French
Here at the British School in Tokyo, learning a foreign language provides pupils with the opportunities to explore other cultures and the way in which they see the world today. Pupils will learn about French-speaking cultures through the study of annual events and traditions as well as the language itself. We aim to broaden their horizons and encourage tolerance of other beliefs and customs through foreign language lessons. The experience of learning a foreign language should encourage children to re-examine the way they communicate in their native tongue and to realise that there are many ways of expressing concepts and ideas. This is very useful when learning another foreign language later on and in some cases the linguistic grounding of one language can be transferred to another.In particular role-play lends itself as a vehicle for encouraging socially, morally, intellectually and linguistically aware pupils.
The majority of language lessons will take place in the target language and the children will be encouraged to respond likewise where appropriate. The aim is be to be able to learn essential vocabulary for everyday communication and to be able to introduce oneself and give information about family and daily life to a native speaker.
Structurally, the French studies follow the “Expo” course from Year 7 up to Year 11 at GCSE level. Depending on their abilities, students have the choice between 2 courses: the green one working at a standard level, and the red one working at an advanced level. Pupils are expected to write accurately, learn vocabulary and verb paradigms for formal tests and the active manipulation of linguistic concepts begins.
