Features of Français interactif

Français interactif is organized into 13 chapters that deal with themes relevant to beginning French learners.  Each chapter has the following online components.

Textbook

The textbook is available as print-on-demand from lulu.com (Chapters 0-13) or downloadable by individual chapters free of charge. 

Vidéo - Introduction

Each chapter begins with a short video of a UT student who presents the chapter's thematic and grammatical material in a way that piques the learner's interest.  The student speaks in a combination of English and French, using French mainly to introduce vocabulary the learners will be encoutering throughout the chapter. 

Vocabulaire

The online vocabulary is a comprehensive list of the chapter's key vocabulary items arranged according to semantic fields, e.g., salutations, colors, days of the week, etc. Students listen to the native speaker pronunciation and may download the files in mp3 format. 

Students download the pdf template to complete the Préparation du vocabulaire exercises at the beginning of each chapter.  This sequence of exercises includes different strategies to help students learn the chapter vocabulary. They practice pronunciation, identify cognates and word families, and relate words to create associations.  For more information on these vocabulary preparation exercises, see 'Classroom demonstration videos' under the 'Teacher' menu.

 

Vidéos - Vocabulaire en contexte

 Once the students have practiced the pronunciation of each word in isolation, they are ready to hear the words in context. The vocabulary videos capture native speakers who use the new vocabulary in a context that provides important visual support.   For example, in Chapter 5, a fruit vendor names each type of fruit on sale at the market that day. Learners watch these short videos several times. First they try to recognize the vocabulary words in context. During subsequent listenings, learners try to piece together what the speaker is saying.  A pdf of activities is included with each of these videos.

Phonétique

The phonetics section introduces systematically and accessibly essential aspects of French pronunciation. Each phonetics lesson recycles previously learned vocabulary and emphasizes the chapter's vocabulary.  Listening discrimination exercises provide instant feedback.

Grammaire 

Grammar links lead students into Tex's French Grammar.   Individual grammar items are carefully explained in English, then exemplified in a dialogue, and finally tested in self-correcting, fill-in-the-blank exercises which are drawn from a database. To facilitate reference and learning, all grammar items are thoroughly cross-linked. Important grammatical terminology is defined in an introductory page for every part of speech. For example, the definition of infinitive, conjugation, and paradigm can all be found in the ' Introduction to Verbs' page. Also included are several other pedagogical tools: a verb conjugator, a verb tutor, and an on-line French dictionary, as well as additional grammar exercises (Testez-vous).

Vidéos - Interviews

Various speakers are interviewed discussing the themes of each chapter. In these unscripted interviews, native and non-native speakers (students from the UT Lyon Program) respond to questions that require them to employ the grammar and vocabulary items featured in the chapter. Learners watch the videos with or without the transcript in preparation for their own similar interviews.  A pdf of homework exercises is included with these interview videos (one for the French interviewees and one for the UT students).  These often include follow-up exercises for use in the classroom.

Vidéos - Culture

The culture videos are professional high-quality videos from the RhôneAlpes.tv site. Each of these unscripted and authentic videos is accompanied by a sequence of listening comprehension exercises that may be downloaded in pdf format. These include exercises to be done in the classroom as well as follow-up homework.

Web activities (Activité internet)

We end each chapter with an activity based on a guided exploration of a French website.  This is often the culminating activity of a chapter whose purpose is to unify the various lexical and grammatical points of the chapter.  A pdf 'fiche de travail' is included for students to complete these activities as homework.