Welcome to the website of student activities created for learning French with Rapports 5th edition. These activities supplement the work you will have from the textbook, workbook, and lab manual. However, these activities are different enough from most that you will do that a few words of explanation are in order.

These activities are based on websites on the Internet. Each one is closely linked with the cultural content of the specific chapter in the textbook. You read a brief message (in English for Chapters P-6; in French for 7-18) and then see a link that you will need to follow in order to carry out the assignment. Most sites involve reading, but a few have listening as a component. None of the sites require that you identify yourself or register, but a very few do require free downloads of well-known "plug-ins" (software).

Working with authentic documents, such as these websites, may be daunting to you, particularly at the beginning. You may be used to reading simple texts with controlled vocabulary in an effort to understand everything. This is not possible with authentic Web pages. As you prepare a passage in the textbook in class, such as the opening dialogue, you will want to know every word. With these assignments, you may need only basic information about the subject of the site.

To complete these activities successfully, please consider the following:

• Allow yourself more time to complete assignments than you usually do. They are more enjoyable if done in an unhurried manner. The more time you spend deciphering a site, the faster your reading skills will develop.
• Remember that your teacher does not expect you to understand everything in the texts. Try to think of these assignments as "survival exercises," what you would do if suddenly plunged into the target culture.
• Do not look up words in a dictionary; it will take forever! Look for words you recognize because they are similar to English or any other language you may have studied.
• Use the context to guess at word meanings. If you notice the word "accueil" on the first page of most French-language websites, you have a way to guess what it means. Also, use graphics and images to guess at words.
• If you aren't sure of an answer, guess! If you have used all the clues contained on the site, you have a good chance of finding the right answer. Your teacher knows how hard it is to understand authentic French at the beginning level.

We hope you will enjoy working with these sites and that you will continue to use these pages for learning French.