Departments > Modern Languages

French

Fun and games! http://home.freeuk.com/mflgames Millionaire, wordsearches, hangman and much more.

BBC Languages: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/languages Lots on here. For example, Talk French, Talk Spanish, Talk German - good videos and follow-up exercises on a number of topics. Also GCSE Revisewise for 4th/ 5th Form.

Carrefour
The web site of the hypermarket chain presents holiday offers and information, financial services, on-line booking of tickets for various shows and a list of its shops in France. The presentation is clear, the text not too dense and supported by graphics, making this site a good source of material for secondary school French. For beginners there are examples of forms to fill in with basic information.

Cybermomes
Two Canadian children run this site, Stanley 12 and Tiffany 5. The graphics and the content make it suitable for younger learners, including primary school French. You will find information on their hobbies, their pet, favourite cartoon characters and a great illustrated timetable.

Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace
A regional newspaper offering local, national and international news in an attractive format. It also includes a weather forecast for the area with a colourful map, useful for younger users. The magazine section offers cinema and TV programmes; small ads are suitable for secondary students whilst the news section includes more demanding material. The local news is often simpler to understand. The archive service goes back one year and can be used for project and coursework research.Magazine suitable for beginners; main news 14+

Le web de Canal +
This site belongs to the French TV channel, Canal +. It gives you information on TV programmes, radio and cyberculture. It includes a list of Canal + films, updated monthly. They are classified according to type (action, comedy, etc..) and a list of titles as well as a summary of each film are provided. An interesting option "été 97" presents picturesque villages and unusual places to visit during the holidays, e.g. a farm of miniature animals.

Nice-matin
This site concentrates on the South of France including Corsica. It offers local news, information on sport, leisure, climbing and hiking with many pictures of the area and advice on sleeping and eating during the walks. A lot of "directions" vocabulary! The magazine section updated once a week covers art, book reviews, music and universities and is suitable for advanced students of French. In the service section, the weather forecast is easily accessible to all levels. "Ephemeride" is also suitable for beginners and would lend itself well to oral work as would the block-note section with its many phone numbers... Finally "Sortir" gives information about events, cinemas, restaurants, etc. in the area in fairly simple language.

SNCF
All the information that SNCF customers might want appears on this site. "Voyages" is the most useful section: how to prepare for your journey, how and where to buy your ticket, timetables, price reductions, service available on trains, link with airports, etc.... Plenty of material to support GCSE coursework or a class project on travel. The level of language difficulty varies and there is something for everybody.

Tintin
Absolutely everything about Tintin: biography of the author; dossiers; several interviews; a summary of the stories; a guide to the world of Tintin; a description of the characters and more. The language is too difficult for beginners but those with a few years of French should find interesting reading material as well as colourful graphics. An excellent site for a project on "les BD".

DMOZ Open Directory Project
This site has links to lots of other sites suitable for beginners up to A-Level.

http://videojts.france2.fr/ - watch today's news in French. Especially good for GCSE and A-Level students.

http://www.nrj.fr/site/radio/index.php - listen to this French pop music station.

ADAC
Alle Infos rund ums Auto: that's what this site from the German equivalent of the AA (Automobile Association) provides. Some sections are for members only, but there is plenty for general access: lots on travel and holidays, such as the latest ADAC brochure on camping or details about a topical attraction like the 'Oktoberfest'. A few sections, such as information on traffic jams or potential hot spots, ask for personal data input, which should provide a variety of language tasks in the 11 - 16 classroom. This site is worth a visit if only for the 151 car tests or the 'Autokatalog' with 1490 models: photos, full spec. and some interesting vehicular vocabulary!

Berlin Online
This section of the Berliner Zeitung offers two archived picture sections: Titelfotos and Berlin-Fotos. Titelfotos dates back to April 1996 and has a daily update of pictures accompanying the top story of world news. A short passage of text accompanies each picture. Berlin-Fotos shares the same format, almost on a daily basis, covering events in Berlin such as the start of the summer sales or a Greenpeace demo on the Fernsehturm. A wide range of subject matter which could be used from GCSE and beyond.

