Which profile best describes you right now? (Or maybe profiles in the plural…)

You’re just looking for practical information visualized in an appealing way.

You’re looking for language practice.

You’re looking for materials to use with kids or even adult language learners.

You are looking for or want to inspire curiosity, conversation and connection.

All of the above.

These are the summer sports that are part of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Did you know that breaking (“break dancing”) is now an Olympic sport? Or that weightlifting is haltérophilie? What are the 5 sports that are part of the pentathlon?

Here you will find 2 versions of the flashcards in French.

The first version is meant more for children with the word in print and cursive (*à la française*) and with the determiners written out (le or la, indicating the words are masculine or feminine).

My daughter focuses on the pictures and uses the cards to tell me she wants to watch gymnastics, surfing and horseback riding.
But soon I anticipate she’d be using them independently as she learns spelling (whether that’s the French version or the English version (coming soon)).

The second set is the version I like to use with my students. It’s essentially what you’d find in a dictionary. The key pieces of information are:

COMPREHENSION: A drawing provides the meaning without grounding the word in another language. You can look up a translation to double-check the meaning.
PRONUNCIATION: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription tells you exactly how to pronounce it. Don’t know how to read the IPA yet? A workshop on French pronunciation using the IPA is in the works!
GRAMMAR: Like in a dictionary, nm refers to “nom masculin” and nf refers to “nom féminin”. In my mind, nm is preferable to writing out *le (l’)* or *un.* You might use those words in your head to determine if a familiar word is masculine or feminine by the sound of it, but knowing nf vs, nm gives you the tools to really understand how it works and apply that knowledge in other contexts.

Take conversation to the next level with someone and talk about the sports even if it’s not something that’s usually of interest to you! What might you discover about yourself or someone else?

English speakers: what do you notice about borrowings from English and how they’re pronounced in French?

And if by the time you find this, the 2024 Olympics are over, then it will be relevant again in 2028 in Los Angeles, USA and Brisbane, Australia in 2032! The English versions of the cards will be done well before then!

So here you go! Drop your email address and you’ll receive a link to the printable download!

If you missed the Olympics calendar, go back to the last blog post! These can be used together.

A bientôt!

Anna

P.S. I’m curious to see how you’ll use the resources! And I’d love any stories, experiences, thoughts, or feedback that you have. Share with me through a private message or share on social media because I know others would love to see how you are using the materials! Let’s inspire each other and pool our ideas!