C–D. Reading and Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Voices, Stories and CommunitiesBienvenue au secondaire ! Reading Strategies, Cognates and the Present Tense
C1.1 C1.2 C1.4 C2.3 D1.1 D1.2 D1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals- I can use reading strategies before, during and after reading a French text (preview, predict, skim, scan, cognates, context, rereading).
- I can tell a true cognate (un mot apparenté) from a false friend (un faux ami).
- I can conjugate regular verbs, spelling-change verbs and twelve key irregular verbs in the present tense.
- I can explain which reading strategies helped me and what I will try next time.
- I can write a short profile for a school newsletter, choosing my words for my purpose and audience.
Words to know
une stratégie de lecture
A reading strategy: a trick good readers use to understand a text.
survoler
To skim: look quickly over a text to get the general idea (literally, to fly over).
repérer
To scan for or spot a specific detail: a name, a number, a date.
un mot apparenté
A cognate: a word that looks and means about the same in French and English (la musique, important).
un faux ami
A false friend: a French word that looks like an English word but means something else (la librairie = bookstore).
le contexte
The words and ideas around an unknown word that help you guess its meaning.
le présent
The present tense: what happens now, what usually happens, or what is true.
la métacognition
Thinking about your own thinking: noticing how you learn and what helps you.
Bienvenue en 9e année !
Welcome to FSF1D, Core French, Grade 9 (Academic). This is a full high school credit, about 110 hours of class. This unit is the reading and writing half of the course; the companion unit Listening and Speaking covers the oral half.
Remember from Grade 8: you read news articles, blogs, interviews and argumentative texts, and you learned y and en, lui and leur, the plus-que-parfait, the conditionnel and reported speech. In Grade 7 you learned the main reading strategies: preview, skim, scan, cognates and context clues.
In high school, texts get longer and you will meet more words you don't know. That is normal! Good readers don't understand every word. They use strategies to fill the gaps. Today you will sharpen those strategies, review the present tense properly (including the tricky verbs), and write a profile of yourself.
Cognates and false friends
French and English share thousands of words, because English borrowed many words from French starting about a thousand years ago. These mots apparentés (cognates) are a gift: la cafétéria, la guitare, timide, vétérinaire, important.
But watch out for faux amis (false friends). They look English but mean something else. If a word makes the sentence strange, check the context or a dictionary.
| Faux ami | It looks like... | It really means... |
|---|
| la librairie | library | bookstore (a library is la bibliothèque) |
| lire / il lit | lit (lighted) | to read / he reads (le lit is a bed) |
| rester | to rest | to stay |
| attendre | to attend | to wait (for) |
| sensible | sensible | sensitive |
| large | large | wide |
| blesser | to bless | to injure, to hurt |
| joli | jolly | pretty |
Worked exampleLet's read a newsletter article with strategies
Nouveaux visages en 9e année Le Bulletin de l'école secondaire Les Érables, Ottawa (written for this lesson; the school and students are made up)
Cette année, notre école accueille 180 élèves de 9e année. Le Bulletin a rencontré trois d'entre eux.
Maya, 14 ans. Maya vient de Timmins. Elle fait partie de l'équipe de hockey et elle s'entraîne trois matins par semaine. « Je me lève à cinq heures et demie, mais j'adore ça ! » Elle préfère les sciences et elle veut devenir vétérinaire.
Jonas, 14 ans. Jonas habite à Orléans avec sa mère et ses deux sœurs. Il joue de la guitare et il écrit des chansons. Le midi, il mange à la cafétéria avec ses amis, puis ils vont à la bibliothèque. « On choisit un livre et on lit ensemble. C'est notre club secret... enfin, plus maintenant ! »
Inès, 14 ans. Inès arrive de Montréal. Elle prend l'autobus scolaire chaque matin et elle appelle souvent ses grands-parents. « Je suis un peu timide, mais je commence à me faire des amis. » Elle sait déjà ce qu'elle veut faire : elle va s'inscrire au club de robotique.
Glossaire : accueillir = to welcome · d'entre eux = of them · faire partie de = to be part of · une chanson = a song · enfin = well, actually · se faire des amis = to make friends · s'inscrire = to sign up
- Before (preview and predict): the title Nouveaux visages en 9e année has 9e année (Grade 9) and nouveaux (new). Prediction: the article introduces new Grade 9 students.
- During (skim): three bold names with ages. Main idea: three new Grade 9 students introduce themselves.
- During (cognates): vétérinaire, guitare, cafétéria, secret, timide, robotique, sciences. These give you the key facts fast.
- During (context): s'entraîne is next to équipe de hockey and trois matins par semaine, so it must mean trains, practises.
- During (false friend trap): on lit ensemble is in a sentence about choosing a book, so lit is the verb lire (we read together), not a bed!
- During (scan): Where is Maya from? Scan for a capital letter: Timmins. How does Inès get to school? Scan for transport: l'autobus scolaire.
- After (summarize and reflect): Maya, Jonas et Inès sont nouveaux en 9e année. Maya joue au hockey, Jonas fait de la musique et Inès aime la robotique. The strategy that helped most: cognates.
