Librarie

I went to Gibert-Joseph today to buy textbooks for 3eme and 2nde (9th and 10th grade) English.

Since I turned down the job and decided to do the Masters, I will continue tutoring with Acadomia. Not having learned English in the French school system, I've found myself at a loss sometimes as to what the kids are supposed to know at each grade. If a student in 3eme doesn't know future anterior, is that a problem, or normal?

It turns out it's kind of hard to find a book that summarizes the English program for each grade level. I've downloaded a pdf file or two from the Education Nationale that supposedly explains what the teachers should cover in each year, but they're 20 pages long without concrete examples and not at all practical. I figured used copies of student textbooks was a justified expense/investment seeing as how I'll be tutoring for another couple months.

While I was at the bookstore, I strolled over to the FLE section. I reviewed some FLE guides a long time ago, and I wanted to see what else they had. There were two thick Dalf C1-C2 guides with tons of exercises and a verb + preposition book I really wanted to buy, but I resisted. Buying great FLE guides isn't going to improve your French unless you actually use them. And I, ahem, haven't finished the ones I bought over a year ago. Just in case any one is curious, CLE International is a great FLE publisher. I should finish the vocabulary workbook I bought and the grammar guide before I start my Masters. I'm sure my written French has suffered from all the work I've done picking up slang.

Gibert-Joseph is one of a few bookstores that sell used books alongside new ones. I even resold two books a few months ago. When I went searching for the English textbook for 2nde, I was reminded of the fact that in middle and high school, kids have to buy their textbooks in France. I know low income families get subsidies or help, but it still seems to me an impediment to the idea of "free" school. In my middle school we didn't have lockers, so we had double copies of our text books: one to keep at school, and one we kept in our desks at school. That's obviously a huge expense for the schools and perhaps a disincentive for them to buy the newest editions, but it seems strange that schools here wouldn't provide any textbooks. In the end, it's always a trade-off: in the states textbooks are provided by the school, but a lot of other things have fees, like field trips and marching band. In France, you buy your own books, but they take care of the rest.