Le jeudi onze novembre 2022 – pupils in Year 7 French looked at how Remembrance Day is commemorated in France. They honed their bi-lingual dictionary skills by researching key French vocabulary associated with war and conflict. Pupils were astonished to discover that the word for poppy in French is “le coquelicot” (masculine) and war is “la guerre” (feminine) – which challenged the pre-conceived stereotypes that flowers often have feminine associations and war tends to have masculine ones!
Pupils also had to create a leaflet or poster explaining different aspects of Le Jour de l’Armistice in France. They discovered that French people wear ‘bluets’ – cornflowers and not poppies. The cornflower not only depicts the national colour, but also is a delicate flower symbolising the fragility of life and those who sacrificed theirs in times of war and conflict.
Bravo Year 7 – some very thoughtful and informative work.
Madame Mookherjee
Categories: Languages News