Three new students: Maya (hockey, sciences, wants to be a vet), Jonas (guitar, songs, a reading club at lunch) and Inès (from Montréal, a bit shy, robotics club). Cognates and context unlocked almost every sentence.
The present tense: three regular patterns
The present tense (le présent) says what is happening now (Je lis), what happens regularly (Elle s'entraîne trois matins par semaine) or what is true (Jonas habite à Orléans). One French present form covers I read, I am reading and I do read.
Take off the infinitive ending (-er, -ir, -re) to get the stem, then add the endings.
| parler (to speak) | finir (to finish) | vendre (to sell) |
|---|
| je | parle | finis | vends |
| tu | parles | finis | vends |
| il / elle / on | parle | finit | vend (no ending) |
| nous | parlons | finissons | vendons |
| vous | parlez | finissez | vendez |
| ils / elles | parlent | finissent | vendent |
Spelling-change verbs
Some -er verbs are regular in their endings but change their spelling to keep the sound right.
- -ger verbs keep a soft g with nous: nous mangeons, nous nageons.
- -cer verbs keep a soft c with nous: nous commençons, nous lançons.
- préférer, espérer, répéter: é becomes è in the boot (see below): je préfère.
- acheter, lever, se lever: add a grave accent in the boot: j'achète, je me lève.
- appeler, épeler: double the l in the boot: j'appelle, ils appellent, but nous appelons.
- -yer verbs (essayer, envoyer, nettoyer): y becomes i in the boot: j'essaie, nous essayons. (For -ayer verbs, j'essaye is also correct.)
Twelve irregular verbs you need every day
These verbs don't follow a pattern, so learn them by heart. Many are in today's article: vient, fait, veut, prend, sait, écrit, lit, vont.
| verbe | je / j' | tu | il / elle / on | nous | vous | ils / elles |
|---|
| être | suis | es | est | sommes | êtes | sont |
| avoir | ai | as | a | avons | avez | ont |
| aller | vais | vas | va | allons | allez | vont |
| faire | fais | fais | fait | faisons | faites | font |
| prendre | prends | prends | prend | prenons | prenez | prennent |
| venir | viens | viens | vient | venons | venez | viennent |
| pouvoir | peux | peux | peut | pouvons | pouvez | peuvent |
| vouloir | veux | veux | veut | voulons | voulez | veulent |
| devoir | dois | dois | doit | devons | devez | doivent |
| savoir | sais | sais | sait | savons | savez | savent |
| lire | lis | lis | lit | lisons | lisez | lisent |
| écrire | écris | écris | écrit | écrivons | écrivez | écrivent |
Metacognition: thinking about your reading
After every text in this unit, take one minute to answer these in your notebook (English or French):
- Quelle stratégie m'a aidé(e) le plus ? (Which strategy helped most?)
- Où est-ce que j'ai bloqué ? (Where did I get stuck?) What did I do?
- La prochaine fois, je vais... (Next time, I will...)
Example: J'ai compris « s'entraîne » grâce au contexte. La prochaine fois, je vais relire la phrase avant de chercher dans le dictionnaire.
Worked exampleLet's write a profile for the newsletter
The Bulletin wants a 5-sentence profile of you for new students and their families. Before writing, decide your purpose and audience, then write in the present tense with at least two irregular verbs and one spelling-change verb.
- Purpose: to introduce myself and help readers get to know me. Audience: students and parents I don't know yet, so I use a friendly but correct register (courant), full sentences and no slang.
- Form: like the article: name and age in bold, third person (il, elle, or the person's name) because it is a newsletter written about someone. Add one quotation in « guillemets ».
- Plan (5 W's): where I'm from, who I live with, what I do, what I prefer, what I want to do.
- Draft: Sam, 14 ans. Sam vient de Kingston. Il fait de la natation et il nage quatre soirs par semaine. Il préfère les mathématiques et il veut devenir ingénieur. « J'achète toujours un chocolat chaud après l'entraînement ! »
- Check the verbs: vient (venir), fait (faire), veut (vouloir) + infinitive devenir: irregular. préfère, achète: spelling-change, è in the boot. nage: regular -er.
Sam, 14 ans. Sam vient de Kingston. Il fait de la natation et il nage quatre soirs par semaine. Il préfère les mathématiques et il veut devenir ingénieur. « J'achète toujours un chocolat chaud après l'entraînement ! » (Purpose: introduce; audience: new classmates and families; register: courant.)
Just for funSome false friends are just funny. Le pain means bread, not pain, so in France and Québec a bakery full of pain is a very good thing. But don't tell a French friend your hockey coach is sensible unless you mean he cries at sad films.
Hands-on activityCognate hunt in your kitchen
In Canada, most packaged foods have labels in both English and French. That makes your kitchen a free bilingual library!
- Collect 4 or 5 boxes, cans or jars from the cupboard (cereal, soup, crackers).
- On each, read only the French side first. Make a list of 10 mots apparentés you understand right away (ingrédients, calcium, naturel...).
- Find 3 words you don't know. Guess each one from the context (the picture, the words around it), then check with the English side.