Borussia-Dortmund
Something for the football fan. Visit Borussia-Dortmund's interesting site to find news about the team and fixtures. Look at the latest quiz or access the Westfalenstadion to see seats and ticket prices. Pick up a bag in the Fanshop to buy kit, key-rings, scarves, videos etc.. German classes from an early stage should enjoy the simple but effective presentation of this site.

Bundesanstalt für Arbeit
This site is a useful if demanding source for teachers and advanced students looking for a wide range of up-to-date information about jobs. Careful selection is needed to get the best out of it. The latest employment statistics appear under 'Informationen' and there are monthly updates. Under 'Berufsberatung', by choosing 'Berufskundliche Kurzbeschreibungen', you will find an A-Z list of very detailed job descriptions, from 'Automechaniker' to 'Zahnarzt'. A similarly exhaustive explanatory list of key words associated with the world of work in Germany from 'Arbeitslosengeld' to 'Zuschuß-Wintergeld' appears under 'Geldleistungen' when you select 'Stichworte'. By choosing 'Regionales' you access not only information about job centres throughout the country but also maps of the regions.

Deutsche Bahn
The German Rail site offers you everything you will ever want to know about travelling by train in Germany: special offers, prices, holidays and leisure breaks. Click on Auskunft and you can specify your personal route for times and connections. Access a map of the entire German rail network (ideal for printing out) and visit the separate area on stations, Frankfurt am Main, for instance, which shows a plan and a whole range of other aspects. There is also a Stadtplan. In short, many stimulating graphics to enliven the journey ahead, whether business or pleasure. There is also an English version.

FOCUS On-line
An on-line edition of 'Focus' magazine, covering a vast range of subjects: news, politics, business, sport, weather, jobs, travel, property and the arts. The film criticism is particulary useful for A level work. The site has an attractive design and some pages come complete with pictures. One feature with particular potential is the number of statistical tables, survey results and addresses covering such matters as jobs in Europe, a comparison of German universities and European cities.

Galeria : das Kaufhof -Online-Magazin
If you are looking for information on shopping, you will find it at this site. Patient searching will uncover material appropriate for all levels of learning. 'Shopping selection' presents a range of special offers, while 'News and events' covers particular topics, such as the opening of new stores. The most useful section may well be 'Kaufhof vor Ort' which provides details on seven stores in major cities, including a guide to the various departments. Those for Düsseldorf and Munich have lots of attractive photos of consumer goods and such everyday items as a list of the special offers in the food department - complete with prices.

German News, Jahresübersicht
This news site would be enhanced both by the use of German characters and graphics. As it stands it is a basic but useful source of news, in German and English versions, with an archive dating back to 1993. I tried the relatively new word Reformstau as a search and found three matches. The most useful feature is the glossary which explains key German words to do with politics, economics, social security etc. in English. I accessed Castor, Wohngeld, Gewerkschaften, CDU and found descriptions helpful to advanced students and teachers alike, though in need of updating.

Germany Live
This site provides news under six headings: Inland, Ausland, Wirtschaft, Sport, Kultur and Journal. In addition there is a weather update, with other useful links, e.g to the Deutscher Wetterdienst. The user-friendly archive is well managed and stores material for each section plus Personalien over the last six months. It does not have a search function but is to be recommended for its clarity and reliability.

SchulWeb
This diverse site provides access to literally hundreds of schools in Germany and other countries. Anyone wanting specific information on schools or simply a flavour of German school life will find plenty to savour in this wealth of resources. The Heinrich-Hertz-Schule in Hamburg is an excellent example. As with many schools you can access the Schülerzeitung and other features such as a price list of canteen items.

Tagesschau
An exciting chance for a full multi-media experience with this site on German television's news programme Tagesschau, from the Erstes Programm. With the appropriate set-up you can download the video clip for the chosen news item. Failing that you could record a news bulletin (e.g.20.00 Uhr) from satellite TV (ARD on Astra) and match up with the on-screen text. The text versions are often appealingly short. Up to six daily bulletins are also archived over the last two months, so there's plenty of scope for compiling your own multi-media library.

DMOZ Open Directory Project
This site has links to lots of other sites suitable for beginners up to A-Level.

DMOZ Open Directory Project
This site has links to lots of other sites suitable for beginners up to A-Level.