My university days seem like a dream, sometimes. Sure, it was almost 35 years ago, but it's more than that.
Both my school and University followed the 'Oxbridge' tradition. (That's a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge). Both institutions were grand and tradition-bound and old and elegant and beautiful and classy.
At university, I attended a residential college, St Hilda's. The colleges, too, were modelled on Oxbridge tradition with rowing and cricket clubs, choirs, debating teams, live-in tutors, and well stocked libraries. We dressed in academic gowns for dinner, had Junior and Senior Common Rooms, were invited to 'High Table', (literally a high table, raised at the front of the room and reserved for the academic fellows, the Headmaster and their guests) and even said grace before meals in Latin.
I had an exceptional education, and very good fun, but like I say, nowadays it all seems like a dream. A very Hogwarts-like dream.
The other day I realised that over the course of the decades I'd forgotten the grace. Just when Jemimah's Latin was good enough for her to enjoy knowing it, too. So I hopped onto Facebook, found an alumni page and asked. And here it is, in case I ever forget it again. Or in case you, too, would like to say grace in Latin.
Academic gowns and a raised high table optional.
Benedic, domine, hoc frumentum, et nostram communitatem per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen.
Translation: Bless O Lord, this food and our community, through Christ our Lord.
Our visit to the Language Bookstore yesterday was ostensibly to purchase Japanese copybooks, but somehow we found ourselves in the French section instead. Funny that. Somehow, it is much more fun leafing through books you can read compared with those you cannot. Especially because the Japanese books are much harder to categorise as living or twaddle, since I'm not familiar with the titles and the Japanese style of art is so different from ours.
Anyway, apart from the Japanese books that I shall tell you about later, and two Ghibli movies that I really should tell my long-suffering husband about, we arrived home with two new French books for the collection. The first is a very funny book called Le Petit Garçon qui Disait Toujours Non (The Little Boy who Always Said No) by David Foenkinos, about a boy who was born contrary, and continued through life the same way, always saying Non! His concerned and loving parents read books, consult the Internet (as we do), ask their friends, and then finally resort to a child psychologist. Nothing works. The pathway to his first Oui is most delightful.
The second book is the one I want to tell you about. Pictured above, it's called Le Trésor de l'enfance (The Treasure of Childhood), published by Gallimard Jeunesse, and a treasure it is, indeed. It's an anthology of much loved stories, poems and songs, taken from 30 years of Gallimard Jeunesse's book publishing, and listed according to age from 2 to 8. Some are English classics - Beatrix Potter's Pierre Lapin, Jeff Brown's Flat Stanley, or should I say, Clément Aplati, Kipling's Le Chameau et sa Bosse (The Camel's Hump). Many more, though are French books by French authors, and some of them are fabulous, and some are great for early learners of French with lots of repetition, and some are Classics, and some are plain strange but fun anyhow.
I really like the L'Homme qui Plantait des Arbres written by by Jean Giono in 1953. It is a story of a shepherd's attempt to singlehandedly replant a deforested valley in the Alps of Provence. Here it is adapted as a film in English, if you'd like to listen:
On a slightly less serious note, and at a lower level of French, Le Monstre Poilu, or The Hairy Monster is good too. It's about an ugly monster with an enormous head, a big mouth, dull little eyes and two ridiculously little feet who cannot leave the cave where he lives, and is forced to eat mice. He would much prefer to eat humans. One day Le Monstre Poilu captures a king.
- Ha! s'écria la vilaine bête, enfin quelque chose meilleur à manger que les souris.
The king manages to escape being Le Monstre Poilu's lunch by promising to send the next child that he meets. Children are much more tender, you see, than kings. Only the next child the king sees turns out to be his own beloved daughter, la petite Lucile…
You can see the story acted here:
Despite being written for younger French children, this collection is absolutely perfect for older English speaking children learning to read and narrate French. The stories and poems range in difficulty from very simple to quite complex tales. Most of the selections contain the whole unabridged story. The original illustrations are included. There are great songs and poems to recite or sing.
