Natacha’s Preliminary Project Brief

My project is to build an app for beginners to advanced French language users. The idea of that app emanates from the observation that many of my undergraduate students sometimes lack a platform in which they could broaden their knowledge of French. That is, they are most of the time restricted to what is proposed to them by the curriculum. This app is not then intended for students I usually call ‘class passers’ who are fine with what is offered – and at the time even  find it too much, but rather to those I call ‘Knowledge hunters’, actually willing to expand their learning perspectives

My target users are thus students, but this might be extended to any French culture and language lovers. I intend to provide them with a plate-form, an environment to express themselves through blogging, video, and live chat. In addition,   I will provide a space in which they could have updated news from the French and francophone world, namely from broadcasts as   RFI, or  Africa N 1. Furthermore,  I think of spaces where ‘clients’ could explore possibilities of traveling to   France  or  any others francophone countries(http://www.partirpascher.com)  and have a weekly or daily  playlist  of  French songs, and  connections to French  shopping sites(  fashion industry, museums, bookstores, etc.)

Because most students are ‘glued’ on their i-phones or smartphones, it would be more attractive if the app is deployed on a mobile phone carrier, in such a way that they could carry it along with them everywhere. That proximity and availability of their phone could develop a ‘positive’ addiction to French or francophone-related custom and usage, in such a way as to provide a type of natural-like immersive language environment.

Building such an app is surely a challenging task for someone who is still at his very debut in designing and programming. I know from what I tried to gather here and there that I would have to master the HTLM5  and the Java script languages which I don’t know yet.  However, the good point is that I am a hard-working person and a fast learner.

1 thought on “Natacha’s Preliminary Project Brief”

  1. Thanks for posting your preliminary project brief, Natacha. Your problem statement is strong, and your aim to keep your French students in contact with the language is pedagogically sound. We wonder if you might consider building a website rather than an app — a responsive site (on the Commons or elsewhere) would be accessible on mobile devices, and might be a useful first step in this project. The potential for input from students is intriguing, too, and you might consider how that process would work and the steps involved.
    — Luke and Maura

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