Reading…En Français!

In my previous post, I discussed the importance of French spelling and grammar. I decided to continue with the subject of French and dive into reading. For the good majority of us, we almost have fourteen years of French education behind us. This is why I find it shocking that some of us still cannot properly read in French.

Since we began reading at the young age of five or six, there are some rules that have been, or should have been drilled into our heads. I am sure that many of you have either heard or made the mistake that I am about to discuss. We all know that in French, the plural form of a verb ends in ent and not with an s. What some of us still do not remember while reading is that you do not pronounce that ent…it is silent! In my opinion, this reading mistake is acceptable for young readers who are just learning to link their sounds and letters. As for the older and more experienced readers, I do not believe that there is an excuse. We have been reading in French now for several years, which intern means that we have had a lot of practice.

Chat and Shoe share the same
sound. 

Similar to what I mentioned in my English reading blog, syllables are important to all young readers and a child’s ability to read will depend on a child’s ability to spell. Although there are some differences between the French and the English languages while reading, I believe that they are quick and easy to learn. For example, in English, the syllable ch makes a sound like at the end of the word sandwich. In French, this same syllable (ch) will create the same sound as our English syllable sh. For example: shoe and chat. This is where there could be some confusion for young readers, but as I already mentioned, students can know these simple rules and differences with a lot of practice.

A "petit livre".

I am sure that many of you remember learning to read by reading a different “petit livre” every week for homework. These small books served as a base to help us be able to move on to more complex chapter books in the future. Having said that, these small books are still used in elementary schools today for the same reasons.

From previous experiences at Club de Devoirs, there have been certain comments that came from teachers that have frustrated me. On numerous occasions, I had to listen to a teacher tell me that the students’ reading is not as important as their math or writing homework. For some students, reading at Club de Devoirs is the only chance that they get to practice their reading outside of school seeing as neither parent speaks French. Where I’m going with this is that I believe that teachers (being in a French school) should prioritize reading just as much as math or science. If reading is left to be done at home and a student’s parents do not speak French, no one is there to correct them.

A plural French verb ending in ent.

In my opinion, I find that learning the simple rules when it comes to reading in French has been put on the back burner for most French elementary schools. I find that students are being taught how to read by simply memorizing words instead of mastering each sound. I know that I cringe whenever I hear someone misread a word, so I’ll leave you guys with this. Please, when you are reading a plural verb out loud, remember this simple rule…DO NOT pronounce the ent.