There are even non-fiction selections, Ruth Brown's excellent counting book, Dix Petites Grains, or Ten Seeds, is there, fantastic for practice counting backwards, as well as for learning new vocab. There is Christian Broutin's fabulous book, L'Arbre (The Tree), about the growth of a chestnut tree, L'Œuf by René Mettler tells us all about the egg, and in La Nature au Fil de l'eau we learn about water - streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, seas and more. There is so much vocabulary in this story alone!!
In Australia, French books are expensive, and this one is no exception. On the other hand, it only cost about the same as two or three paperback children's books, and you get about 50 stories and 350 pages and all the pictures. What a deal! You can buy it from Amazon France.
There is so much in this anthology that I suspect that I may not have justification to ever purchase another French children's book. It is a good job I will soon be able to buy Japanese kids books instead, isn't it? All is good.
Latin is a language
As dead as dead can be.
It killed the mighty Romans
And now it’s killing me.
You will know from previous posts that if there is an easy way of approaching a subject, that’s probably the method we’ll be using in our Peaceful Home. 'Keep it Simple' is my motto.
Latin is a case in point. There are some pretty erudite homeschooling mammas out there, and some of them are teaching some rather impressive Latin. Their kids are learning the five declensions and four conjugations while still in primary school. They know the indicative, imperative and subjunctive, and are perfect in the pluperfect. Remarkable.
Now I know my student fairly well, and I am quite aware that she is not going to enjoy that sort of teaching. She really isn't. To begin with, her English grammar isn't anywhere near the level required for serious Latin study. Possibly, neither is mine. Okay, definitely. Secondly, she just isn't up for the type of rote memorising that goes with that method of instruction.
To be honest, neither am I. It sort of doesn't fit with my philosophy, y'know? It smacks of Classical homeschooling rather than CM homeschooling, I reckon. There is a difference. Even if I'm not quite sure what it is.
Charlotte Mason realised that studies of this type are not attractive to young children.
Of grammar, Latin and English, I shall say very little here. In the first place, grammar, being a study of words and not of things, is by no means attractive to the child, nor should he be hurried into it...Therefore, if he learns no more at this early stage than the declensions and a verb or two, it is well he should learn this much, if only to help him see what English grammar would be at when it speaks of a change in case or mood, yet shows no change in the form of a word.
Charlotte Mason Home Education p295
AO introduces English Grammar very slowly into Primary School at Grade 4 level, the same year that Latin is begun. Over the next three years the student gradually learns the nine parts of speech and a few other things in preparation for serious grammar study in secondary school. I figure that that's the time for serious Latin study too - Secondary School.
Moods and Tenses
Bother my senses
Adverbs, Proverbs make me roar.
Irregular Verbs
My sleep disturb
They are a regular bore.
When Jemimah moves into AO7 - next year, oh my! - we will be studying Latin using the Cambridge Latin Course that her father and I both used at school. It's a rigourous English Classical Latin programme (that is, it was published in the UK) and is highly regarded, but the main reason I'm using it is that in my memory, Latin using this course was fun. Each of the first year's lessons contained a little story about Caecilius, a banker in Pompeii, his wife Metella, Quintus their son and Cerberus the family mut. There was a list of vocab, and a little bit of grammar and culture, introduced where it is necessary to proceed. I want my daughter to learn Latin like this too. Caecilius and Metella are my friends. (Pompeii is not the best place for you to be living, people. Please move!)
But enough about Cambridge Latin - we're not using that yet.
In the mean time, while Jemimah's in Primary School, we decided on Minimus Latin. It, too, is published by Cambridge University Press, which is the reason that I first looked at it, and has a similar layout to the Cambridge books, but the real reason I chose Minimus for Jemimah is because it looked like it kept Latin simple. Simple and enjoyable. There are two books - Minimus: Starting Latin is for kids 7-10 (We started in AO4 when Jemimah was 9) and Minimus Secondus: Moving on in Latin for 11-13 year olds.
