Welcome to Mr. Paul's Site 

for French Students!

Thank you for visiting! I am happy you're here! 😃

This site is meant to be a resource for you to use throughout your study of French. 

It contains links to course documents, information, and other resources as well as external sites to help you learn and practice French. 

Please use this site as a jumping off point for your study of French. 

Find links that interest you, and use them to help you learn more and practice!

French I - Novice

We are working toward reaching the Novice High proficiency level by the end of the year. 

Check out this slide show about proficiency levels if you would like to learn more about them.

Google Classroom

Attention!  In order to access your class page using the links below, you must be logged into your Malden Public Schools Gmail Account.

Picture of Sherbrooke, a city in the province of Quebec in Canada. Colorful buildings sit alongside a river.
Sherbrooke is a university city located in the Estrie region of Québec, which lies directly north of New Hampshire and Vermont.
Palm trees line a beach in a photo of the historic seaside city of Saint-Louis in Senegal.
Saint-Louis, also known by its Wolof name of Ndar, is a hub for fishing, sugar production, trade, and tourism located in northwestern Sénégal.
A woman with her young child on her back kneels down to look at beautiful fabrics at a market in the west African nation of Benin.
A mother and her child peruse a selection of beautiful fabrics at a market in Cotonou, the economic center and largest city in Bénin.
A map of the world displays the French-speaking countries and territories.
Interested in learning more about places in the French-speaking world? Click on each of these pictures to take a virtual journey.

French III - Intermediate

We are working toward reaching the Intermediate proficiency level by the end of the year. 

Check out this slide show about proficiency levels if you would like to learn more about them.

Google Classroom

Attention!  In order to access your class page using the link below, you must be logged into your Malden Public Schools Gmail Account.

Spices at a marketplace in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city in Guadeloupe, an overseas department and region of France that is located in the Caribbean. 
A picture displaying many bags of spices at a market in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city of Guadeloupe.

Helpful Links and Resources

All links below lead to external sites to help you learn French and discover the art, culture, current events, geography, and history of the French-speaking world.

Art, culture, et géographie

Langue française

Média

The country or region of emphasis is indicated beside each link.

  French Program Overview

Le monde francophone

Why study French? For starters, it opens up doors to communicate with people across the globe. Click on the map to learn more!

About Me

Background Information

My name is Paul Degenkolb, and I teach four sections of French I as well as a combined Special Topics Course focused on Identities in the Francophone World and Afro-Caribbean History with Advanced Placement French Language and Culture. This is my seventeenth year teaching at Malden High School.

I grew up here in the Boston area, and I attended public school from kindergarten through high school. In college, I majored in French with a focus on African and Caribbean Literature. After college and a few years working for non-profit organizations, I decided to go back to school to pursue graduate study in education. I knew that what I wanted most was to share my love for my subject and help to make school a healthy and positive experience where every student feels safe, respected, and valued.

In addition to teaching, I enjoy spending 

time with my family and friends, reading, cooking, walking, traveling, and gardening. As you might expect, I love learning languages too. I speak English, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish. I want to learn more languages. Maybe you can help me do that! 😃

Learning is a life-long process. Here I am with one of my professors during a presentation at the Haitian Creole Institute at UMass Boston. We are all students, and we can all learn from one another.

Educational Philosophy

I believe that students learn best in an environment where accountability, clear communication, and high expectations are consistently modeled with honesty, love, and mutual respect. Together, my students and I work to create and maintain an environment in which students feel safe being themselves. When we feel safe and secure, it is much easier to take the risks necessary to be a successful language learner.

A look inside our classroom at Malden High School.