{"id":32264,"date":"2020-08-27T23:35:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T21:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=32264"},"modified":"2021-03-18T21:42:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T20:42:59","slug":"la-rentree-back-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/la-rentree-back-to-school\/","title":{"rendered":"La Rentr\u00e9e – Back to School"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salut mes potes! <\/em>Hi my friends!<\/p>\n

All around the world is la rentr\u00e9e<\/em>, the ‘return’ or the beginning of the school year, for les \u00e9l\u00e8ves, les coll\u00e9giens, les lyc\u00e9ens, et les \u00e9tudiants. Les enseignants, les professeurs,\u00a0les instituteurs, et les ma\u00eetres<\/em> are all diligently preparing, especially since this year will look so different.<\/p>\n

Why did I use four different vocabulary words to describe a student and a teacher? Keep reading to find out and to learn some more about the French school system.<\/p>\n

Le vocabulaire:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

les \u00e9l\u00e8ves – <\/em>primary school students<\/p>\n

les coll\u00e9giens – <\/em>middle school students<\/p>\n

les lyc\u00e9ens – <\/em>high school students<\/p>\n

les \u00e9tudiants – <\/em>university students<\/p>\n

les instituteurs – <\/em>teachers (primary school)<\/p>\n

les ma\u00eetres\u00a0– <\/em>teachers (primary school, informal)<\/p>\n

les enseignants – <\/i>teachers (secondary school)<\/p>\n

les professeurs (les profs*) – professors<\/em>\u00a0(university)<\/p>\n

*le professeur\u00a0<\/em>is always masculine. The abbreviated word prof<\/em> could be masculine or feminine, le\/la prof<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Other useful vocabulary:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

la fac (facult\u00e9)<\/em> – university (or as the British would say, uni<\/em>)<\/p>\n

le directeur\/la directrice – <\/em>principal, director (general)<\/p>\n

le proviseur – <\/em>principal (high school)<\/p>\n

le principal –<\/em> principal (middle school)<\/p>\n

passer un examen<\/em> – to take an exam (un faux ami!)<\/em><\/p>\n

le bureau<\/em> – teacher’s desk<\/p>\n

le pupitre<\/em> – student’s desk<\/p>\n

Le syst\u00e8me scolaire fran\u00e7ais<\/em>, the French school system, is also very different from that of the US.\u00a0School typically begins at 8 am and ends at 5 pm, except on Wednesdays when school ends at noon. Extra-curricular activities and sports are not an option like they are in the US, except on Wednesdays and during lunch time.<\/p>\n

Students get an hour for lunch each day, and it is not unusual for them to travel home or eat outside in town during this time. If enjoying lunch at school, you can expect a much healthier and “home-cooked” meal at la cantine<\/em>, the cafeteria. (For pictures of school lunches around the world, click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In the visual below you will see l’\u00e9cole maternelle <\/i>(primary school), l’\u00e9cole\u00a0\u00e9l\u00e9mentaire <\/i>(elementary school), le coll\u00e8ge <\/i>(middle school), le lyc\u00e9e <\/i>(high school), et les \u00e9tudes sup\u00e9rieures <\/i>(higher education).<\/p>\n

One of the biggest differences is as opposed to counting up for grades as we do in the US (1st, 2nd, 3rd…) in France they count down (11e, 10e, 9e…). Terminale\u00a0<\/em>is the ‘terminal’ year of high school, which we call either senior year or 12th grade in the US.<\/p>\n

Here <\/a>is the calendrier scolaire\u00a0<\/em>issued by la minist\u00e8<\/i>re de l’\u00e9<\/i>ducation nationale.\u00a0<\/em>You will notice that the country is divided into three zones, and those zones have slightly different dates for some of their\u00a0breaks in order to not overwhelm the ski slops or other popular vacation destinations.<\/p>\n

Each break from school is two weeks long, la Toussaint<\/em> (All Saints Day) from mid-October to November, No\u00ebl<\/i>\u00a0(Christmas), hiver<\/em> (winter) and printemps<\/em> (spring). Summer (\u00e9t\u00e9)\u00a0<\/i>is two months long.<\/p>\n

Bonne rentr\u00e9e \u00e0 tous! <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Salut mes potes! Hi my friends! All around the world is la rentr\u00e9e, the ‘return’ or the beginning of the school year, for les \u00e9l\u00e8ves, les coll\u00e9giens, les lyc\u00e9ens, et les \u00e9tudiants. Les enseignants, les professeurs,\u00a0les instituteurs, et les ma\u00eetres are all diligently preparing, especially since this year will look so different. Why did I…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":32267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32264","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t