If you were keen you could easily complete a book easily in a year - there are 12 lessons per book. We've managed to find plenty to keep us interested for what will be the three years AO4-6, though, doing Latin for two short lessons a week.
What I have loved is how many of Charlotte Mason's methods we can fit into our study using this course. The year, in particular, as our history rotation is in ancient times, I've also loved all the overlap between Latin and our history subjects. Education is the Science of Relations, and it has certainly not been difficult to make connections this term!
Most lessons we read a little story first, which introduces the subject and grammar for the chapter. The stories are in picture form, so you can guess intelligently at what you're reading without having to look up every vocabulary word. The vocab lists are arranged according to the parts of speech, allowing similarities of form to be discerned more easily. After Jemimah narrates back in English - or occasionally using a few Latin sentences if she really wants to impress, we might have a bit of a closer look at the grammar and do one of the short activities to reinforce what we've learned. The Teacher's Guide (which is critical unless you're a much better Latin Scholar than I am) contains worksheets - some of which are time-wasting busy work, and most of which are not. Sometimes there's a game to play - Jemimah loves those - or a map for CM style map work - I love those. Sometimes there are craft activities. We generally skip them. Sometimes the book explores the Latin roots of English words and we orally run through a few. Sometimes, but not too often, there's a written activity. Each lesson also contains historical information about Roman life, and often a myth as well. This information reinforces what we are learning in our literature and history subjects just beautifully! All so easy!
The course also contains a series of little readers. Some weeks we read through one of those for a few days in a row until the vocabulary is learned. Jemimah tries to narrate these in Latin after she's heard them a few times and know the story well. These readers are a great way of reinforcing what we've studied in the lessons.
The stories in the Minimus books focus on a real life family who lived at Vindolanda in Roman Britain in 100AD. Flavius is the fort commander, and his family includes his wife Lepidina, their three children, assorted household slaves, their cat Vibrissa - and Minimus the mouse. We know of their existence from the famous Vindolanda writing tablets.
This term especially, I've been impressed with the number of times our history and Latin lessons have coincided. Last week in Latin, for example, we learned about the signifier - standard bearer - the officer that carried the unit's standard into battle. Today, we read about him in history. Last week in history we read about Saturnalia. That features in next week's Latin lesson. Children can't help but catch connections like those!
Minimus is a really gentle way to learn Latin. But learning we are. Recently we commenced translating Latin fabulae mirabiles into English. The good thing about fairy tales is that we all know pretty well how the story goes, but even so, I have been delighted at how much of these stories we have been able to read. (Don't you love the royal 'We'? I learn as much as Jemimah, y'know.)
We don't learn Latin in order to honk like a goose when declining pronouns - hic haec hoc; hunc hanc hoc. We study Latin to understand how languages work. It's logical and teaches us how to think. It will enhance our knowledge of English grammar, but it will also make the study of other languages easier as well. When you can read Latin you can not only read fairy tales in Latin. You can read the Classics in the original as well. I read the Odyssey (which was actually written in Greek, not Roman, but that's what I read), but there is also Virgil, Pliny, Cicero, Lucretius and Tacitus. Mostly, though, we study Latin because it's fun.
Brutus adsum jam forte
Caesar aderat.
Brutus sic in omnibus,
Caesar sic inat.
Oh joy! One of my favourite French children's books has been republished in English!
Ernest and Celestine, or as it was originally in French, Ernest et Célestine ont Perdu Siméon, by Gabrielle Vincent is a charmingly old fashioned story about two friends who go for a walk in the snow accompanied by Celestine's beloved stuffed penguin, Simeon. When Simeon is accidentally lost, Celestine is devastated and blames Ernest. What can he do? He can't find a new penguin anywhere in town, and Celestine won't accept anything else. Then suddenly he has a wonderful idea...
Ernest is a poor bear who adopts Celestine after discovering her as a baby amongst the garbage on the streets. Together they live simply but happily together. The story is one of age old values - hope, family, friendship, love, generosity and happiness.
