Learn French and Geography . . . Just Not From Kellie Pickler

To the dismay of my husband, I'm both a country music and an American Idol fan. Do you remember a former contestant--the cute and funny Kellie Pickler from North Carolina? That little country girl can sing! Unfortunately, it looks as though the American educational system has failed Kellie. Big time. Here she is discussing world geography (more or less) on Jeff Foxworthy's game show, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (Fox TV)

Oh, Kellie. (sigh. head shaking.) Kellie, Kellie, Kellie. How embarrassing. I know it might be tempting to "pick on Pickler", but I'm not going to do it. Instead, I'm going to make sure that my French students understand that Paris is not a country (I've had to answer that question one too many times) and that my own children know basic geography. Now, I'm no expert, mind you. Believe me, I get as confused as the next person by some of those eastern European countries that were a part of the USSR when I was sitting in my 7th grade World Geography class. (Do those classes still exist?) But, c'mon . . . even my 5 year-old knows that Paris is in France, that France is a country, and that it is located in Europe. Because of a good dose of Hungarian ancestry, he's heard of that country, too.

I make basic geography (countries, continents, capitals, languages, map skills) a part of every French course I teach. Even my preschool students play with inflatable globes and locate oceans and special places. I'm often shocked by what my high school students don't know. I take a deep breath, smile, and take it upon myself to teach them.

I know that readers of this blog are far "Smarter Than 5th Graders," so I'll hop off of my soapbox and we can finally get to our language lesson du jour. Here are some useful geography terms in French.

le monde – the world

le nord - the north

le sud - the south

l'est - the east

l'ouest - the west
un océan – an ocean
une mer – a sea
une montagne– a mountain
un fleuve – a river
un continent– a continent
une langue– a language
un pays– a country
une ville - a city
une capitale – a capital city

Just for the record . . .

L'Europe est un continent. La France et la Hongrie sont des pays en Europe. Paris est la capitale de la France. Budapest est la capitale de la Hongrie. On parle français en France, mais on parle hongrois en Hongrie.

Still love 'ya, Kellie!