Opportunities abound for French practice in the coming weeks! The Kids Euro Festival is in high gear, and there are lots of French-language or French cultural events scheduled. The big stars next week are Ernest and Celestine, the main characters from a classic storybook series by Belgian author and illustrator Gabrielle Bernard about the sweet friendship between a mouse (Celestine) and bear (Ernest). The Alliance Française is doing a special Ernest and Celestine storytime and workshop on November 2nd, and the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring will be showing the 2012 film (in French with English subtitles) on November 3rd! See more events below or check the calendar.
Since Halloween is this week I had to at least post a few goodies. We had so much fun with Halloween last year - many of the links in the "Happy l'Halloween" post I did then are still our favorites, namely la Chanson des Squelettes and the magic potion game on Boowa and Kwala!
Also, I have been discovering so many amazing web sites lately in my quest for educational tools in both English and French. I find these in such random, roundabout ways. For example, Zach is learning about George Washington in his kindergarten class. I googled "george washington kids" and found an awesome (English-language) site called "Washington's World" that gives an animated virtual tour of Mount Vernon, where you literally bump into historical characters like GW's doctor, the blacksmith, and even meet his horse, Nelson!.
Zach so loved this that I started looking for others. After so many twists and turns I can't remember how I got there, I found an amazing interactive game where you can help build the Chateau of Versailles to the glory of Louis XIV, the Sun King (Le Roi Soleil) ! We landed on the English version but I immediately switched to French.
Kids educational resources never cease to amaze (and educate!) me! I have visited Versailles at least twice, read the tourist guides, listened to lectures. None of these experiences brought the history to life as well as this animated game, where historical figures like Mansard (the architect) and Le Brun (the palace artist) speak to you as their apprentices with silly affected accents about how we must get it right (facades, paintings and decor for the palace, gardens...) for his majesty Le Roi!
Dry adult literature and high-brow texts be gone! I'll take my history with puppets and pop-up books, please!
Bonne semaine!
FRENCH THIS WEEK:
Out and About
Sunday, October 27
1:30 Tea with Madeline at the Lamond-Riggs library (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT) - (in English, possibly a little French spoken)
1:30 Tea with Madeline at the Lamond-Riggs library (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT) - (in English, possibly a little French spoken)
Wednesday, October 30
10:15am: Free French storytime with Language Planet at Kidville, Bethesda (followed by Spanish and Mandarin!)
Thursday, October 31
10:30am Tales of the Night (Les Contes de la Nuit, 10+) movie in French with English subtitles at the National Gallery of Art (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT).
10:15am: Free French storytime with Language Planet at Kidville, Bethesda (followed by Spanish and Mandarin!)
Thursday, October 31
4pm: French story time at the Cleveland Park library
Saturday, November 210:30am Tales of the Night (Les Contes de la Nuit, 10+) movie in French with English subtitles at the National Gallery of Art (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT).
12pm: Ernest et Célestine Storytime & workshop à l'Alliance Française
1pm: Drumblebee (rhythmic, musical performance for kids 5+) at the Arisphere (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT) Free. Reservation required.
Sunday, November 3
1pm: Drumblebee (rhythmic, musical performance for kids 5+) at the Arisphere (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT) Free. Reservation required.
Sunday, November 3
11:30am Tales of the Night Kids (Les Contes de la Nuit) (10+) movie in French with English subtitles at the National Gallery of Art (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT).
11am: Ernest et Célestine film at AFI Silver Spring. In French with English subtitles. Ages 3+. (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT).
6 pm: Drumblebee (rhythmic, musical performance for kids 5+) at the Arisphere (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT) Free. Reservation required.
11am: Ernest et Célestine film at AFI Silver Spring. In French with English subtitles. Ages 3+. (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT).
6 pm: Drumblebee (rhythmic, musical performance for kids 5+) at the Arisphere (KIDS EURO FESTIVAL EVENT) Free. Reservation required.
Looking for other French language/cultural events? Take a look at the following calendars:
At Home
Get to know Ernest and Celestine: get a preview of the film and print out coloring pages on Jedessine.com; or read a book! Check to see if your library has a copy in French (see links to local collections on the right side of this page), or get a copy on the Bonjour Mama bookstore.
Don't miss out on all the Halloween fun to be had en français. Boowa and Kwala have a ton of resources, be sure to search for "Halloween" to see them all. More favorites: Chanson des Squelettes and the magic potion game.
Don't miss out on all the Halloween fun to be had en français. Boowa and Kwala have a ton of resources, be sure to search for "Halloween" to see them all. More favorites: Chanson des Squelettes and the magic potion game.
Help build the Chateau of Versailles and learn about the reign of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil (Sun King) by playing "Pagaille à Versailles"
FROM THE BOOKSTORE
New additions, picks and promotions for the Bonjour Mama bookstore.
Ernest et Celestine ont perdu Simeon
Price: $11.95
Ernest et Celestine ont perdu Simeon
Price: $11.95
