How to Teach French Days, Months, and Seasons – A French Teacher’s Guide

Days of the week, months, and seasons are some of the first vocabulary I teach in beginner French.

They seem straightforward, and most students can memorize the words fairly quickly. But there are a few important differences between French and English that I make sure to teach from the beginning, especially capitalization, prepositions, and how French dates are written and spoken.

Here’s how I approach it in my classroom.

Start With the Days of the Week

I usually start with the days because students can immediately use them in meaningful sentences.

The French days of the week are:

lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche

One thing I emphasize right away is that days of the week are not capitalized in French:

lundi
not Lundi

I also point out that the French week traditionally begins with lundi, rather than dimanche.

Once students know the vocabulary, I get them using the days in simple sentences:

Je vais au cinéma vendredi.

Nous avons cours mercredi.

I also introduce:

aujourd’hui = today
demain = tomorrow
hier = yesterday

These words make the vocabulary much more useful because students can immediately start talking about when things happen.

French Months, Days, and Seasons – “J’ai… Qui a…?”

Move to the Months

Next, I introduce the months:

janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre

Just as with the days, months are lowercase in French.

This is something I reinforce often because students are accustomed to capitalizing months in English.

I also teach the very useful pattern:

en + month

For example:

en janvier
in January

en juillet
in July

Mon anniversaire est en mai.

I find that birthdays are an easy way to make this immediately relevant to students.

Seasons Are Easy Once Students Know the Months

I usually teach the seasons after the months because students already have the idea of talking about periods of the year.

The four seasons are:

le printemps
spring

l’été
summer

l’automne
autumn/fall

l’hiver
winter

Again, seasons are lowercase in French.

The main thing I want students to remember is the preposition:

en été
en automne
en hiver

but:

au printemps

That au printemps exception is one I make students practice because they will naturally want to say en printemps.

For example:

En été, il fait chaud.

Au printemps, les fleurs commencent à pousser.

French Days, Months, Seasons – Jours, Mois, Saisons – PowerPoint Jeopardy Game

Don’t Just Teach the Vocabulary

This is where I think these vocabulary lists can become much more useful. Once students know the words, I start combining them. Instead of simply asking students to recite the months, I ask questions like:

Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire ?

Quel jour sommes-nous ?

Quelle est ta saison préférée ?

Now students have a reason to use the vocabulary. This helps students see that these aren’t isolated vocabulary words. They’re tools for talking about real things.

Then I Teach Dates

Once students know the days and months, I introduce dates.

The basic structure is: day of the week, le + number + month

For example:

lundi, le 5 avril

mercredi, le 14 juillet

dimanche, le 1er janvier

One point I make very clear is that French uses le before the day of the month: le 5 avril

le 5 avril

For the first of the month, we use: le 1er mai rather than le 1 mai. This is a natural opportunity to review numbers, too.

I Use Dates to Bring Everything Together

Once students know days, months, seasons, and numbers, I like to combine all of them in activities.

For example, students can practice:

Mon anniversaire est le 12 juin.

Nous partons en vacances le 3 août.

Les vacances commencent lundi.

Au printemps, nous visitons Paris.

This gives students repeated exposure to the vocabulary while also reinforcing other beginner structures they’ve already learned.

Watch for These Common Mistakes

There are a few mistakes I expect beginners to make.

Capitalizing days and months

Students naturally transfer the English convention:

Lundi
Janvier

I continually reinforce that French uses lowercase:

lundi
janvier

Forgetting “en” with months

Students may say:

Je pars juillet.

I want them to recognize the pattern:

Je pars en juillet.

Saying en printemps

This is probably the most common preposition mistake with the seasons.

The pattern is:

en été
en automne
en hiver

but:

au printemps

Forgetting le in dates

Students often transfer the English structure and say:

Je pars 5 juillet.

I teach:

Je pars le 5 juillet.

My Teaching Sequence

If I’m introducing these concepts to beginners, I generally follow this order:

1. Days of the week

Start using them in simple sentences right away.

2. Months

Introduce en + month and use birthdays as a natural context.

3. Seasons

Teach en with three seasons and au printemps as the exception.

4. Dates

Combine days, numbers, and months using le.

5. Real-life practice

Use birthdays, holidays, schedules, vacations, weather, and other situations where students naturally need these words.

I find this progression works well because each step builds on what students have already learned instead of treating days, months, seasons, and dates as four unrelated vocabulary lists.

French Days, Months, and Seasons Resources for Teachers

If you’re looking for ready-to-use resources for teaching these essential beginner French vocabulary topics, I’ve created materials that provide students with explanations, practice, and opportunities to use the vocabulary in context.

French Days and Months – Crossword and Sudoku Puzzles

I also have a French Days, Months & Seasons Bundle if you’d like to have the resources together.

French Days, Months, and Seasons Bundle – Les Jours et les Mois

These are the kinds of resources I use to give students enough repetition to move beyond simply memorizing the vocabulary and actually use it when talking about dates, schedules, birthdays, and everyday life.

More French Teaching Tutorials