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Program Description Who Is This Program For
Why We Selected This Program Computer Requirements
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In 1981, Frédéric Back created what became an award winning (22 in all, including an Oscar) animation story of the folk history of Quebec called "Crac". The 15 minute animation portrays the rural life and folkways of Quebec, before the advent of the 20th century modernization of life in Quebec. It is an incredibly charming and engaging piece of work that I remember well, 20 years after first seeing it.
La chaise berçante (The Rocking Chair) has put "Crac" onto a CD and then built a very comprehensive French language and Quebec culture learning experience around the animated story, that makes it an engaging resource for young learners of the french language and culture.
The centre piece and starting point of La chaise berçante is watching "Crac", the story of a quebecois woodsman who builds a rocking chair from the biggest tree in the forest. The ensuing story of his family, vignettes of 19th century rural life, and the changes that come with the passing of time in Quebec, all center around this rocking chair.
Upon viewing the animation, you then can go to the "Application" area, where you are presented (by both hearing and seeing written) a large variety of questions that will be testing not only your recollection of the story, but also your auditory and written French language comprehension skills and knowledge of vocabulary. The various quizzes employ the images from "Crac" and are scaled for both beginners, as well as for those at the intermediate and advanced skill level in their knowledge of french.
There is also a separate area where the student can be guided in learning much of the vocabulary that was employed in the animation, using the individual screen shots from the animation, that assist in remembering the words. All the learning sections are interactive and will let you know how well you are doing.
There is also a completely separate area of slides, audio, and text, that cover various aspects of the 19th century Quebecois culture from the well known Quebec painters who portrayed life in these times, the clothing of the period, famous legends, and even five well known examples of the folk music of the time, that you can hear as well as being able to see the music notation and words.
And finally there is a 1000 word multimedia lexicon of vocabulary and even a set of quizzes that introduce you to the Quebecois "joual" of the 19th and early twentieth century.
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Click Images To Enlarge
The rocking chair in "Crac"
An example of the quality of animation in "Crac"
Beginner vocabulary activity using the images from "Crac"
Learning about Quebac painters who told the story
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La chaise berçante is designed to be a teaching resource for the classroom that would work equally well in core French or French immersion streams and would be appropriate from the junior elementary immersion right up to high school level, given the various levels of the exercises and the opportunity for diary creation right in the program.
It would also be appealing to anyone who loves Quebecois/French culture as it is a very rich repository of information on Quebec's historical culture and you will have your very own copy of "Crac" which in our view is worth the price of admission alone.
One of the common challenges in creating software driven learning experiences is that you either make it very entertaining and not create any real learning value or conversely, there is strong educational focus in the design that comes off as dull as dishwater. In the case of La chaise berçante, by using the animation of Crac as the introduction and then using the story and its images as the basis of the learning experience, makes for an engaging and rewarding learning path that many students would enjoy.
Narrative or story telling is one of the powerful ways to engage someone's desire to listen and to learn. The designers of La chaise berçante were fortunate enough to have a story exceptionally told in the form of "Crac" and then be able to come close in matching the quality of the story with their design of learning activities and supplemental knowledge around historic Quebecois culture.
The designers took the time as well to create a significant body of learning content. For example, at the beginner level, in one set of quizzes alone, there were 42 questions. And there are over 12 different sections covering different topic areas. Language and the culture it originates from, are inextricably bound together and it's nice to see an assembly of information that brings them altogether around the theme of "Crac".
If you are French teacher or have an interest in the French culture, this is a must see program. With a little pedagogical imagination, this is a resource that could be used many different ways, with all the different threads and themes that are introduced in La chaise berçante.
Reviewed by Dan Lang
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Pricing and Online Ordering
(or call toll free -1-800-250-9229 )
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Platform: Windows:Windows 95 to XP; 200 MHz; 64MB RAM; 8X CD-ROM
Platform: Mac OS 9.1 to OS X (Classic mode) or higher; 233 MHz; 64MB RAM; 8X CD-ROM
or to see other language programs
Kidspeak French - ages 5-9
Mia Language Adventures - ages 6 -10
Pronunciation Power - ages 10 & up
Learn to Speak French (or Spanish or English) - ages 12 & up
Tell Me More French (or Spanish or English) - ages 14 & up
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