Bonjour,

I just wanted to introduce myself and give you a little information about our class. I am the new French Teacher here at Monomoy Regional High School. I am a French native speaker, and I have taught nearly every level of French over the years, from Pre-Kindergarten to High School, in full immersion schools, bilingual programs and more traditional settings.  At MRHS our class will look a little different than typical language classes. 

Most likely, if you took a second language in school, you were in a traditional class: you memorized vocabulary lists and dialogues, filled in grammar worksheets and practiced your verb conjugations. And if you are like most parents I talk to, you'll say, "I took high school French/ Spanish/ German/ etc. and I don't remember any of it." That's because humans don't learn language by memorizing vocabulary lists and filling out grammar worksheets! Your own children acquired their first language because they received "abundant, comprehensible input" (according to Dr. Krashen, linguist and researcher). Essentially, you spoke to them, read to them, and sang to them in their first language, and that is how they learned to speak. 

In our French class at MRHS, that’s exactly what we will do. We believe that students acquire their second language the same way they acquired their first language.  That means that my job as their teacher is to load them full of abundant, personalized, comprehensible input, or in other words, French that they can understand. This looks vastly different than a traditional French classroom. In our classes, we will create stories, sing songs, discuss culture and current events, talk about their lives and play games, all as vehicles to deliver French that they understand.  If this sparks your curiosity, I invite you to observe a lesson or two to see what Comprehensible Input Teaching looks like. Please send me an email and we'll set it up!

Since this isn’t your typical class, it makes sense than our grading philosophy looks different than other classes. Rather than basing your student’s grade on categories like Quizzes and Homework, your student will be evaluated in the four language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing, and so every grade in the gradebook will measure your student’s progress in a specific skill. 

Please feel free to email me throughout the year with questions or comments. I value parent communication and I will do my best to respond promptly. 

Looking forward to a great school year, 

Merci!

Pauline Linnell

plinnell@monomoy.edu