MFL GCSEs - Is Spanish, French, or German easiest to get a high grade?

I agree German would give him more of an edge and so many people do Spanish including many native or bilingual kids but honestly any MFL he likes would he great for him to do!

I'm really sorry to hear he doesn't like French, as I'm a French teacher - but it sounds to me as if German might be his language - v logical and quite close to English in a lot of ways. It's also a bit more distinctive. So many people do Spanish these days.

My boy is a logical mathematician.
He loves German

I’d go for German!
I was a A student at
most subjects but could not grasp French at all. Couldn’t wait to drop it after year 9. But I did GCSE German and got an A star and then got a B at A Level. I wouldn’t have imagined myself doing a language at A level when we just did French in year 7 but then we started German in year 8 and I loved it.
German to me, sounded so much like English. It’s logical. It has grammar which I found easy to remember.

I was head of a Scottish high school faculty that included the MFL Dept.

Most anglophones find Spanish the easiest language to pick up.

Given he already has a negative opinion of French, I'd go for Spanish and German.
FWIW, both me and my oldest are dyslexic, and STEM orientated. Both of us have found German massively more straightforward than French.

Loving the idea of a Latin oral! Caecilius est in mensa :)

Many autistic students enjoy Latin, if that was offered?

No oral and very logical.

I appreciate it doesn’t help matters in the short term but when it comes to choosing GCSE options you might be able to make a case for him not taking a language at all. Some autistic students do struggle with language-based subjects more than their neurotypical peers and it can be better to focus on the others. (I don’t suggest this lightly - am a languages graduate myself!) In fact if it’s a huge barrier to the rest of his learning it might be worth speaking to the SENco at this point?

I’ve studied French, Spanish and German at different times. I’d say German is the most difficult of the three. It looks familiar at first, as English is a Germanic language and much of the basic vocabulary is similar. However, the grammar is complex due to the three genders and the case system. The US Foreign Service Institute considers that German takes longer to master than French or Spanish: https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/blog/fsi-language-difficulty/.

I think French is easier than German, though I found the pronunciation difficult to master (haven’t yet to be honest) and the spelling is pretty irregular. A lot of the vocabulary looks familiar, but there are a fair amount of false friends.

Of the three, I think Spanish is probably the least similar to English, but also the easiest to learn. I love the phonetic spelling and it’s relatively easy to pronounce. The vowel sounds are straightforward and there are only a few tricky consonants.

I don’t know if the marking schemes allow for the relative difficulties of each language.

@LimeSqueezer

I read German and French at Uni.

I wonder whether German could be the language for him? I think that it might appeal to him.

You could get something like the Dorling Kindersley Flash Cards and the matching book for young learners to see whether he likes the look of what he sees.

https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241601419-german-for-everyone-junior-first-words-flash-cards/

https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241491416-german-for-everyone-junior-5-words-a-day/

Although I love languages, especially German, I am aware that some teenagers really don't like doing them. If he really isn't enjoying French, I would agree with looking at a different language. The change to German, which might intrigue him, could be the boost he needs with language learning.

I liked German because it was logical in a way that French didn't seem to be for me. Fewer pronunciation issues, as well.

Good point from @adventurealltheway - the new spec (which starts being examined in 2026, so teaching to year 10s from this Sept) includes dictation in the listening exam and also reading aloud in the speaking exam. I suspect reading aloud in German is overall more straightforward for a native English speaker. But that's not a huge element of the exam overall.

For basic speech and sentence construction he can try Michel Thomas which is free on YouTube. Not as much emphasis on grammar or vocabulary but excellent as an additional tool to understanding the root of the language
I found it particularly helpful for French

Most definitely Spanish

One thing to consider, speaking as an MFL specialist, is that Year 7 children will be sitting the new format MFL GCSE. One significant aspect is that it will include dictation. It is still not clear how they will differentiate the marking but essentially Spanish is phonetic and therefore the easiest for this specific aspect with German a close second. French is considerably more difficult as graphemes and phonemes differ so much. Watching original language films on Netflix can really help to develop the ear (it's the same process by which a baby learns effectively - listening before speaking).

Funnily enough the most engaged language learners in Y7 are the ones who haven't studied the language at Primary. It might be a case of new language, new teacher. Sadly MFL provision in the UK at primary level is v poor indeed with very few specialist teachers.

One thing that will help regardless is how well read your child is in English as at GCSE there is a heavy focus on cognates and near cognates,ie words that look/ sound the same or almost the same as the English words. It's about the child's ability to recognise and apply patterns in language, and make connections to what they already know.

I would just keep gently encouraging with a focus on fun! Eat out/ cook foreign foods, go on holiday there if you can, host a foreign student - anything you can do to encourage an International outlook really! There are so many advantages for students who speak another language. Not least it helps cognitive ability across the board.

I definitely do.
I speak French and German (and English) and quite often get stuck in French as my German is a lot better and the vocab comes in to my head before the French.

In this instance I'd take Spanish (like French but easier I think for beginners) and German (totally different).

Can you and he unpick at all what he dislikes about French?

tbh if he has absorbed any French at all it will make Spanish easier - both Romance languages.

I meant to say that sometimes a good teacher will incline a child towards a language in KS3 - tho of course not a reason to choose it for GCSE as that teacher may leave - but it might spark an interest.

I think French plus Spanish is not ideal, tho I learned them at the same time. Also if he has the mindset of hating French a fresh start would surely be better.

I don't find two languages to be confusing. The brain has an ability to separate the two languages into two different contents. This is why bilingual people don't seem to accidentally speak to the wrong person in the wrong language.

I would think that all languages, grammatically, would appeal to a logic-minded child. But it’s the speaking and listening that seem to be the problem, and French can be particularly hard for this - because so many words sound the same when you hear them. I’d be tempted to go for German, but that is more grammatically complicated than Spanish.