Core French 5

Unit 1: Listening and Understanding French

Big Idea: Listening and viewing with intent helps us begin to understand French. What French is made of, first: the letters of the French alphabet and their accents, and the individual sounds — including sounds English does not use — that let you start hearing French for what it really is.

• The French alphabet and its accents

• French sounds: consonants, vowels, diphthongs, and nasal vowels

Unit 2: Reading the Clues: Sounds, Gestures, and Meaning

Big Idea: Both verbal and non-verbal cues contribute meaning in language. Some French sounds are close cousins of each other — telling them apart is a listening skill of its own, and it is one of the clues that helps meaning come through.

• Hearing the difference between similar French sounds (u vs ou, e vs eu, s vs z)

Unit 3: Describing Myself and My Interests

Big Idea: With simple French, we can describe ourselves and our interests. The one big habit that makes French nouns different from English (every noun is a "boy-word" or a "girl-word", and words change for one versus many), plus the everyday vocabulary for saying who you are, what you like, and what things look like.

• Masculine and feminine words: le/la and un/une

• One or many: singular and plural words with des and les

• Introducing yourself: name, age, and simple facts about you and others

• Saying what you like, dislike, and prefer

• Describing things: numbers, colours, and sizes

Unit 4: Talking Back and Forth in French

Big Idea: Reciprocal communication in French is possible using high-frequency vocabulary and sentence structures. The everyday toolkit for a two-way conversation: asking simple questions, and greeting people and getting to know them.

• Asking simple questions with the six French question words

• Greetings and goodbyes: saying hello and hello back

Unit 5: Learning Through Stories

Big Idea: Stories help us to acquire language. When stories, songs, and traditions belong to a culture, there is a fair, respectful way to enjoy and share them — and a way that is not.

• Respecting whose culture a story or song belongs to (and not copying others' work)

Unit 6: Celebrations and Francophone Communities

Big Idea: Each culture has traditions and ways of celebrating. French is spoken across Canada in many communities, each with its own festivals, celebrations, and connections — including First Peoples communities.

• Festival words: activities, food, music, and clothing at celebrations

• Where French is spoken across Canada

• Exploring one Francophone Canadian festival

• First Peoples communities and French: named nations and Métis communities