Learning a new language can be a challenging experience for many of our students. However, it doesn’t have to be all about conjugating verbs, textbook work, and memorization. Introducing French games into your classroom can not only make second language learning enjoyable but also significantly boost your students’ language acquisition and proficiency. In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of using games in second language learning and introduce a variety of exciting French games to engage your intermediate students.
The Power of Play
Games are an invaluable tool in language learning because they:
Enhance Engagement: games make learning fun and interactive. They motivate students to become active participants in their learning process and foster enthusiasm for learning the language.
Provide Contextual Learning: games provide context for language use, which helps students understand how words and phrases are used in real-life situations.
Provide Reinforcement: games reinforce vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation skills in an enjoyable manner, making it easier for students to retain what they’ve learned.
Provide a low-stress environment: students often feel less pressured when playing games, which can boost their confidence and willingness to take risks in learning a second language.
Now we’ll focus on some exciting French games that you can incorporate into your French classroom!
French Bingo
French Bingo is a classic game and is a great way to reinforce vocabulary with students. Simply create a variety of bingo cards with French words, pictures, or phrases that relate to a specific theme of study (food, clothing, activities, etc.). Call out the English equivalent and let students mark the corresponding word on their BINGO card. The first student to complete a row or column shouts “BINGO” and is the winner. You can even decide if you want to award prizes to the winner. Although completely optional, I try to have a variety of pencils, wrapped candy, and stickers on hand for this purpose as it adds a competitive flare to the educational French game.
Tip: There are many free custom bingo card generators online. Find a website that you like and save yourself a lot of prep time!
French Fishbowl
French Fishbowl has become one of my students’ favorite French games to play in class! Fishbowl is a fun and interactive word-guessing game that combines elements of charades, passwords, and catch-phrases. To start off, divide your class into two teams and have each student write down one French word on a piece of paper (ex. Pomme, pompier, école, espagnol, pamplemousse, etc.). I would encourage you to preview the answers as you collect them from both teams to make sure that they are appropriate. Make sure students are then sitting in a circle and alternating between Team 1 and Team 2 (Ex. Team A, Team B, Team A, Team B, etc.).
Round 1: Catch Phrase
A player from Team 1 starts the game. They have 30 seconds to get their team to guess as many words from the fishbowl as possible without using the actual word or any rhyming words to describe it. Team 1 will keep guessing until the timer runs out and then count how many words they guessed correctly, which will be their score. Then it’s team 2’s turn and they follow the same rules as they try to guess as many words as possible from the fishbowl in 30 seconds. After they are finished, team 1 will have a turn and it will alternate between teams until all the words in the fish bowl are guessed.
Round 2: Charades
Using the same words that were guessed correctly in Round 1, put them back into the fishbowl. Team 2 starts the round this time. They have one minute to get their team to guess as many words from the fishbowl by acting out the words. The team will get 1 point for each correct answer. After 30 seconds it will go to Team 1. The process will repeat until the timer runs out. Please keep in mind that students are not allowed to talk during this round! If they talk, they will not get the point for the word they are trying to act out.
Round 3: Password
Using the same words that were guessed correctly in round 1 and round 2, the words will all go back in the fishbowl again. Team 1 will start the third round. They have 30 seconds to get their team to guess as many words from the fishbowl as possible by only giving one-word clues. The one-word clue can be anything except the actual word. If Team 1 guesses correctly, the word goes into their pile again. Team 2 takes their turn, following the same rules. The process will repeat and alternate between team 1 and team 2 until all the words have been guessed.
Scoring
At the end of the three rounds, tally up the scores from each round. The team with the highest total score wins the game.
French fishbowl is a great French game that combines communication, creativity, and teamwork. It will bring lots of laughter and fun into your French classroom!
Ceci ou Cela
Pick a theme and write a few combinations on the board. For example:
Le thème : la nourriture
Les raisins ou les pommes
Le bifteck ou le saumon
Le gâteau ou la crème glacée
La moutarde ou le ketchup
Les oignons ou les concombres
Le thé ou le café
Les frères ou les sœurs
- L’histoire ou les maths
Have students discuss with a partner what they would rather eat between the two options. They can then discuss their choices, share their reasons, or have a conversation about why they prefer one option over another. Ceci ou Cela is a great way to enhance reading and speaking skills in your classroom!
Looking for ready-to-go Ceci ou Cela templates? Check out this bundle that has more than 40 printables ready for you to use in your classroom.
Devinez le mot - A MUST Try French Game!
Are you a lover of Wordle™? Try to mix it up with a flare of French! Devinez le mot game is fantastic for enhancing French vocabulary! Pick a five-letter French word that students will have to guess in five rounds or less. Try to pick a word that is appropriate for your students’ French proficiency level. Have students guess a French word.
A correct letter gets highlighted in green
An incorrect letter gets highlighted in red
A correct letter that is in the wrong place gets highlighted in yellow
After each guess students will use their information to guess the next word. Keep in mind that a letter can be used more than once and students have five rounds to guess the word!
Check out the version that I love to use in my classroom: devinez le mot. It comes with a template that you can use with your whole class, step-by-step instructions, an example, and a Google Sheet™ with more than 200 French words that are perfect for A1-A2 leveled learners.
