Most of us (if not all of us) have had a complete French
education for almost fourteen years. This leads me to my next blog topic.
French spelling and grammar is often a class that most of us will curl our
noses at. What we do not realize is how easy and effortless it can become if we
put forth the slightest effort.
In my opinion, the reason that students dread learning
French grammar is because the teachers (for the most part) do not make the
effort to make it enjoyable. In both French and English schools, I have heard
many students complain about having to learn French. I believe that one of the
reasons for this is based on the teachers’ educations. For example, a person
that attended an English elementary and secondary school can very well become a
French-speaking teacher. Most of these teachers will become French teachers in
English schools. All judgments held aside, I believe that the reason that
children who attend English elementary schools dislike learning the French
language is because the teachers do not know the subject well enough to teach
it to others. I find this very unfortunate seeing as this beautiful language
can open up so many doors for numerous people if they just put forth a small
effort. 
From my experiences of tutoring at “Club de Devoirs” at
Monseigneur Augustin Caron, I can say that there are few students who can
properly read and write in French. Certain rules that most of us do not even
think about as we write in French are now becoming unknown to most students.
Rules such as making the proper grammar agreements (accords) and knowing whether a verb ends in é or er are now
guessing games for students. I find this very upsetting. 
As I already
mentioned a bit in my previous blog entries, not mastering these basics at a
young age can lead to bigger problems in the future. In many instances at “Club
de Devoirs”, I have noticed that not only do the students have bad French
Grammar, but some of the teachers do as well. I have noticed numerous times
that certain teachers are making grammar mistakes on the students’ worksheets.
The mistakes that I have noticed the teachers making are not typos and are
certainly avoidable. If teachers are making mistakes such as forgetting to add
an s when you use tu and knowing whether a verb will end in é or er, how are
the students supposed to learn from them? In my opinion, these teachers really
do not have much of an excuse to be making these mistakes. Nobody is perfect,
but the students are never going to learn proper French grammar rules if the
teachers do not know them themselves.
In my opinion, for
students in both the French and English school systems, French spelling and
grammar is very important. Although grammar rules are known to be lame and
boring, they will become easy and effortless once a student has properly been
taught them. After all, as an aspiring teacher, I know that I do not want a
spelling mistake of mine to be pointed out to me by one of my students. Imagine
the embarrassment…
Nina, your subject is very relevant and relatable to many people, I'm glad you chose to write about this issue. Your opinion is very straightforward and I appreciate that. However, when contemplating the basic knowledge of the French language in English and French schools alike, I find the incapacity to speak french more worrying than being able to write. I for one am awful at french grammar, yet I absolutely love conversing and writing in french. It often saddens me when a classmate can't answer me or the teacher in french because they either don't feel confident or are at a loss for words. In my opinion, the focus should be more on the oral communication part of the french language rather than the pen and paper part. To be able to conjugate verbs can only take you so far if you can't even speak the language properly.
ReplyDeleteGen, I agree with you 100%! It also upsets me and frustrates me when students cannot respond in French when the person to whom they are speaking is addressing them in French. In elementary school, most of us hated being harassed by our teachers to speak French or else we will lose it, and it is unfortunate that some of us already have.
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