay] to the side

les ailes [layz elss] the wings

la citerne-d’eau [lah see-tern doh] – the water tank

l’échelle [lay shell] the ladder

le girophare [leuh geero-far] the flashing light

Take a seat with your Petits Poussins and have 10 minutes watching and talking about the video clip we are sharing about transport – les transports [lay trahn-spor]. See how many words you can both recall.

Les transports is our theme for the half term and we will be posting more resources that will help you to expose your child to language learning outwith our classes.  If you have any questions or we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to ask.  Our staff are all bilingual and have an array of teaching, parenting and language experience.

Merci beaucoup! x

Les Transports – source le monde des petits

Comptines HD

Songs are a great way for your children to learn a language.  Our curriculum is developped in a clever way that ensures language is learned in a fun manner with lots of clever repetition, solely delivered in the target language.

This is a great app of traditional French ‘comptines’ - nursery songs, some with a twist on the French version.  Your children should be familiar with some them from our sessions too!  The wonderful thing, apart from the clear French, is that the words are displayed in karaoke style and the child can play a game to the rythmn of the music, a bit like a dance mat with their fingers!

The always win a ‘trophée’ regardless if they score any points or not!  We just love the vibrant graphics and catchy song style.

When we teach we like to use exciting songs that make the language experience fun for the children. As you know our motto is ‘Making Languages Fun!’

We often put a twist into songs or adapt them so that it reinforces our questions or the vocabulary that we have been covering.  When we sing Au Feu les Pompiers we replace the cantinier and the cantinière with the children’s names!  They really laugh a lot when we do this.  I hope they’ve been singing it at home with you.

We sometimes add extra songs to our lesson plans that may not be in your newsletter if the children enjoy a particular word.  The children have particularly enjoyed the word ‘le Pompier [leuh pomp-ee-ay] ‘, which means fireman…they may have even been singing pin-pon-pin-pon [pahn-pohn] around the house!  That’s the noise that the firetruck  ‘camion de pompier’ [cam-ee-ohn deuh pomp-ee-ay] makes!

Au feu les pompiers is all about the firemen being called to a fire…Here’s a translation to help you whilst you listen to the video clip.  These video clips are great as you can follow the words as they are sung.

Here is the link http://youtu.be/FfAvs3Dr3sI

Au feu les pompiers…to the fire firemen

V’là la maison qui brule…here’s the house burning

Au feu les pompiers…to the fire firemen

V’là la maison brulée…here’s the burnt house!

C’est pas moi qui l’ai brûlée - It wasn’t me who burnt it

C’est la cantinière – It was the woman from the canteen

C’est pas moi qui l’ai brûlée - It wasn’t me who burnt it

C’est le cantinier – It was the man from the canteen

Have fun!  It’s what makes language learning enjoyable and it’s the best way for your children to remember the vocabulary.

Merci beaucoup!

When we find him we shout coucou [coo-coo] – hiya/peek-a-boo

We just love the verb cacher [cashay].  Say it to you child and see what they do!

We use it often in the sessions with its variants…

Cache les yeux [cash layz yeuh] – hide your eyes

Cache, cache, cache [cash cash cash] hide, hide hide

Click on the video clip from our ami [am-ee] friend,  Pocoyo and check out our vocabulary guide below.

This time we find him playing at hide and seek, cache-cache [cash-cash].

Pocoyo Joue à cache-cache

Here’s the vocabulary from the video clip ‘Pocoyo Joue à Cache-Cache’

Bonjour [bohn-joor] – hello/good morning/good afternoon

Jouer à cache-cache –[joo-ay ah cash-cash] – to play hide and seek

Coucou – hi-ya/peek-a-boo

Où est Pocoyo? [oo ay Pocoyo]

Il est là/elle est là [eel ay la/el ay lah]- he/she is there

Que veux-tu faire ? [keuh veuh tew fayr] – what do you want to do ?

Jouer [joo-ay] – to play

Un jeu [uhn j-euh] – a  game

Un poisson [uhn poisson] – a fish

Dans la mer [dahn la mer] – in the sea

Des bras  [day bra] – some arms

Le fôret [leuh fo-ray] – the forest

La fleur [la fl-euhr] – the flower

L’arbre [lar-breuh] – the tree

Le pied – [leuh pee-ay]- the foot

Dormir [dor-meer] – to sleep

Check out some of the key words and how similar they are to English!!

la radio [lah rad-ee-oo] – the radio

danser [dohnsay] – to dance

encourager [ohn-coo-rajay] – to encourage

A très bientôt – see you real soon

http://youtu.be/po_Q-otOsZo

Bonne fête des mamans! Here’s a lovely videoclip for you and your Petits Poussins! Have a wonderful day, you deserve it! xx