Mon Pays Francophone

In this unique time that we are living, almost everyone on earth is experiencing at least some of the same things. It's a great moment to make connections between ourselves and others around the world.

At the same time, we never have enough time in class to both build French fluency skills AND learn about the many French communities that exist all over the world.  Now is our chance!

(Check your email if you do not already know which country you have.)

You have been nominated to be an ambassador of friendship and assistance to a land that has a connection with France -- either a former colony, or a current territorial possession.  But the job isn't yours yet, and the competition is tough.

In order to do your job well and avoid social gaffes and perhaps even cultural or even political tension, you need to know as much about the history of your assigned land as you can, as well as how it has been dealing with Covid-19.  

After researching thoroughly, you will eventually need to present your case for why you would be the best candidate for the job.

There are two ways to submit your work:  1)  Submit it to me by mail (to the school, in care of Ms. Hachen); 2) Gather all components into a google file and share it with hachenj@fmsdmail.org.  

If submitting by mail, you may write out any of the audio recordings, and write out responses and dialogues as opposed to printing them.

As always, READ THE DIRECTIONS.  You will use the internet to do research, so make sure your sites are valid.  Nothing on here should be copied and pasted -- it isn't that type of project.

This project is almost entirely IN ENGLISH.  That is okay.  

1.  In order to familiarize yourself with the geographical location of your land, HAND DRAW a map of the continent where it is found, and have the country itself positioned on the continent.  LABEL the continent, the country, the capital city, any other significant cities, major rivers/mountains/land forms.  You need to be able to talk intelligently about where things are.  Take a PHOTO of your map if you are submitting your work online.  Save it if you will be turning in a physical copy.

2.  Find out about the history of your country going back to the very beginning.  Don't get bogged down, but be able to tell about major things that happened.  When you feel like you have a grasp, write or type out a TIMELINE of important events.  Be discerning -- don't include stupid little stuff.

3.  How did France end up having a relationship with this country?  What made them interested in this connection (desired natural resources, advantageous geographic location, etc.)?  Did the relationship benefit both France and the country, or just France?  Did French citizens move there and intermarry with the original inhabitants?  Is this an independent country, or is it a territory, region, or community of France.  ANSWER each of these questions and save the document to be submitted with the rest of the project.  ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS.

4.  Next, you need to know what relationship France has with this country now.  Are feelings positive?  Negative?  If you were going to interject a comment about France, do you think that would be well received?  Why or why not?  COMPOSE a short dialog in which one person says the wrong thing, and the other person corrects him and explains why it was not a good idea.  (For example, some topics in a country's history can be sensitive.  France colonized some of these countries and there may be some lingering bad feelings.  Or it could be like the U.S. and the U.K.)

 5.  You can't be expected to know everything about a country, but choose THREE of these to investigate, and DRAW a picture representing them:  products; famous historical figure; famous contemporary person; natural disaster; typical item of clothing, if unique; landmark; flag (if the country is independent). You can always mention some of these and signal to people that you are interested in them and that you value their culture.  I have started friendships simply because I knew a bit about someone's country or showed that I was interested.  In New Zealand, I made it a point to buy books by Kiwi authors and read them as I was traveling.  People were surprised, and would start conversations with me, where otherwise I would just have been any other tourist.  

6.  Of course, you will need to prepare linguistically.  What are the people from this country or region called -- in French?  (francais, suisse, australien, etc.)  Are there greetings that are unique to this country that anyone should know?  DEPICT, either through drawing or cutting and pasting in a document, two people from the country, one male and one female, and LABEL them with the proper adjectives.  Include SPEECH BUBBLES with the greetings of the country.

7.  You will want to be up to date on how the Covid-19 outbreak has been handled in this country, so do your research by googling.  Then make a TABLE that has one column listing all the measures you can find (borders closed, new hospitals opened, etc.), one column for the country you researched, and one column for our own community.  Check off the measures that were taken in each place to see what we had in common.  

8.  Finally, immerse yourself as much as possible in the culture of the country.  CHOOSE from ONE of the following:  make a dish that is unique to the country and serve it to your family (PHOTO/VIDEO); listen to music from the country and COMPARE it, in writing or audio tape, to something similar that you know from our country, identifying songs, artists, and types of music; learn about the major religion of the country and DISCUSS on audio recording or in writing whether you would feel comfortable participating in the rituals, and why or why not; find out what one souvenir most people would want to bring back from that country and MAKE a facsimile of the souvenir out of something you have (mold it out of clay or masking tape, for example), and then take a photo of it.

AT A FUTURE DATE, you will need to present your case for being hired for the job, but not this week.