- Find one word that is a false friend or looks tricky.
- Write two present-tense sentences about a product: Cette soupe contient des légumes. Ma famille achète cette marque.
- Metacognition: which strategy worked best on labels? Write one sentence.
Look for: correct guesses explained by context, achète with its grave accent, and a verb that agrees with its subject.
Your turn
1In the article, what does Maya want to become?
A veterinarian (Elle veut devenir vétérinaire).
2How often does Maya train?
Three mornings a week (trois matins par semaine).
3What does Jonas do at lunch? Give two things.
He eats at the cafeteria with his friends, then they go to the library and read a book together.
4Which club will Inès join?
The robotics club (le club de robotique).
5Find three cognates in the article and give their meaning.
Any three: vétérinaire (veterinarian), guitare (guitar), cafétéria (cafeteria), secret (secret), timide (shy, timid), robotique (robotics), sciences (science).
6In on lit ensemble, is lit a bed? How do you know?
No. It is the verb lire (we read together). The sentence is about choosing a book, so the context shows it is an action.
7Find two irregular verbs in Inès's paragraph and give their infinitives.
Any two: prend (prendre), suis (être), sait (savoir), veut (vouloir), va (aller).
8Write one sentence about which strategy helped you most with this article.
Model: Les mots apparentés m'ont aidé(e) le plus, parce qu'ils donnent les informations importantes. Any honest answer that names a strategy and says why is correct.
More practice: warm-up
1Conjugate être with nous.
2Conjugate aller with ils.
3What does la librairie mean?
bookstore (a library is la bibliothèque).
4Conjugate finir with vous.
5Conjugate faire with vous.
More practice: on your own
1Complete: Nous (manger) ______ à midi et nous (commencer) ______ nos devoirs à 16 h.
mangeons, commençons. Reasoning: -ger verbs add e and -cer verbs use ç with nous, to keep the soft sound.
2Complete: Mes amis (préférer) ______ le basketball.
préfèrent. Reasoning: ils/elles is inside the boot, so é becomes è.
3Complete: Tu (appeler) ______ ta grand-mère ? Nous l'(appeler) ______ le dimanche.
appelles, appelons. Reasoning: double l in the boot (tu), single l outside it (nous).
4Correct the error: Elle veut devient médecin.
Elle veut devenir médecin. Reasoning: after vouloir, the second verb stays in the infinitive.
5Je reste à la maison parce que je suis blessé(e). Translate it. Watch the false friends!
I'm staying home because I'm injured. Reasoning: rester = to stay (not rest); blessé = injured (not blessed).
Challenge
1Write three sentences about your family's weekday routine using prendre, devoir and venir in the present.
Model: Mon père prend le métro à 7 h. Nous devons partir avant 8 h. Ma tante vient souper le jeudi. Check: prend (prendre), devons + infinitive, vient. (Souper for the evening meal is used in Québec and other parts of Canada; dîner is used in France.)
2A classmate says: I didn't understand the article, I gave up after the first word I didn't know. Give two strategies in French with a short English explanation for each.
Model: (1) Je survole le texte d'abord: skim titles and names to get the general idea before worrying about details. (2) J'utilise le contexte: read the whole sentence and guess the unknown word from the words around it, then keep reading. Other good answers: look for cognates, reread, use the glossary.
3Explain the difference in meaning: Jonas écrit des chansons and Jonas écrit une chanson en ce moment. What does this show about the French present tense?
The first says Jonas writes songs (a habit); the second says he is writing a song right now. One French present form covers both English forms; words like en ce moment (right now) or souvent show which meaning is intended.
Quiz
1. Which word is a faux ami?
2. Choose the correct form: Nous ______ (commencer) à 8 h 30.
3. Elles ______ (venir) de Sudbury.
4. Skimming a text (survoler) means...
5. Which sentence is correct?
6. J'ach___te des billets. Which letter fills the blank?
7. Asking yourself Which strategy helped me most? after reading is called...
Big idea: This first lesson of the Grade 9 course sets up habits for the whole unit: using reading strategies (C1.1), understanding a text (C1.2), building vocabulary through cognates and false friends (C1.4), reflecting on what helps (C2.3, metacognition), and writing with a purpose and audience in mind (D1.1–D1.3). The grammar is a thorough review of the present tense, which high school French builds on constantly.
How to help:
- Use bilingual Canadian food labels or cereal boxes for quick cognate hunts. You don't need to speak French: the English side is the answer key.
- Quiz the 12 irregular verbs in the table a few at a time (say nous / faire; your child answers nous faisons). Five minutes a day works better than one long session.
- Ask after reading: What strategy helped you? The answer can be in English.
Common difficulties:
- Vous faites, vous êtes, vous dites are irregular (not faisez, êtez).
- Forgetting that the verb after pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, aimer, aller stays in the infinitive.
- Spelling-change verbs: the è or double l only appears in the four "boot" forms.
- Stopping at the first unknown word. Encourage your child to keep reading and use context.
Canadian French used: souper (evening meal) is used in Québec and other parts of Canada.