Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use all singular forms of the imperfect tense to talk about cultural diversity in Montreal.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- The pronunciation difference between [é] in the perfect tense + [ai] in the imperfect tense greatly alters meaning.
- [ai] is pronounced as in vrai'; [é] is pronounced as in 'écrire'.
- Languages are not fixed; new words enter the language constantly whilst other words fall out of use.
- The 'tu' form of the imperfect tense is formed like the 'je' form (present tense nous form, remove -ons, add -ais).
Keywords
[ai] - pronounced as in 'vrai'
Imperfect tense - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past
Common misconception
[ai] and [é] sound the same in French.
In some regional accents [ai] and [é] can sound similar. Officially there is a difference in pronunciation and meaning as the ending of the imperfect tense is supposed to be pronounced [ai], whereas a common ending of the past participle is [é].
Teacher tip
There are many photos/videos online of Montreal, Pride and Rita Baga which could enhance the cultural aspect of the lesson and students may benefit from an additional discussion activity immediately following C1 to compare the differences between gender-neutral language in French and English.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the French expression for 'to need'?
Q2.Can you match these words?
close, near
after
before
according to
Q3.Put the words in the correct order to make a sentence about school.
Q4.Translate 'Il y a deux ans'.
Q5.Which of these sentences means 'I used to play the piano'?
Q6.Elle regardait la télé. There are 2 translations for this sentence. Tick them both.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Montreal is found in which French speaking country?
Q2.Which of these verbs are in the imperfect tense?
Q3.Match the vocabulary
non-binary
gender
challenge
a competition
an artist
transgender
Q4.The __________ is an organisation responsible for regulating the French language. Add the missing words.
Q5.What is the Pride March known as in French?
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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Explore more key stage 3 French lessons from the How things used to be: imperfect tense, ordinal numbers unit, dive into the full secondary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.