Today was Day 1 of our e-learning. Sebastian and I reviewed greeting one another, both formally and informally,in French. After he introduced me to Argento, his Persian cat, and providing me with background information about his other cats, we went over greeting basics. First, we broke down the word "bon/jour," or good/day. Sebastian remembered that 'bon' means good, and after we broke down the word, Sebastian correctly made a connection to the prefix of the word and was able to transfer this learning by offering another comparative example of the prefix 'bon.' He correctly attached it to the word 'appetite,' and understood that phrase translated to 'good appetite.' He then went on the Duo Lingo app for a few minutes and attempted to share the screen with me. He was reminded that it is more important for him to answer reflectively and that it is not a race. He was encouraged to slow down his response time as he made an error only due to his desire to maximize his his response time. Next, we discussed how there is a formal and informal way to converse in French. There is a polite way, where the language changes a little if talking to someone you don't know well, and there is informal language, used when conversing with a friend. We reviewed ways to say, 'How are you?' both formal and informal. Sebastian was encouraged to repeat the phrases after me. We then reviewed how to repond both formal and informally to the inquiry with the response, "Yes, thank you, I am fine, and you?" We finished up the lesson reviewing alternate ways by which to reply to the inquiry. These alternative responses will be reviewed in a subsequent session in efforts to reinforce and consolidate emergent gains.
We continued the lesson on numbers, progressing to the numbers from 11 to 20. Student also reviewed how to answer and to ask the question, "How old are you?" and learned to sing Happy Birthday in French.
Sebastian first worked on the Duo Lingo app on his I-pad, tapping paired words, writing what he heard the narrator say in French and translating into English by tapping individual words the sentences provided. He did well in this activity and enjoyed being challenged; however, when he got an incorrect response, which was very infrequent, he became a bit discouraged and wanted to end the task. Supportive encouragement, however, helped move him forward. We then worked on conversational phrases that might arise in informal situations in which he might find himself with others. We reviewed how to greet someone, request their name and ask, 'what's up?' ('Quoi de neuf'). Sebastian and I worked on our pronunciation to facilitate the ease and inflection with which the phrases are delivered - as well as the situations in which they might arise. He is able to pronounce or mimic my speech patterns rather well, and has fun doing so - especially when I enunciate them with dramatic effect, which infuses our lessons with fun and variety.