20 Questions
In this guessing French game, one student thinks of a French word or object while the other students ask yes or no questions to determine what it is. They have to guess the object or French word in 20 questions or less to win! Limiting the responses to “yes” or “no” forces students to construct questions in French, making it an excellent exercise in communication and forming questions in French.
French Word Scramble Matrices
Enhance your students’ French vocabulary with Boggle! Pick a boggle template and set the time for a specific amount of time (I usually do 5 minutes in my French classes). When the timer starts, all students will begin searching for words in the grid. Words are formed by connecting adjacent letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Students cannot reuse the same letter in a single-word path. Then, they will write down all the words that they find and continue searching and forming words until the timer runs out. After the timer has stopped, students will take turns reading their list of words aloud and receive points based on the word’s length.
Scoring
3 letter words = 1 point
4 letter words = 1 point
5 letter words = 2 points
6 letter words = 3 points
7 letter words = 5 points
8 or more letters = 11 points
The player with the most points at the end wins!
Looking for ready to go Boggle templates for your classroom? Check these fantastic pre-made letter matrix grids that will enhance your students’ vocabulary and engagement!
Beep Bop
Beep Bop is another exciting French game that my students LOVE to play. Divide the class into two groups and have them separate themselves to different sides of the classroom. One group will be “Beep” and the other will be “Bop.” Create a slideshow ahead of time with a variety of images and a category identified on each image. For example :
Both teams will look at the image and guess the French name that corresponds to the image and category before the other group. Before they guess the French word aloud, the group must say the name of their group (either Beep or Bop). The teacher will pick the group that they heard first and then let the group share their answer. If their guess is correct, they will get a point. If they are incorrect, the other team has a chance to steal and win the point if they are correct. The game will then proceed to the next image until the end of the slideshow.
Tip: Keep in mind that sometimes there may be more than one right answer. For example, for the image above, I would accept:
Un éclair
Un orage
Il est nuageux
In these cases, you can award multiple points for each appropriate answer. The winner is the group who has the most points at the end of the game.
Want a pre-made version of this French game? Look no further – access this engaging French Vocabulary Game here.
French Trivia
Test your students’ knowledge of French culture, history, or the language with an exciting trivia game. Simply create a list of 20 questions about whatever theme you choose and jot down the answers to the questions. Split your class into four teams and have them work together for each of the questions and compete to answer them correctly. This game promotes teamwork and the exploration of French culture.
Tip: To make it a little easier for students, I tend to have multiple choice answers for every question. That way, students don’t feel defeated and can at least guess if they truly have no idea.
Looking for ready-to-go Trivia/Quiz games that you can use with your students that relate to French culture? Check out these two wonderful resources:
Categories
Categories is another exciting French game to play with your students to enhance their French vocabulary! Begin by selecting a category. The category should be broad so that students feel confident when completing the activity. For example, la nourriture, les couleurs, l’hiver, les animaux, les fêtes et les pays, are some great examples! Students will have 1 minute to write down as many things that relate to the category as possible. After a minute is up, the class will then take up their answers. If an answer is duplicated, no points are awarded to the students. If the answer is not in French, no points are given to the student. If a student’s answer is unique and no one else has it, then they get one point.
Tip: Encourage students to be creative and think outside the box when naming items within the category. If playing with the whole class, consider writing the answer on a whiteboard to keep track of the items named and to help catch repeats. I often do three rounds when I complete this game with my students and get them to tally up their points after each round. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins a small prize.
Bananagrams
Bananagrams is a fast-paced word game that combines elements of Scrabble and crossword puzzles. It’s a fun French game for 2-8 players and is best for early finishers or center work. You will need a bananagrams game set. This is the one that I use in my French classroom.
The goal of Bananagrams is to be the first player to use up all of your letter tiles in a grid formation. Each player will take a certain number of tiles from the middle, depending on the total number of players. In groups of 5, each player will get 15 tiles each. These tiles will be face down until the start of the game. When the game starts, all the players will turn their tiles face up and start forming their own crossword grids with their letters, typically in front of them or on a flat surface. Players race against each other to create their own interconnected crossword grids. The goal is to use up all the tiles. The words in their grid need to be at least four letters and the goal is to use up all their tiles. Students can rearrange their grids at any time but the tiles must be connected both vertically and horizontally. They cannot have isolated letters.
Students can also trade a tile for three extra tiles at any point in the game and will continue to fit the new tiles into their grids. The game continues until one player uses all their original tiles and shouts “Peel!” The statement signifies that they’ve used up all their tiles and all players must draw a new tile from the center pile and incorporate these tiles into their grid, making adjustments if necessary. The game continues until there are not enough tiles left in the center pile for everyone to draw one when someone yells “Peel.” At that point, the first player to successfully use up all their tiles and create a correct grid shouts “Bananagrams!” and wins the game.
Tip: make sure that the winner’s grid is correct. If there are any incorrect French words or misspellings, the player is disqualified and the game continues until someone else successfully finishes.
Conclusion
French games have the power to transform your French classroom into an engaging and dynamic environment where students eagerly absorb the language. By incorporating these fun and educational French games, you can enhance vocabulary retention, improve communication skills, and make the journey of learning a new language an enjoyable adventure for your students.
So let me know what are some of your students’ favorite games in French class or games that you believe enhance your students’ French proficiency
P.S. Need some French routines to now implement in your classroom? Check out this blog post: 7 Engaging Routines for the FSL Classroom.