Volume 31 Issue 17 10 Jun 2022 11 Sivan 5782

All Things French

Hilary De Joux – Co-ordinator of French

The ImmerseMe Games

The 3rd annual ImmerseMe Games were held online from 19 May 2022 – 26 May 2022. More than 20,000 language students around the world from Great Britain, Canada, India, New Zealand and Australia participated in the Games to light the flame for language learning.

Emanuel School competed in Category 2 (small school) and won first place in this category with an impressive 11,529 points earned, well ahead of the second place 1,680 points. To earn points, students needed to listen to and respond to French conversations with native speakers on a variety of topics suited to their Year Group and curriculum level such as food and drink, school life, family and friends, the environment, future work and study plans and travel and holidays. 

Well done to all the Emanuel French students who participated and won awards in the Games, your Certificates and Vouchers are on their way to you and we will present them to you at an upcoming assembly. We are now officially the Best French speaking small school in the world!

“ImmerseMe is a platform where students can learn different languages and experience real life situations. Recently my French class was lucky enough to participate in an interactive competition. It included many schools in many countries and gave us the opportunity to learn in different environments. This is so we could choose a way that was unique to us. Our class spent a week playing, speaking, and writing on ImmerseMe and competing against other students all around the world. We are so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to use this to learn. We are definitely looking forward to having more fun with ImmerseMe in the future.” By Akeisha Kantor and Jessica Hart

Here is the competition results scoreboard.

French Cooking Day 

Year 9 French have been studying school life in France and other French speaking communities and as part of this unit of study, have discovered more about the culture of the French school cantIne and their attitudes towards mealtimes and food.

The lunch break in French schools can be anywhere from 1-2 hours and students do not bring their own lunch to school in a lunchbox, but they are permitted to go home to eat and then return for afternoon lessons, generally finishing at about 4.30 pm – 5.00 pm. Most students, however, eat at the school ‘cantine’, a seated restaurant style dining room where they are served a THREE course meal daily. Recognising that mealtime is an important moment in the day, with the aim being to teach healthy eating routines and ensure continued knowledge of traditional French dishes such as ratatouille, bouillabaisse and poulet-frites and desserts such as crème caramel, tarte aux pommes and cheeses. Vending machines are not allowed in French schools and only water can be served at school lunches, with the children themselves setting and clearing tables.

We thoroughly enjoyed recreating our own version of this traditional French lunch at Emanuel to bring this study to life. We chose to make Rémi’s Ratatouille (made famous by the Disney movie) and Tarte aux Pommes, à French apple tart. 

Student comments on their French cooking experience:

  • I really enjoyed this cooking experience as I feel like I connected with French culture. Also, the ratatouille was delicious! 
  • Cooking was a very fun and enjoyable experience and I was able to create some delicious French food with my peers. It was also a really nice change from normal lessons. 
  • I enjoyed cooking a lot, it was very fun and delicious!! I had fun cooking and it was à great French experience.
  • The cooking experience was really fun and so exciting. The pressure was on to deliver the best food we could. It turned out great!
  • Cooking with our French class was very fun. The recipes were very easy to make and super delicious! I can’t wait to do it again!

By Zara Sacks, Liam Winter, Arielle Sharp, Mirelle Lazerson, Aaron Berkowitz, Amari Rosen-Tal