French

FRENCH: Testing… testing… 101

Have you taken French courses your whole life in school, and do you want to know how you measure up?

WCSS offers 2 new ways to see where you stand on an international scale.

The DELF exam

Students who are registered in a 4U French course (either FIF4U or FSF4U) can challenge the DELF exam in 2016. The B2 exam will be held on Feb. 8th, 2016 for students registered in semester 1 and April 11th, 2016 for those in semester 2. The B1 exam will be held on April 12th, 2016 for ALL 4U students, and the A2 exam will be held on April 13th for ALL 4U students.

The OCDSB now offers students the opportunity to become DELF certified. The Diplôme d’études en Langue Française is a European language proficiency exam similar to the Canadian Government French exams. Students are able to choose which of the six levels they wish to challenge. Exams begin at the A1 level and rise to the C2 level. Grade 12 immersion students will generally challenge the B1 or B2 exam. Core French grade 12 students will generally challenge the A2 or B1 exam.

Until recently, the DELF exam has only been available in Ottawa through the Alliance Française and the French Embassy for $100. The OCDSB is leading the province by bringing in the DELF and making it available free of charge for our students. Grade 12 students have been able to participate in DELF exams for the past 4 years as an OCDSB pilot project. Last year, over fifty WCSS students challenged the DELF and all were successful at the level that they selected. The B2 certificate will allow students to study in a university in France and is recognized throughout Europe as a high level of proficiency. The levels B1 and B2 are recognized by the University of Ottawa when assessing first year students french levels and french course choices.

For more information visit: http://acpi.ca/documents/delf_depliant_en.pdf .

The AP French Language exam

Grade 12 immersion students from West have written the Advanced Placement French Language exam every May since 2008. Similar to DELF, the exam is internationally standardized and consists of written, grammar, speaking and listening components. It is however graded differently. The AP exams are graded on a scale from 1-5. Students who score a 4 or a 5 can be granted a first year university credit. In 2016, the AP exam will be administered in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 10 and the cost will be approximately $140. Details about the exam are available from Mrs. Woods or by visiting www.ap.ca where there are lists of which university and colleges support the AP results.


www.bonpatron.com

Is it le maison? or la maison? Do I need to add an extra “s” on the end of that verb or not? Where does that accent go anyways??

Sometimes, writing in French is difficult and even confusing. Students and parents can go to “bon patron” and see what a great corrector this site is.

It is a free site where you can type, or copy and paste your text and it will help correct most spelling and grammar errors. Bonpatron will offer suggestions and explanations to help you fix your mistakes and make your French work beautiful! Bonpatron also offers a one year subscription (for approx. $13) to their bonpatronpro site. Bonpatronpro offers better and more elaborate explanations for correcting and also offers more text space to hold your work. It will also assign a percentage to your work so that you can measure your improvement. Try it out!

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