Brittany Day, a senior at Loy Norrix, is one of the twelve students in Larner’s 1st hour AP French class. She has taken French all throughout high school and will receive college credit for it if she passes the AP exam.
“I like Madame Larner, she tells funny stories spoken in French, and we learn more about her life,” Day continued. “I just take French for fun. It’s really cooling learning about a different culture and how they speak”.
Taking an advanced placement (AP) language class can be challenging, but Rachel Larner, the French teacher at Loy Norrix, makes it worth it.
“I wanted to take French because I love the way it sounds, and I’ve always wanted to go to Europe. French is spoken in most places there and [I] hope to go to France one day”, said Day.
AP classes are taken for a full school year and give you the ability to earn college credit in high school by passing the AP exam. Not only can you gain college credit, you’ll be able to go to a different country and be able to have a conversation with people from there. AP French is taught in A14 by Larner. Loy Norrix has always offered this class, but until now, not enough students enrolled to run the class.
Larner teaches 6 general themes, including global challenges, identity, beauty, science & technology, family community and contemporary life. The class may seem challenging, but Larner uses many creative teaching methods such as hand motions and drawings so that her students can understand what she’s saying. All of the directions, warm ups, lessons, vocabulary, and novels are spoken and taught in French.
Being in a class where the instructor enjoys teaching is important. Having such a lively teacher makes more students want to take the class and have a full conversation in French.
“I like that there’s more freedom to talk about what’s important to us in French,” said Larner.
Before taking AP French, students are required to take levels I through III. That means beginning with French at the start of freshman year and continuing throughout high school until senior year. Although at Loy Norrix only two years of a world language are required for graduation, some students decide to go further. Some colleges require more than 2 years of a language, and it looks good on applications.
“It’s important to understand it’s a four year commitment,” said Larner, ”It’s something you ask yourself freshman year, and [you need to] have AP French on your senior schedule.”
Spending four years learning about French with Larner introduces students to a wide variety of topics.
“In French I you focus more on yourself, the environment and what you like. In French II you describe other people, dive deeper into what you were like as a kid and more detail with vocab. In French III there’s more literature, short stories poems, novels, and the vocab based on that,” said Larner.
If you are interested in taking AP French, stop into Madame Larner’s classroom and talk to your counselor. It’s never too late to learn more about the French language. Taking an advanced placement class has many benefits such as, you can study abroad, take the class at a college level and earn a college credit for it. You’ll be able to start at a more advanced level once you are in college, making it more time efficient to take the required classes you need.
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