Navigating the Subway: Indicateur des métros

By Bobby Hobgood

Traveling in a foreign country often requires knowledge of how to use the subway to visit various points of interest in a particular city. The activity is in the form of a role-play in which one student serves as an employee at a government Tourist Office. The other plays the role of a tourist who wants to go to a particular location within the city. He must convey this information to the employee in the target language. The employee then inputs the information into the program and orally gives the directions to the tourist.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • use the Subway Page to determine the best route between two subway stations
  • choose the destination based on specific sites of interest in the city using the attached Subway map
  • use the appropriate vocabulary to give directions to a partner or teacher
  • demonstrate listening comprehension by writing the directions as given by their partner

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

  • pen and paper
  • photocopy of downloadable Subway Map or an actual plan de metro from Paris

Technology resources

computer with internet access for each pair of students

Pre-activities

The names of points of interest should be posted on a board next to their appropriate stations to give purpose to the student’s choice of destination. Students should be taught the appropriate verbs used to discuss using the subway, e.g., entering the station, getting on/off, changing trains, arriving, and exiting.

Activities

The teacher first models the activity by opening the website and then choosing the appropriate city. For French classes, note that a French version is available on this screen. The rest is explained on-line: input the departure station and arrival station, then click the “Compute route” button. The program then lists the route the user will take, listing all stations in between, denoting the stations where the user will change lines, and the new direction that the user must take. Following, the program can also display the route on a graphical map for user to see.

The activity is in the form of a role-play in which one student serves as an employee at a government Tourist Office. (Students must decide at this point the location of the Tourist Office, which determines the point of departure.) The other plays the role of a tourist who wants to go to a particular location within the city. The tourist is greeted by the employee. The tourist then explains in the target language that he wants to go to a particular subway station in the city where something is located, e.g., hotel, restaurant, theatre, etc. The employee then inputs the information into the program and orally gives the directions to the tourist. The tourist will write the appropriate information on paper so that he will not forget. Students may also access the map online to see the route just configured by the program.

The role-play then changes so that students have the opportunity to play both roles.

Assessment

Following 20–30 minutes of independent practice, the teacher should indicate a series of three departure/arrival stations to be mapped by students. Students should note the route on paper as they did during independent practice.

Oral assessment — The teacher should ask for volunteers to role-play in front of the class the interplay for each of the suggested routes.

Written assessment — The teacher should ask students to write the directions for each route in the target language.

Supplemental information

The subway handout should be consulted for vocabulary to be taught in advance of the lesson as well as a suggested dialogue for students.

If you do not have a copy of the Paris Metro, you may use this one entitled metro_map.jpg (or metro_map.gif which is smaller in file size).

Comments

You are not limited to the plan as written; I suggest you customize the plan to suit your context. For additional activities, I suggest that you have students plan an itinerary, which involves using The Subway Page.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Second Languages (2005)

Grades 9–12 — High School Level I

  • Goal 1: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION - The learner will engage in conversation and exchange information and opinions orally and in writing in the target language.
    • Objective 1.01: Interact with teachers and others using standard greetings, farewells, and expressions of courtesy orally and in writing.
  • Goal 2: INTERPRETIVE COMMUNICATION - The learner will understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics in the target language
    • Objective 2.03: Follow oral and written directions, commands, and requests.