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Jill<br><br>Jill (99)

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Everything posted by Jill<br><br>Jill (99)

  1. >I think this may be connected >with the 'yellow labels' I've also come back to the forum after having marked topics as read and found some of them had become unmarked. In fact I think I made a posting about it a couple of months ago. >And having tried to plough through >the 'best contributor' thread to >see what all the fuss >was about - it was >the first time I'd looked >at that topic for several >days - isn't it difficult >to follow? Yes, sometimes you want to reply to several people and it could be done by separate replies, or you need to type in each persons name and add your comments that way. I still find it better than the way it is on Total France though, because on there, you read a comment and you have to go back through the lot to see what they were referring to. In fact, on the best contributor thread, I have just put in a reply because someone had gone in between two postings and it made it look as someone was agreeing with someone with the opposite opinion. So, perhaps we need to appeal to members to state exactly who they are directing comments at, because certainly, sometimes sub-threads do cause this sort of confusion. Perhaps if we amended the topic heading when we creat a sub-thread? Jill (99)
  2. There have been a few times when I know for a fact that I have marked a forum as having been read, and when I've gone back to it, the threads have become unmarked. Has anyone else had this problem? It's certainly happened two or three times with Post Bag, this week. Jill (99)
  3. LAST EDITED ON 29-Sep-03 AT 11:40 AM (GMT) Question raised by topic within French Culture - Is there a lesson within the French Curriculum which teaches about different religions, cultures etc? I mean this as an informative subject rather than to teach religion. I feel it should really be covered within Geography or Social Studies, which could be done in any country without bias to particular religions. I'm personally against religious education as such, because in C of E Schools they use it to plug that religion and the same applies in Catholic schools in Britain. Whilst in Britain you can choose to send children to a Catholic School, even if you are C of E rather than catholic, but in many areas there are only C of E schools available, which isn't very appropriate for those who are not C of E. In secondary school Religious Education is at least taught more generally, although teachers do seem to assume that if a child is white or black as opposed to Asian/Arab they are Christians. I understand that in inner cities where the population is more mixed, then hymns and prayers are not allowed because of respect for other religions. Therefore, that respect should be carried out in all schools. I know I said some of this on another topic, but as many people may not have read that topic, I thought it more appropriate to ask the question in Education. Religion is an interesting subject, but in Britain students don't tend to like it because of it's title. Therefore, I wonder if French students do learn the same things under a different name? Jill (99)
  4. Did any of you see the Channel 4 programme about a number of English students who had just done there GCSE's being put into a 1950's Boarding School situation? All these 16 year olds were predicted to get A's and B's in 2003 GCSE's and in fact most of them did get A's and A*. However, when put in for English Language, English Literature, Maths and History 1950's O'levels, most of them failed miserably - although just to prove the exams were not way out, some of them did get as high as Grade 1 in some subjects. The point I wanted to raise was that during a French class, they proved that they couldn't even conjugate Avoir in the present tense and in the 1950's you had to be able to completely conjugate in the present, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect, conditional and I can't remember if they said subjunctive too, but maybe not. I'm sure that in the secondary modern I attended in the first half of the 70's, we had covered the complete conjugation of Avoir, Etre, Aller, Faire, ER, IR and RE verbs within the first year, or maybe two years in the present tense. My daughter has just done GCSE French through private lessons with a French French teacher in England, a year early and got A*. She is doing German next year. It is a matter of frustration to her that she hasn't been taught Grammar to the same extent as she was for French. This isn't the teachers fault, but the National Curriculem's. It is a pity that languages seem to be taught on the basis that no one is going to use them! We spent a few days in Germany this year, but my daughter feels she is no nearer to speaking German because she doesn't have the grammar base. However, she does seem to have taken on board the basics of conjugation simply because the French teaching she has has woken her up to it. It is said that the emphasis on languages in schools these days is for people to be able to SPEAK rather than write the language. But surely this means that it is important to be able to structure sentences yourself, and therefore know how to conjugate verbs. Both my children have been through French club systems before my daughter moved to private lessons. At 12, my son has lost interest in French because he needs the stimulation of something more structured than play French. Perhaps I'm just old fashioned. What does anyone else think about modern methods of teaching - do you feel that students with more of an aptitude for languages should be taught more the old fashioned way, or do you think current levels of French teaching are good enough. Another comment - an AS/A level French teacher I know told me that the first term of AS is spent teaching students the grammer that they really ought to have known for GCSE. Perhaps there are some language teachers out there who know better than me. I do realise of course that it is very difficult get much enthusiasm for languages from the majority of modern children because they have been brought up to assume everyone will speak English. Jill (99)
  5. LAST EDITED ON 02-Sep-03 AT 10:56 PM (GMT) In view of the discussions about Universities in England charging different tuition fees according to subject and charging generally, I wondered how it works in France. Do parents have to pay for higher education? Do students get living expenses as they used to in Britain? Is it a loan system? If so, is that for the education and/or living expenses. Do French students tend to stick closer to home, or do they travel as far away as possible from home as they can?! Jill (99)
  6. Thanks - I have done. How did you post on 18 July - when the site is read only? Let's see if this one works. Jill (99)
  7. We're going to Ste Marie aux Mines this summer. Anyone out there who can suggest restaurants serving local food at reasonable prices? Also, any suggestions for interesting things to do which might not be that obvious in the tourist information leaflets? Jill (99)
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