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Parallel text resources for beginners on frenchteacher

A few years ago I began a set of parallel text resources on my website. I know that many teachers have used these over the years. Some turn them into booklets which pupils can dip into. They could be used in various ways:

  • Homework
  • Quite reading in class
  • Extension work for faster learners
  • Intensive classroom oral work (though this is not their main purpose by any means)
  • Reading aloud to the class

Recently I added a few more examples, to include specific cultural references as well provide material which is just interesting in general to students.

The format is a landscape A4 sheet with a text in French on the left and its translation in English on the right. These are supplemented by some simple exercises, usually true/false, cognate-finding and vocab-finding. The full list of topics is listed below. I'll share an example at the end of the post. 

Remember that a main objective is to allow students to read something interesting, made comprehensible by the translation. I wouldn't recommend texts like this for general classroom use. Why? You can make material of any difficulty comprehensible (think of film sub-titles), but it doesn't mean the language will be 'processed' and become what the research sometimes calls 'intake'. So in general I'd rather stick with the principle of classroom texts consisting of around 95% already known words. And yes, this can be hard to pin down when you have a class of 30 students each with different memories!

Here's that list:

  • Meerkats
  • Kangaroos
  • Eiffel Tower
  • Channel Tunnel
  • European Union
  • Vampires
  • Ladybirds
  • Becoming a vet
  • Simple family poem
  • Brazil
  • Dolphins
  • My dog
  • My house
  • Cinderella
  • Planets
  • Weather forecast
  • The boy who cried wolf
  • Asking directions
  • Spiders
  • Sharks
  • Daily routine
  • My friend (male)
  • My friend (female)
  • My mum
  • The blue whale
  • Asteroids
  • Marie Curie 
  • Astérix
  • Napoleon


Astérix le Gaulois

Les premières aventures d’Astérix sont parues en 1959 dans Pilote, un magazine de bandes dessinées. Face à son succès, le premier album de la série sort en librairie en 1961.

Astérix est un Gaulois. Dans ses aventures comiques, il rencontre beaucoup de Romains. Les Romains veulent conquérir la Gaule mais le village d'Astérix résiste toujours contre les Romains. Pour se défendre les villageois boivent une potion magique fabriquée par le druide Panoramix. Cette potion les rend presque invincibles.

Astérix est l'ami inséparable d'Obélix qui, quand il était petit, est tombé dans la potion magique. Alors il n'a plus besoin de boire de la potion magique pour "défoncer" les Romains. Leur chien s'appelle Idéfix.

Astérix est l’un des deux plus grands guerriers du village. Il est malin. Dans son duo avec Obélix, c’est lui qui prend les décisions stratégiques. C’est un célibataire endurci qui paraît dans tous les albums.

 

Asterix the Gaul

The first adventures of Asterix appeared in 1959 in Pilote, a comic book magazine. Faced with its success, the first album in the series was released in bookstores in 1961.

Asterix is a Gaul. In his comical adventures, he encounters many Romans. The Romans want to conquer Gaul but the village of Asterix always resists against the Romans. To defend themselves, the villagers drink a magic potion made by the druid Panoramix. This potion makes them almost invincible.

Asterix is the inseparable friend of Obelix who, when he was little, fell into the magic potion. So he no longer needs to drink the magic potion to "smash" the Romans. Their dog is called Dogmatix.

Asterix is one of the two greatest warriors in the village. He is smart. In his partnership with Obélix, he is the one who makes the strategic decisions. He is a hardened bachelor who appears in all the books.

Vrai ou faux? (True or false)

1.       Astérix a paru pour la première fois en 1959.

2.       Le premier album de la série a paru en 1959.

3.       Astérix est un Romain.

4.       Astérix rencontre un grand nombre de Romains.

5.       Les Romains veulent conquérir la France.

6.       Le village d’Astérix résiste aux Gaulois.

7.       Les villageois boivent une potion magique.

8.       Obélix a fabriqué la potion magique.

9.       Panoramix est un Druide.

10.      Astérix et Obélix sont de très bons amis.

11.      Obélix est tombé dans la potion magique.

12.      Ils ont un chat qui s’appelle Idéfix.

13.      Astérix est un guerrier malin.

14.      Obélix est marié.

Highlight any words in the French text whose meaning you could have guessed without any help. These words are called COGNATES and help make French a relatively easy language for us to learn.

Complete this list of words

French                     English

appeared                          ___________

the first time                    ___________

adventure                        ___________

series                               ___________

bookstore                         ___________

comical, funny                   ___________

to encounter, meet            ___________

lots of, many                    ___________

nearly, almost                   ___________

warrior                            ___________

single (i.e. not married)      ___________


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