Grade by Grade
C. Reading / D. Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Real Texts for Real Readers

La francophonie: French-Speaking Communities Across Canada and the World

C3 D3 C1 D1About 50 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can read short fact cards about francophone communities in Canada.
  • I can describe a celebration or tradition from a French-speaking community.
  • I can name some countries around the world where people speak French.
  • I can notice that French speakers in different places use different words, and that all of them are correct.
  • I can write a fact card and compare another community's tradition with my own.

Words to know

la francophonie
All the people and places in the world that speak French.
une fiche d'information
A fact card: a short text with facts about one topic.
acadien / acadienne
Acadian: from the Acadian people, who live mostly in the Atlantic provinces.
métis / métisse
Métis: belonging to the Métis Nation, an Indigenous people of Canada.
une fête
A celebration, a party, a holiday.
un régionalisme
A word used in one region, like la fin de semaine in Canada.

French is spoken across Canada and around the world!

In Grade 4 you learned about Franco-Ontarian communities, like those in Sudbury, Ottawa and Hearst, and their green and white flag. But French-speaking communities live all across Canada, and French is spoken in many countries on several continents.

In this lesson you will read fact cards (fiches d'information), learn about celebrations, and discover that French words can change from place to place.

Worked example

Let's read about the Acadians

Read the first fact card.

Fiche 1 : L'Acadie

Les Acadiens et les Acadiennes habitent surtout dans les provinces de l'Atlantique, par exemple au Nouveau-Brunswick et en Nouvelle-Écosse. Le 15 août, c'est la Fête nationale de l'Acadie. Ce jour-là, les gens font un tintamarre : ils marchent dans les rues et ils font beaucoup de bruit avec des casseroles, des cuillères et des instruments de musique ! Le drapeau acadien est bleu, blanc et rouge, avec une étoile jaune dans la partie bleue.

  1. Before: the title is L'Acadie. A fact card gives facts, usually in short paragraphs.
  2. Where: surtout dans les provinces de l'Atlantique: mostly in the Atlantic provinces, for example New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
  3. When: Le 15 août: August 15 is the Fête nationale de l'Acadie (the Acadian national holiday).
  4. Context clue: un tintamarre: people walk in the streets and make lots of noise (bruit) with pots (casseroles), spoons and instruments. So a tintamarre is a noisy parade.
  5. The flag: blue, white and red, with a yellow star in the blue part.

Acadians live mostly in the Atlantic provinces. On August 15 they celebrate with a noisy tintamarre. Their flag is blue, white and red with a yellow star in the blue part.

bleu+ étoile jauneblancrouge
The Acadian flag: three vertical bands (blue, white, red) with a yellow star near the top of the blue band.

More fact cards

Fiche 2 : Le Carnaval de Québec

Le Carnaval de Québec est une grande fête d'hiver dans la ville de Québec. La mascotte s'appelle Bonhomme. C'est un bonhomme de neige avec une tuque rouge et une ceinture fléchée. Les visiteurs regardent des sculptures sur neige et des défilés.

Fiche 3 : Le Festival du Voyageur

Chaque année, en février, il y a le Festival du Voyageur à Winnipeg, au Manitoba, dans le quartier francophone de Saint-Boniface. Le festival célèbre l'histoire des voyageurs, la culture francophone et la culture métisse. Les gens écoutent de la musique et ils dansent.

Fiche 4 : La Nation métisse

Les Métis sont un peuple autochtone du Canada, avec leur propre culture et leur propre histoire. Le michif est une langue métisse : elle mélange surtout des mots cris et des mots français. Le drapeau métis a un symbole de l'infini blanc. La ceinture fléchée est un symbole important pour beaucoup de Métis.

Large snow sculptures of polar bears, a castle and a moose in front of old stone buildings in Quebec City in winter.
Snow sculptures are a big part of winter festivals like the Carnaval de Québec. Notice the old stone buildings and steep roofs of Quebec City. AI-generated image

About the Métis

The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people with their own culture, history, flag and language. Many Métis communities are in the Prairie provinces and in Ontario. The Métis flag shows a white infinity symbol (∞) on a blue background (there is also a version with a red background). Michif is a language of the Métis Nation. The colourful woven sash (la ceinture fléchée) is important to many Métis people and is also worn by French Canadians, for example by Bonhomme at the Carnaval.

French around the world

French is spoken in many countries: en France, en Belgique, en Suisse (Europe), en Haïti (the Caribbean), au Sénégal, en Côte d'Ivoire, au Cameroun (Africa) and many more. That's why we talk about la francophonie.

Numbers can even change! In Belgium and Switzerland, many people say septante (70) and nonante (90). In Canada and France, people say soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix.

