Each chapter of Bien vu, bien dit is correlated to an episode of the French film Le Chemin du retour. The textbook prepares students for the film-viewing experience through the chapter vocabulary presentations and activities and through additional pre- and post-viewing activities.

The vocabulary and grammar presentations, as well as the activities, recycle and expand on the dialogue and structures presented in the film. Pair and small-group activities enable students to talk about the characters in the story and their own lives. The cultural content of the film is also explored in cultural notes and readings in each chapter.

Le Chemin du retour, the film, is an engaging story about a young French journalist, Camille Leclair, and her pursuit of the truth about her grandfather's past. Through Camille's quest, students are introduced to many facets of today's French and Francophone cultures, as well as to important historical events in France.

Features:


Vocabulaire thématique provides students with thematically grouped vocabulary useful for viewing and discussing the film episode. A wide variety of activities promotes vocabulary development and acquisition at the intermediate level, for instance, the Les nuances de mots activities, which focuses on subtle yet important differences in the meanings of words.

The Quia^TM Online Workbook/Laboratory Manual offers the same excellent practice material as the printed Workbook/Laboratory Manual, with many added advantages, such as a fully integrated audio program, immediate feedback and scoring for students, as well as an easy-to-use gradebook and class roster system for instructors.

Two versions of the film: The film is available in the Director's Cut version, which is the full film, uninterrupted. The Instructional Version includes pre- and post-viewing activities for each episode and lasts for over three and a half hours. Students may also purchase the Instructional Version of the DVD to watch the film episodes independently.

Automatic feedback on additional activities for practicing new vocabulary and grammar is available to students on the Online Learning Center website.

Instructors will find the Instructor's Manual/Testing Program, Audioscript, and Film Script in the Instructor Edition of the Online Learning Center website.

Allons au cinéma in the textbook and pre-viewing activities in the film prepare students to view and understand the film episode. Textbook activities review previous episodes and provide vocabulary and cultural information, as well as guiding students' viewing with a question for them to focus on as they watch. Film activities prepare students to understand more challenging scenes, by giving them previews of those scenes, followed by multiple-choice questions. After viewing the film, students have many opportunities to review the plot developments of the episode and to discuss and analyze the film, both in the post-viewing activities of the film and in the textbook (Parlons de l'épisode).

In the grammar section, Structures pour communiquer, students review and expand upon their grammatical knowledge from the previous year. The activities, which move from form-focused to more open-ended, prepare students for communicative tasks in the culminating section, Prenons la parole.

Extensive and rich coverage of culture: In Culture en images students analyze images from the target cultures for cultural information. Still images from the film and photos based on the chapter theme are accompanied by captions that give students insight into their cultural importance. Marginal notes (Note culturelle) occurring throughout the book also provide a cultural context for selected activities to enable students to interact in a more meaningful way.

Engaging authentic readings: Cultural and literary readings are presented in alternating chapters. Each of the twelve readings is thematically related to the film, to the chapter theme, and to the Culture en images section. The cultural readings are taken from authentic French and Francophone sources, including texts on the German Occupation and the French Resistance. The literary texts range from poetry to excerpts from plays and novels, by writers such as Leïla Sebbar, Eugène Ionesco, and Cajun writer Jean Arceneaux. Comprehension and analytical questions accompany each reading.

In an optional second viewing section, Retournons au cinéma, students watch the film again, this time focusing on cinematographic aspects explained by the director David Murray (Le mot du réalisateur).

Final synthesis of each chapter's new vocabulary and grammar occurs in the Hors- champ activities. This section is based on the backstories written by the screenwriter to help the actors in the film better understand their characters.

At the end of each chapter, À vous d'écrire refers students to the Workbook/Laboratory Manual for guided writing activities, whose topics are related to the chapter themes. In each chapter of the Workbook/Laboratory Manual, À vous d'écrire focuses students' attention on a different type of writing (letter writing, narratives, for instance) or a useful writing strategy (such as effective proofreading, using a dictionary, organizing ideas).

The combined Workbook/Laboratory Manual provides extensive practice of the chapter's new vocabulary and grammar structures. All chapters provide practice in global listening comprehension, pronunciation, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, and culture.