Getting your middle and high school French students to quickly recall numbers in French can be a challenge. It seems like such a basic thing, but numerals are not words. I mean, yes, we have associated words to them, but the digits themselves are not words. When your students see numerals, their instinct is to think of the word associated with that numeral in their native language. They then have to go a step further to recall the French word with its correct spelling and pronunciation.
Increasing recall of French numbers, or numbers in any second language, takes repetition throughout the school year. It’s something you have to circle back to on a regular basis. Luckily, there are so many fun ways to do this that take no prep and that you can slot in wherever you have a few extra minutes.
I like to use these activities anytime we have a few extra minutes at the end of class or don’t have enough time to start something new. Whether you teach middle school French or AP French, you will want to bookmark these resources.
Random Number Audio Practice
I often use this Language Practice website where you can put in a number range such as 1-10, 1-100, or 1-1k. It will read aloud random numbers within that range in French and you type in the number you hear. It tells you if you were correct.
It is super simple to use. I put it on the smartboard and have the class tell me what answers to type in. I use this more with advanced classes than with beginner classes because you can do very large number sets like 10k to 1m which is great for AP students who are going to be listening to audio selections that talk about data, surveys and statistics. You can also select custom ranges.
This is not one to do for a long period of time. It gets old after about 5 minutes which means it is perfect for when you have an extra 5 minutes at the end of class and don’t want to leave your students to their own devices.
Math Games
The best way to learn numbers in French is to use numbers. How do we use numbers? Math. I know, not the answer language people want to hear.
Digital Dialects has a simple, interactive arithmetic game where the numbers are spelled out in words. There are addition and subtraction problems.
I put it on the smartboard and have a volunteer come up to answer the questions. I let the class shout out answers to them. Then, we rotate who is up at the smartboard answering. You can set it at different speeds.
Vingt-et-un
This is a whole class game with no materials needed. In my first year teaching French, my students actually taught me this game. It was something they had played with their previous French teacher. I continued using it year after year for twenty years and it never got old.
Essentially you go around the room counting up to 21. Each student is allowed to count up to three numbers at a time. If 21 lands on you, you are out. If you mispronounce or miscount you are out. I published all the rules and details in this separate blog post, so be sure to take a look if you are interested in playing in your classroom. If you do it with your students, vingt-et-un will become a meme in your classroom.