EnglishCommon in CanadaCommon in France
breakfastle déjeunerle petit-déjeuner
lunchle dînerle déjeuner
supperle souperle dîner
weekendla fin de semainele week-end
to go shoppingmagasinerfaire du shopping
emailun courrielun mail, un e-mail
soccerle soccerle football
sweaterun chandailun pull
winter hatune tuqueun bonnet
blueberriesles bleuetsles myrtilles
Same language, different words. Both columns are correct French; people in each place understand each other.
morningnooneveningCanadaFrancele déjeunerle dînerle souperle petit-déjeunerle déjeunerle dînerSame word, different meal!
Watch le déjeuner move: in Canada it is breakfast, but in France it is lunch. Both are correct French.
Worked example

Let's compare with our own community

Read the Carnaval card again. Write 2 sentences in French that compare it with your community.

  1. Find one fact from the card: Bonhomme a une tuque rouge. or Il y a des sculptures sur neige.
  2. Think about your community. Is there a winter festival, a skating party, a parade?
  3. Use comme (like) for something the same, mais (but) for something different.
  4. Sentence 1: Au Carnaval de Québec, il y a des sculptures sur neige.
  5. Sentence 2: Dans ma communauté, il y a aussi un festival d'hiver, mais il n'y a pas de mascotte. (il n'y a pas de = there isn't / aren't any)

Au Carnaval de Québec, il y a des sculptures sur neige. Dans ma communauté, il y a aussi un festival d'hiver, mais il n'y a pas de mascotte.

Just for fun

In France, 99 is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. Word by word, that's "four-twenty-ten-nine" (4 × 20 + 10 + 9). In Belgium and Switzerland, many people just say nonante-neuf. Math class, in a single word!

Hands-on activity

Make a francophonie fact card

You need: an index card or half a sheet of paper, pencil crayons, and (with a grown-up) a library book or a trusted website such as a museum, library or a community's official site.

  1. Choose a French-speaking community: the Acadians, Québec, Franco-Manitobans, the Métis Nation, Franco-Ontarians, or a francophone country.
  2. Write a title and 4 facts in French using Ils habitent..., Le [date], c'est..., Les gens..., Le drapeau est...
  3. Draw a picture with a caption (une légende).
  4. Add one sentence comparing it with your community: Comme eux, nous... or Chez nous, ...
  5. Present your card to your family and teach them one new word.

Your turn

1

When is the Fête nationale de l'Acadie?

2

What is a tintamarre?

3

What does Bonhomme wear?

4

In which city and province is the Festival du Voyageur?

5

What is le michif?

6

What is lunch in Canadian French?

7

Name 2 countries outside Canada where people speak French.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does la francophonie mean?

2

What colours is the Acadian flag?

3

What is the Canadian French word for weekend?

4

What is Bonhomme?

5

What is a fiche d'information?

More practice: on your own

1

A student in Paris says Je vais faire du shopping ce week-end. Write it the Canadian way.

2

Your Belgian pen pal writes J'ai nonante cartes de hockey. How many cards?

3

Read: Les gens font beaucoup de bruit avec des casseroles. What strategy helps with bruit?

4

True or false? Only people in Québec speak French in Canada. Use the fact cards.

5

Is le souper wrong because people in France say le dîner?

Challenge

1

Write a 3-sentence fact card in French about the Festival du Voyageur, using the information in this lesson.

2

Your friend in France will visit you in January. Write 2 sentences telling her what to bring, using 2 Canadian words. Explain one word for her.

3

Compare a celebration from this lesson with one your family celebrates. Write 2 sentences, one with comme or aussi and one with mais.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

When do Acadians celebrate their national holiday?

2.

What is a tintamarre?

3.

In Canada, le dîner usually means...

4.

Who are the Métis?

5.

Which country is part of la francophonie?

6.

A Canadian writes courriel and a French person writes mail. Which is correct?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The curriculum asks Grade 5 students to show understanding of information in French texts about aspects of culture in diverse French-speaking communities in Canada and around the world, and of French sociolinguistic conventions used in different communities (C3), and to show awareness of these in their own writing (D3). This lesson builds on Grade 4's Franco-Ontarian focus by adding the Acadians, Québec, Franco-Manitobans, the Métis Nation and the wider francophonie, and by comparing regional vocabulary.

Facts used: The Fête nationale de l'Acadie is on August 15 and is marked by the tintamarre. The Acadian flag is a blue-white-red tricolour with a gold (yellow) star in the blue band. Bonhomme, the Carnaval de Québec mascot, wears a red tuque and a ceinture fléchée. The Festival du Voyageur takes place in February in Saint-Boniface, Winnipeg. The Métis flag shows a white infinity symbol on blue (a red version also exists). Michif combines mainly Cree and French. Septante and nonante are used in Belgium and Switzerland.

Respectful talk: Present all communities as living and current. The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people, not simply "part French"; avoid describing them only by ancestry. If you want to learn more, look for sources from Métis organizations themselves.

Common difficulties: Children may think Canadian French is "wrong" or "slang". Emphasize that French, like English, has regional varieties, all correct.