1. A Languages and Science Project
Notes for teachers are available below each slide in the notes area
Olympics 2012
This project is based on a similar project around the world cup and could be adapted to many sporting events.
A Languages and Science Project
Jo Rhys-Jones, June 2011

2. The 2012 Olympic Games will be held in
This is one of the many ‘unofficial’ logos – it is very hard to get copyright permission to use the ‘real’ logo, which is also somewhat controversial
– see
London (and around the UK)

3. 205 nations are expected to take part in 26 sports:
la natation
le tir à l’arc
l’athlétisme
le badminton
le basketball
la boxe
le canoë-kayak
le cyclisme
l’équitation
l’escrime
le foot
la gymnastique
le handball
le hockey
le judo
le pentathlon
l’aviron
la voile
le tir
le tennis de table
le taekwondo
le tennis
le triathlon
le volley
la haltérophilie
le catch
How many can the children work out? How will they work out the ones they cannot guess? (elicit their suggestions for bilingual dictionaries, internet, mobile translation etc.)
Why do they think some of these words are in red and others in blue? Answer = gender of the noun; some are masculine words and some are feminine words, this is nothing to do with the gender of the people playing the sport so it needs to be discussed to make sure everyone understands. Point out we are just as ‘odd’ in English with some sports being singular (football – also referred to as the beautiful sport) and others plural (gymnastiques)

4. Here they are in English:
Aquatics
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Basketball
Boxing
Canoe and Kayak
Cycling
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling
You can find the full details, including which sports are played at the para-olympic games at

5. l’Afrique l’Amérique l’Europe l’Asie l’Océanie
Image by (Felipe Menegaz) licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Can the children identify these continents? What do they notice, if anything about the colour coding (ANSWER: It’s the same as the olympic rings)
See for details of the countries involved
See for details of the design and significance of the olympic rings logo
l’Afrique l’Amérique l’Europe l’Asie l’Océanie
Link to interactive map of the 205 nation members of the Olympic committee:

6. And we are going to learn about it in French!

7. In French we will learn.. Numbers – to record times & distances
Countries – who is taking part?
Colours - for each nations flags
Foods – that keep athletes healthy
Exercises – that keep athletes fit

8. Your first medal challenge:
Each person in the class will be given a different nation to support.
Great Britain will be supported by your class teacher.
Now find and draw the national flag for the country you will start with.

9. Your next medal challenge
When is your nation’s first event? What sport is it?
What language is spoken in your chosen country?
How do you say ‘hello’ in that language?

10. How do the medals work?
If an athlete from your adopted nation wins a gold, silver or bronze medal in any event, you get 3, 2 or 1 points.
By completing a ‘medal challenge’
(such as the previous slides) you can get extra points for your nation.
Your class will need to keep a chart to track each nations medals/points.

11. la tête la main les cheveux l’épaule le bras le dos la jambe le coude
le pied
les cheveux
l’épaule
le dos
le coude
le genou
This is an example of the sort of resources that will be used in the project

12. Mauvais pour la santé: Bon pour la santé:
This is an example of the sort of resources that will be used in the project