French & Modern Hebrew

The Modern Foreign Languages taught at Hasmonean are French, German & Modern Hebrew.

All students in Years 7-8 study French and Modern Hebrew. In Year 7, French is taught initially in mixed ability groups. Students are put into sets later in the year. In Modern Hebrew, students are put into sets at the beginning of Year 7.

In Year 10, students have to continue with a Modern Foreign Language, and can opt to continue with all three. Most students continue with at least two languages until GCSE, typically French and Modern Hebrew. In Years 7 and 8, students have two French periods per week. This increases to three periods in Year 9, except for the top set which has two lessons of French (and also one of German). In Year 10, students have two periods per week and three in Year 11. Sixth form students have five periods in Year 12, and six periods in Year 13.

Teachers

French Teachers

• Ms. L. Monyei, Director of Modern Foreign Languages
• Mrs. S. Rose
• Mrs. S. Booth
• Mrs. K. Liebert
• Miss C. Medina
• Mrs. B. Perin

Modern Hebrew Teachers

• Mrs. C. Moore
• Mrs. R. Wolgroh-Zolty
• Mrs. H. Waldman
• Mrs. B. Burns
• Mrs. A. Blum
• Mr. D. Vincent
• Mr L Ungar

KS3

Years 7-8

A detailed breakdown of the KS3 Modern Foreign Languages curriculum is provided in a separate document (see links below).

Understanding, speaking, reading and writing Modern Hebrew is introduced to students in Key Stage 3. Students become familiar with the sounds, written form and grammar of the language, and use this knowledge with increasing confidence and competence to express themselves in speaking and writing. They improve their understanding of the language by listening to people talking about different subjects and by reading a range of texts. General topics covered include: everyday activities, personal and social life and the world around us.

Details on German can be found on a separate page.

Linguistic Objectives

Attainment Target (AT) 1: Listening

• To provide the experience of hearing the foreign language used by the teacher, fellow students and by native speakers (actual and recorded). This will be by means of listening to questions, announcements, news bulletins, interviews, dialogues and accounts and by spontaneous use of foreign language in the classroom
• To develop the ability, within a range of defined topic areas, to understand (a) the gist of and (b) specific detail in questions, announcements, news bulletins, interviews, dialogues and accounts and, in conversation, to be able to respond to a sympathetic native speaker, and to enable the student to manage on his or her own, at a basic level, as a visitor in the foreign country.

AT 2: Speaking

• To provide the experience of seeking and giving information (taking the initiative as well as responding), of conversation with the teacher, with other students and native speakers, using both formal and familiar modes of address.
• To develop the ability, within a range of defined topic areas, to communicate orally in the foreign country to ask for information and to take part in conversations, (emphasising the importance of pronunciation, intonation and stress), so as to enable the student to cope on his or her own, if only at a basic level, as a visitor in a foreign country.

AT 3: Reading

• To provide the experience of reading short informational texts and letters and of longer narrative and descriptive texts reflecting teenage interests.
• To develop the ability to understand street signs, menus, timetables, advertisements, travel information, brochures and letters and, for the more able, to understand the essentials of authentic texts of newspapers/magazines.

AT 4: Writing

• To provide the experience of writing simple letters, accounts, messages, so that what is written can be readily comprehensible to a native speaker, though there may be some basic errors of spelling, grammar and syntax.
• To develop the ability, within a range of defined topic areas, to seek and convey information and opinions in writing, using an appropriate register, expressing, justifying and developing ideas with reasonable grammatical accuracy.

KS4

Year 10 (GCSE)

Autumn term

Unit 1: Jeunes sans Frontières

• Talking about yourself and your family (personal details, hobbies, etc.)
• Exchanging letters with a French-speaking penfriend
• Sending greetings and messages
• Finding out about posting letters and cards
• Exchanging telephone numbers
• Discussing family like in France and at home
• Talking about everyday life
• Describing someone's physical appearance and personality
• Making arrangements to meet and go out
• Asking and answering questions
• Prepositions with towns and countries (à, en, etc.)
• The present tense
• The present tense with depuis and ça fait…que
• Adjectives (physical description, character, position of)

Unit 2: En ville et à la campagne

• Talking about towns, neighbourhood and region
• Giving and seeking directions to places in town
• Describing a visit to a theme park
• Talking about past events
• Giving and exchanging opinions about living in the countryside
• Describing accommodation (type of housing, location, rooms, etc.)
• Talking about environmental issues
• Using the perfect tense with avoir and être including question forms
• Negative expressions (ne…pas, plus, jamais, rien, personne, etc.)
• Direct object pronouns (le, la, l', les)
• Using ne…que.

Spring Term

Unit 3: Bon voyage!

• Talking about different forms of transport
• Describing an event in the past (journey, situation, etc.)
• Understanding traffic and road information (breakdowns, delays, etc.)
• Talking about travel issues in cities and public transport
• Giving and seeking information about rail travel
• Describing an accident
• Talking about air travel
• The imperfect tense (formation and usage)
• The pronoun "y"
• Using the perfect and imperfect tenses.

Unit 4: Un séjour en France

• Talking about future plans (holidays, weekend, etc.)
• Preparing for an exchange with a French family
• Giving and exchanging opinions about TV programmes and personalities
• Making comparison between home country and France
• Talking about household tasks
• Reporting and describing lost property items
• Expressing possession
• Thanking someone for their hospitality
• The future tense (le future simple)
• Si + present + future
• Formal and informal language
• Emphatic pronouns (moi, toi, lui, etc.)
• Possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes, etc.)
• C'est (+noun) de (+name), c'est à moi, etc.

