PROMOTION IN MOTION: ANOTHER REASON TO LEARN FRENCH

Reprinted from the AATF National Bulletin, Vol. 25, No. 4 (April 2000)

Students in my beginning French class often tell me that their friends and family members sometimes ask them incredulously, "Why are you taking French?" On the first day of class I distribute a small handout which gives them a few reasons. These include: "You can send a fax in French to 44 countries around the world" and "You can understand French movies without looking at the subtitles." Recently, a student provided me with another reason–crossword French. The student loves to do the New York Times crossword puzzles, and she has collected clues which can be solved only by persons who know French (and in some cases French geography). The words are mostly three- or four-letter words and would likely be known by people who had only studied a year or two of French. A list of the clues, with their solutions, follows. I plan to put a different clue on my French Club bulletin board each week and offer a small prize to the student who finds the most solutions. Once a person sees the pattern, they are easy to guess.