Learning a new language can be boring and tedious but it doesn’t have to be that way. Using French language games can make this work easier and more enjoyable for teachers and students alike. The latest learning method uses French language games combined with audio and written lessons and is a fun way for adults as well as kids to learn how to speak French.
One of the easiest ways to get started with French language games is to play Eye Spy in French. This is a game to be played with two or more players, ideally a small class size: the teacher will select an item in the room and ask the students to guess what it is. For example: “Je vois quelque selected de rouge / I see something red”; Students will answer by naming the red items in French until the correct item is found. Beginners can start with colors but more advanced learners should use the first letter of the word to guess.
Word searches and crosswords are games in the French language that students can play on their own or complete by whole classes as part of homework or a class competition. These can be found in French magazines and newspapers downloaded from the Internet, but if you are a French teacher, it is best to build up a vocabulary of your own, using vocabulary that your students know at the beginning because some word games can be challenging.
Hangman (“le pendu” in French) is one of the simplest games of the French language and the first word game many children learn. The teacher chooses a French word and lets the player know how many letters are in the chosen word by drawing dotted lines where the letters should be; The player has to name the letters of the alphabet that he thinks are contained in the word. When a correct letter is guessed, the teacher writes it on the corresponding dotted line and if a letter is suggested that is not part of the word, the teacher draws a part of the hangman. If the word is guessed before the hangman’s drawing is completed, the student wins and vice versa.
Older students can play Scrabble in French, where between 2 and 4 players create words from a set of letters; With the help of a French dictionary to look up words and their meaning, this popular word game has the potential to teach new vocabulary and learners can get more out of it by making sentences using existing words and saying them out loud.
If you teach grammar, one French language game you can play with your students is to shuffle the words from a French sentence and let them put the words back in the correct order. A similar exercise that helps with understanding French is to make up a simple story of four or five sentences, mixing the sentences up and letting the students repeat the story in the correct order.
The use of French language games in new learning styles makes learning French more interesting. Whether you are learning or studying French, many resources are available to you and one place you can always count on to find French games is your own imagination.