Summer Term

(Depending on timetable constraints - unit 5 may be held over until Year 11 Autumn term)

Unit 5: Une semaine typique

• Talking about daily routine
• Giving and exchanging opinions about school life
• Saying what must and must not be done (including school rules, etc.)
• Describing what you did at the weekend
• Planning a shopping trip and changing money
• Shopping for clothes, souvenirs, etc.
• Exchanging opinions about fashion trends
• Reflexive verbs (present and perfect tenses)
• Saying what has to be done (devoir, il faut , etc. + infinitive)
• "This" and "that" (ce/cet/cette/ces)
• "This one" and "that one" (celui-ci, celui-là, etc)
• "What " and " which " (quel, lequel, etc).

Year 11 (GCSE)

Autumn term

Unit 6: Bon appétit!

• Talking about meals and eating habits
• Discussing healthy eating
• Shopping for food
• Exchanging opinions about jobs in the food industry
• Ordering and paying for drinks and snacks in a café
• Exchanging opinions on fast food
• Choosing a restaurant and ordering a meal
• Dealing with problems when buying drinks or meals
• Expressing opinions about picnics
• The pronoun en
• Venir de, aller + infinitive (present tense)
• Indirect and direct object pronouns.

Unit 7: ça m'intéresse

• Talking about leisure activities (hobbies, using the internet etc.)
• Exchanging opinions about music and listening to the radio
• Talking about sport and sporting events
• Discussing reading and describing a book
• Talking about newspapers and magazines
• Finding out what is on
• Making arrangements to go out (accepting, refusing, etc.)
• Apologising and making excuses
• Exchanging opinions about films
• Describing an event or performance in the past
• Jouer à and jouer de
• Faire + du/de la …etc.
• Adverbs
• The pluperfect tense
• The comparative (plus, moins, aussi…que)
• The superlative (le plus….etc.).

Spring term

Unit 8: Nouveaux horizons

• Exchanging opinions about different types of holiday
• Describing an ideal holiday or weekend
• Finding out information about the tourist office
• Booking in at a hotel and describing and understanding problems
• Understanding and describing weather conditions
• Exchanging opinions about camping and booking into a campsite
• Finding out information about youth hostels and hiring things (bikes, etc.)
• Describing a holiday in the past
• The future tense
• The conditional tense
• Talking about the present, past and future
• Après avoir/être + past participle.

Unit 9: A votre santé

• Talking about common holiday ailments
• Asking a chemist about treatment
• Describing parts of the body and a pain or injury
• Describing an accident and understanding warning signs
• Going to the dentist's and doctor's
• Talking about personal feelings and problems
• Talking about smoking and addiction issues
• Comparing healthy and unhealthy lifestyles
• Learning about worls organisations and charities
• Expressions with avoir (avoir mal à, avoir besoin de, etc.)
• Qui and que
• Reflexive verbs with larts of the body (se faire mal à…etc)
• En + present participle.

Unit 10: Projets d'avenir

• Talking about exams, revision and future plans
• Describing work experience
• Exchanging opinions about further education and careers
• Talking about different aspects of a job
• Working in an office (taking messages, etc.)
• Talking about pocket money and weekend jobs
• Describing what you would ideally like to do.

• Preparation for GCSE examination.

Post 16

Building on Years 7-11 achievements, the following aims apply to sixth form study, which is largely concerned with fostering the intellectual and emotional development of students.

• To give students a growing awareness and understanding of both the world in general, and of society and other people through the study of actual and fictional source materials which reveal the ideas and experiences of others. Also, encouragement is given to the growth of moral awareness and the exercise of personal judgement.
• To prepare students for real and purposeful communication, not merely to convey information, but also to convey moods, attributes, emotions, relationships and opinions.
• To develop the linguistic ability of the students, so that they are able to perform easily and confidently in a foreign language environment (e.g. understanding TV and radio programmes and newspaper articles).
• To develop the student's imagination by fostering creative writing which engages both the senses and the emotions.
• To experience more deeply the particular ways of seeing, thinking and feeling, represented by foreign cultures.
• To develop study skills which are applicable to other subject areas and to life outside the classroom, such as appreciating relevance, analysis, pursuing a line of thought, considering counter-arguments, summary, interpretation, grasping of implications, note-taking, adaptation and evaluation of texts.
• To ensure that specific language learning activities are practised - acquisition of vocabulary; mastery and practice of rules; development of style; analysis of grammar; pronunciation/intonation/accent; recognition of appropriate register.
• To develop an enthusiasm for reading for pleasure.

Year 12 (A/S)

The following topics are covered in Year 12:

Autumn term

• Food, diet, health
• Transport, travel and tourism
• Relationships, family, the generations, youth concerns
• Education, training and employment

Spring term

• Current Affairs and media
• Social Issues, law, justice
• Leisure and the arts
• Business and Industry

Summer term

• Information Technology
• Exam paper practice
• Start the short novel, "Un Sac de Billes" after AS exams.

Year 13 (A2)

The following topics are covered in Year 13:

Autumn term

• Energy, pollution and the environment
• Politics and Citizenship
• The European Union
• World-wide problems

Spring term

• Campaigning organisations and charities
• Customs, traditions, beliefs, religions
• Preparation for exams

Summer term

• Revision and exam paper practice.

Links