French as a Second Language 8 (Nine-Year Program)

Unit 1: La boîte à outils — Grade 8 Expansion

The Grade 8 grammar expansion: all three verb families, the imperative, the pointing and exclaiming adjectives, the partitive for food and quantities, the adverb families, and stronger ways to say no.

• Present tense of –er, –ir and –re verbs
• The imperative

• Demonstrative and exclamatory adjectives
• Plural possessives: notre, votre, leur

• The partitive: du, de la, des
• Quantities and avoir expressions

• The four adverb families
• Stronger ways to say no

Unit 2: Les animaux

The first field of experience: pets and their care, animal families, wild animals and zoos — understanding animal French and finding your way around a zoo.

• Understanding French about animals
• Directions at the zoo

Unit 3: Les vêtements

The second field of experience: clothing choices, design and care — reading clothing French and describing what's in your closet.

• Reading French about clothing
• Describing your wardrobe

Unit 4: La nourriture

The richest field of experience: nutrition, food preparation, ethnic cuisine and the cuisine of the Francophone world — from understanding a healthy plate to writing a family recipe.

• Understanding French about food and nutrition
• Reading recipes and food texts

• Writing a recipe
• Expressing food preferences in writing

Unit 5: Fêtes et célébrations

The fourth field of experience: holidays through the calendar year — and the foods and traditions that come with them.

• Reading about celebrations and their foods
• Describing a celebration

Unit 6: Une langue vivante

French is alive and evolving — anglicismes and new words, regional variations (déjeuner in Paris is lunch in Montréal), and the animal idioms where cultures wink at each other.

• How French evolves
• Regional variations and idioms