The most beautiful part of this book is Vincent's delightful illustrations. In fact you can tell a great deal about this book from its cover. I am delighted to see it republished in English for another generation of children to enjoy. Hurrah!
The French version of this book is very well known to us, since it is one of a handful of French language books that we read over and over in earlier years. Sometimes we read the story through; at other times we did FIAR type exercises. How many boxes are there? How many plates? Where is the bed? Where is the dresser? What room is this? Can you tell me what you see in French? It is much loved. Nowadays as Jemimah has reached...a certain age...sigh...our copy has graduated to the Christmas Basket of Delights, where it continues to enchant us with its sweet story and delicate watercolour illustrations.
Ernest et Célestine, the movie was shown at the Melbourne International Film Festival last August, and was released for the public in December. So far it is only in French, but I am hoping an English version won't be too far behind! Here's the trailer.
Our French Christmas song for this year. We try to learn one each December.
Mon beau sapin, roi des forêts
Que j'aime ta verdure
Quand par l'hiver, bois et guérets
Sont dépouillés de leurs attraits
Mon beau sapin, roi des forêts
Tu gardes ta parure.
Toi que Noël planta chez nous
Au saint anniversaire,
Joli sapin, comme ils sont doux
Et tes bonbons et tes joujoux
Toi que Noël planta chez nous
Tout brillant de lumière.
Mon beau sapin, tes verts sommets
Et leur fidèle ombrage
De la foi qui ne ment jamais
De la constance et de la paix.
Mon beau sapin, tes verts sommets
M'offrent la douce image.
While I am not aware of a resource that teaches kids to read French anywhere near as comprehensively as Starfall, I am really quite exceedingly fond of Maxetom.com, and so it is quite possible that some of you might be as well.
It's a website written in French for French 1st Graders, and is full of educational games to teach reading, telling time, foreign languages and maths and lots of other things besides. Jemimah and I found the reading section the best, but the time bit is useful as well. We also liked learning how to write some of the lovely French cursive script.
If you go to http://www.maxetom.com/ and click on the Apprendre à lire button you'll be taken to a page of exercises arranged by letter sound. Each sound has a number of activities, and as each is successfully completed you win a star. The directions are written in French only, so I would help Jemimah with the instructions before she began each exercise. They're useful for vocabulary and pronunciation, but mostly they're great as a break from serious French study.
It mightn't be Starfall, but Maxetom is pretty fun as well. Zip on over and have a bit of a play!!
Jemimah and I have had a lot of fun at Genikids over the holidays. Despite being designed for French kids aged 3-7, there is plenty of fun here for my Aussie 9 year old to enjoy, playing educationally based games divided into three categories: Learning, Creativity and Intelligence.
The video gives you an idea of what the site is like:
Unfortunately, you must subscribe to access most of the site, but there are a number of free games available as well, and that's what we've been enjoying this week. When you first log on you can access only the "Jeux Gratuits". These give you an idea of what the site offers. To access all the free games you need a free subscription, an "Inscription Gratuite", and if you want access to the whole site you'll need to "S'Abonner" We just have an "inscription gratuite."
It is important that foreign language learning remains relevant and fun if I want my daughter to continue to enjoy learning. Fun songs, stories and games help to bring a language alive, and Genikids has been helping me with that this week.
Tell me what you think. Do you have any favourite French educational websites? Do share.
Our French folksongs for AO4 Term Two. We start again next week and I'm getting prepared. Don't you think we'll have a lot of fun singing these?
Un crocodile, s'en allant à la guerre Disait au revoir à ses petits enfants Trainant ses pieds, ses pieds dans la poussière Il s'en allait combattre les éléphants
Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus
Il fredonnait une marche militaire Dont il mâchait les mots à grosses dents Quand il ouvrait la gueule tout entière On croyait voir ses ennemis dedans
Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus
(musique)
Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus
Un éléphant parut et sur la terre Se prépare à ce combat de géant Mais près de là, courait une rivière Le crocodile s'y jeta subitement
Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus Ah ! Les crocrocro, les crocrocro, les crocodiles Sur les bords du Nil, ils sont partis n'en parlons plus
C'est la danse des canards Qui en sortant de la mare Se secouent le bas des reins Et font coin-coin Fait's comme les petits canards Et pour que tout l'monde se marre Remuez le popotin En f'sant coin-coin À présent claquez du bec En secouant vos plumes avec Avec beaucoup plus d'entrain Et des coin-coin Allez mettez-en un coup On s'amuse comme des p'tits fous Maintenant pliez les g'noux Redressez-vous...
