À l'école! School Words in French

Look around the room you are in right now. How many school objects can you spot — a pencil, a book, a bag? Now here is a challenge: do you know how to say ANY of them in French? French is spoken by over 300 million people around the world, from France to Canada to Senegal. Learning school words in French is a brilliant place to start, because you already know what these things are — you just need the French label!

In French, all nouns (naming words) are either masculine or feminine. This changes the small word before them. 'Le' goes before masculine words, and 'la' goes before feminine words. 'L'' is used before words starting with a vowel sound. Don't worry — you will learn this bit by bit! Here are your key school words. Say each one aloud as you read it: 🖊️ un crayon (uh KREH-yon) — a pencil 📏 une règle (ewn REG-luh) — a ruler 📚 un livre (uh LEE-vruh) — a book 🎒 un sac (uh SAK) — a bag ✂️ des ciseaux (day see-ZOH) — scissors 🖍️ un stylo (uh STEE-loh) — a pen 📓 un cahier (uh KAH-yay) — an exercise book or notebook 🏫 une salle de classe (ewn SAL duh KLASS) — a classroom 👩‍🏫 un professeur (uh pro-feh-SUR) — a teacher 📋 un tableau (uh TAB-loh) — a board (like a whiteboard or chalkboard) To say 'It is a pencil' in French, you say: C'est un crayon. (Say KAY uh KREH-yon.) 'C'est' means 'it is'. You can use it to name any object!