Two years of French, and today you walk into a café and handle it yourselves.
Picture a sunny terrace café in a French town square. On the counter sits a small chalkboard menu of drinks with prices in euros, glasses stacked ready, and a waiter waiting to take your order.
Today's board menu (carte des boissons):
- L'eau (carafe): free if you ask
- Le jus d'orange: 3 €
- Le jus de pomme: 3 €
- Le lait: 2 €
- Le café: 2 €
- Le thé: 2 €
- Le chocolat chaud: 3 €
- La limonade: 3 €
You can already greet someone, ask for something, say thank you, and say goodbye. Today you put all four moves together in one short café exchange, and you learn eight drinks from that menu. By the end you will stand up and run the full chat with a partner.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Open and close a café chat in French
- Order a drink politely from the menu
- Thank the waiter and take your leave
- Say honestly what you could manage if you landed in France tomorrow
This is the final lesson of the two-year course. Keep the mood celebratory but calm. Open with one line of pride about finishing the course, then set the scene: sunny terrace in a town square, chalkboard drinks menu on the counter with the euro prices above (classroom menu, not a real tariff). Leave that mini menu visible for the whole lesson so orders feel like reading a carte des boissons. Ask two volunteers to mime a café order in English first (greeting, order, thank you, goodbye) so the four-move shape is clear before any French appears. Flag that the big spoken pair performance comes later today. Do not teach the drinks yet; the flashcards handle first contact.
We are at the café counter, reading today's chalkboard menu.
Watch and listen first. Do not guess the French.
- See the English and the picture.
- Hear the French drink with its article (teacher or audio).
- Repeat the French together.
- Then flip the card to confirm the French spelling.
We meet the drinks in two groups of four.
After the first group, lock this order line together (listen, then say):
Je voudrais…, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH…, seel voo PLEH)
Full model on the board:
Je voudrais un chocolat chaud, s'il vous plaît.
Then meet the second group. After each new drink, a volunteer slots it into the same order line using the café form on the board (un / une / de l').
Run whole-class on the IWB. Keep the chalkboard menu with euro prices visible beside the flashcards. Sequence for every card: show English + image → you say (or play) the French with its dictionary article → class repeats → then flip to confirm. Never ask pupils to guess the French before they have heard it. Remove any habit of “say the French before you flip”.
Pass 1 (first four): l'eau (loh), le jus d'orange (luh zhoo doh-RAH(n)zh), le lait (luh leh), le café (luh ka-FAY). After these four, display and chorally lock the order frame twice: Je voudrais…, s'il vous plaît (zhuh voo-DREH…, seel voo PLEH). Leave the full model visible: Je voudrais un chocolat chaud, s'il vous plaît.
Pass 2 (next four): le thé (luh tay), le chocolat chaud (luh sho-ko-LAH shoh), la limonade (lah lee-moh-NAD), le jus de pomme (luh zhoo duh pom). After each new drink, one volunteer slots it into the order line using the café order form, not only the dictionary label.
Order sheet (use these forms when ordering one drink, not only the dictionary le/la label):
- Je voudrais de l'eau, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH duh loh, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais un jus d'orange, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH uh(n) zhoo doh-RAH(n)zh, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais un lait, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH uh(n) leh, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH uh(n) ka-FAY, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais un thé, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH uh(n) tay, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais un chocolat chaud, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH uh(n) sho-ko-LAH shoh, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais une limonade, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH oon lee-moh-NAD, seel voo PLEH)
- Je voudrais un jus de pomme, s'il vous plaît. (zhuh voo-DREH uh(n) zhoo duh pom, seel voo PLEH)
Point out that order forms use un/une/de l', while flashcard labels keep dictionary le/la/l'.
False friend: In France la limonade is sparkling lemon soda (more like a clear fizzy lemon drink than homemade still lemonade). A quick aside is enough; do not digress.
Insist on the full noun phrase on flashcards: lait is not enough; le lait is the answer.
Whole class on the board. Volunteers flip two cards at a time and find each French drink with its English meaning. When a pair is found, say the French together, then one volunteer slots that drink into a full café order:
Je voudrais un / une / de l'…, s'il vous plaît.
Examples: Je voudrais une limonade, s'il vous plaît. · Je voudrais de l'eau, s'il vous plaît.
Whole-class memory game on the IWB only. No pupil devices. Volunteers flip; the class says the French on each successful match. If a pair is missed twice, pause and say the French together before moving on. After a match, ask one pupil to use the café order form from your order sheet (e.g. Je voudrais une limonade, s'il vous plaît / Je voudrais de l'eau, s'il vous plaît), not only the dictionary label. Keep energy brisk so bingo stays short and the spoken role-play still has a full block of time.
You have just performed the café exchange out loud. Now open your copy and write it down.
Copy this café exchange and swap in any drink from today's menu on the order line. Mind every accent.
Model on the board (copy the frame):
Bonjour !
Je voudrais un jus d'orange, s'il vous plaît.
Merci.
Au revoir.
Keep the greeting, thanks and goodbye exactly as shown. Only the drink in the order line is yours to choose (use the correct un / une / de l' form, e.g. de l'eau, une limonade, un café).
This write comes after bingo listening and the full pair role-play, so pupils have already heard and said the four moves. Choral-read the four-line model once before pens move, then leave it large on the IWB for the whole write. Pupils copy the frame and only change the drink slot; they are not writing the exchange from memory. A second example if needed: Je voudrais une limonade, s'il vous plaît. / Je voudrais de l'eau, s'il vous plaît.
Compressed practice version for you: thanking and leaving straight after ordering is a classroom frame; in a real café Merci often lands when the drink arrives after the waiter's Voilà.
Walk the room and check that each pupil has all four moves with accents, not only the drink word. Do not collect the copies.
You should have a printed bingo card on your desk (teacher hands these out now). If you have no card, write the eight drinks from the board menu in a list in your copy and tick as you hear each one.
- Listen for the French drink the teacher calls.
- If it is on your card (or list), mark it.
- First full line stands and orders that last drink aloud: Je voudrais…, s'il vous plaît. (use un, une or de l'eau as needed).
We play one quick round only (two only if time is left).
How to Play Bingo:
Option 1: Students on Devices (Digital Version)
- Use the digital version where your teacher view of the lesson displays the cards that are being called out.
- Play the pronunciation sound of each word and the children mark it off their unique digital bingo card.
- Each student has a randomised bingo card so winners will vary!
Option 2: Print Out the Bingo Cards
- Print out the Bingo Cards from the attachment above, cut out the cards, and give one to each student.
- You call out the vocabulary words and students mark off their sheets.
- First student to complete a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) calls "Bingo!" and wins.
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