(Refrain) Tournez, c'est la fête Bras dessus-dessous Comm' des girouettes C'est super chouette C'est extra-fou...
C'est la danse des canards Les gamins comme les loubards Vont danser ce gai refrain Dans tous les coins Ne soyez pas en retard Car la danse des canards C'est le tube de demain Coin-coin, coin-coin Il suffit d'fermer le bec En mettant ses plumes au sec Pliez les genoux c'est bien Et faites coin-coin Ça y est vous avez compris Attention c'n'est pas fini Nous allons jusqu'au matin Faire des coin-coin
(Au refrain)
C'est la danse des canards Qui en sortant de la mare Se secouent le bas des reins Et font coin-coin À présent claquez du bec En secouant vos plumes avec Avec beaucoup d'entrain Et des coin-coin C'est la danse des canards C'est dément et c'est bizarre C'est terribilos comm' tout C'est dingue, c'est tout Allez mettez-en un coup On s'amus' comm' des p'tits fous Maintenant pliez les g'noux Redressez-vous...
(Au refrain)
C'est la danse des canards Qui en sortant de la mare Se secouent le bas des reins Et font coin-coin Fait's comm' les petits canards Et pour que tout l' monde se marre Remuez le popotin En f'sant coin-coin C'est la danse des canards Les gamins comm' les loubards Vont danser ce gai refrain Dans tous les coins Ne soyez pas en retard Car c'est la danse des canards C'est le tube de demain Coin-coin coin-coin (Et c'est la fin).
J'ai mis dans ma valise Trois ou quatre chemises Mon foulard, ma casquette Une paire de baskets Mon anorak et mon béret Mon maillot et mon bonnet Et des chaussettes rouges et jaunes à petits pois {2x}
J'ai mis dans ma valise Ma belle jupe grise Ma trousse de toilette Une paire de serviettes La laisse et le collier du chien La photo de Sébastien Et des chaussettes rouges et jaunes à petits pois {2x}
J'ai mis dans ma valise Mon écharpe cerise Mes balles et ma raquette Mes patins à roulettes Mon magnétophone à cassettes Des bateaux et ma mallette Et des chaussettes rouges et jaunes à petits pois {2x}
J'ai mis dans ma valise Ma perruque qui frise Mes pastilles pour la gorge Un bout de sucre d'orge Mon dictionnaire français-anglais Et ma ceinture dorée Un kilo de poires pour la soif Un bouquin et une coiffe Ma télévision portative Et un tee-shirt vert olive Mon stylo mon aide-mémoire Mon col roulé et mon mouchoir Un parapluie si il pleuvait Et la crème pour bronzer Des cachets pour le mal de tête Des bonbons et mes lunettes Un peu de papier pour écrire Un pyjama pour dormir Une paire de chaussures à crampons Et deux ou trois pantalons Du mouron pour mon canari Et un gros pull-over gris Et des chaussettes rouges et jaunes à petits pois
The Book Chook has some great tips for beating the holiday boredom blues on her blog today. This wonderful clip was among them...
Hee Hee - je voudrais des chaussettes rouges et jaunes à petits pois comme ça aussi!
I also love Un Deux Trois by Opal Dunn. I blogged about that one here. My copy came from Borders.
Anyhow, hope you like my list. These books are classics - great in French and English! My faves are ones with lots of repetition. Monsieur Lapin, La chenile qui fait des trous, La grenouille à grande bouche and La petite poule rousse were all selected with this in mind.
