Learning the French Language through activities at our French Summer Camp

Parents send their children to French Summer Camp so that they can learn or improve their French language. There are many ways that we do our best to achieve this during our French Summer Camp while ensuring that our campers also enjoy their time with us to the full!

In the morning, students get up and have breakfast with our French activity leaders. They encourage French conversation at the table to gently allow the students to wake up and get their brains into French mode!

Morning French Language Lessons

At 9am, students start their French language lessons which are the most focussed part of their French learning at the French Summer Camp. We have different groups each week according to the age and level of the students. The activities depend on these criteria also, but our main aim is to get students using the French language and understanding why it is a good skill to have. Our teachers always comment that children appear to have just learned everything off by heart at school without really understanding what they are learning or why. This is the main thing we try and make progress with as this is the most important thing for their progression in the future! Activities will vary from card games, making games, playing games, learning songs, raps, going to the market, giving instructions for games and activities in French, making cartoon books…. Our teachers have lots of great ideas and activities to get children involved and active in their French language lessons. The choice of activities is determined by the teacher who will take into account the level, age, interests, personalities and objectives of the group.

Mealtimes

Some students just stay for the morning at our French Summer Camp and then head off to spend the rest of the day with their family. However for those staying with us for the whole day or the whole week, the next part of the day is lunch! Over lunch, our activity leaders eat with the juniors to encourage them to speak French as much as possible during the mealtimes. They teach them the names of the cutlery, crockery, food and other useful vocabulary.

After lunch, campers head off for their afternoon activities! We have several activity programmes that run alongside one another each afternoon as we give students and parents a choice of additional activities to add depending on children’s interests.

Afternoon Activities

Some of our activities take place at our junior centre. For example:

• Olympic Games (learning the sports, vocab and instructions in French)
• Face and body painting (in partners with instructions in French giving some funny results!)
• Obstacle races (blindfolded with a partner giving instructions in French)

Others take place out and about:

• Rallye Patate: students get to test their French negotiation skills by trying to see which team can come back with the best object. All they have to start with is a potato and they have to try and bargain to better this several times over!
• Rallye Photo: each team has several things they have to find and photograph, for example the muddiest mountain biker, the smartest waiter, the best flower display, who can pull the funniest face. Of course students have to speak to the locals to ask them to pose and to explain what they are doing!
• Chasse au Trésor: Treasure Hunt with clues in French and questions to ask locals along the way to help them find the treasure.
• Spongeball: a softer version of paintball with small sponges that the teams dip in paint and try and hit the opposite team. A great fun activity and a good way to practice movement vocabulary and basic instructions in French plus vocab to help other team members dodge the spongeballs that the other team are throwing!
• Interviewing French locals in questionnaire style activities
• Cultural visits in and around the area.

Option Plus Activities are supplementary activities that some campers take part in on top of the above activities.

• All of these activities are run by French guides and instructors and include activities such as Adventure Park, Canyoning, Climbing, Rafting, Horse-riding, Tennis. The instructor will give the safety briefing in several languages and then will teach the basic vocabulary and expressions needed for the activity in French. A great chance to hear the French language in action!

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