How much time per week learning vocab?

[roisin]

ds1 (yr10) is doing GCSE German. He's doing very well, picks it up quickly, got A* for his first Controlled Assessment etc.

But they don't get given regular homework. They are supposed to spend at least 30 mins every week learning vocab/consolidating the vocab they've picked up in class.

ds1 does nothing. I know he can wing it most of the time, but if he wants the highest grades, surely he should be putting in some effort with vocab learning?

If your dc do MFL GCSE, how much time do they spend vocab learning each week on average?

As an MFL teacher, I always suggest that they do 10 minutes a day on vocab - much better done little and often than in 1 big chunk.

Any tips as to how best to go about it?
Do you provide them with lists of vocab they should know?
Or suggest any websites?
Or do you just leave them to it?

Does your son keep a vocab notebook? (indexed by both date and letter) If not, it's high time he started.

Learning vocabulary is a multi sensory thing - hear it, see (read) it, say it, do (write) it. Best to record his own voice so that he can listen to himself.

On the other hand, you're his mum not his teacher, so maybe you don't want to get too involved?

Learning vocab 'passively' (ie so that they recognise it, which is essential for listening and reading exams) they have lists. I suggest that they cover the English with a blank piece of paper and check whether they know each word already. The words they don't know, they write on the paper with the English next to it and pin the paper up somewhere they will see it. The following day, they do the same with their shorter list and hopefully produce a shorter list and keep going till they know them all. Then they return to the original list and recheck that they know all the words.

There is a great vocab book by Malvern, which is quite cheap and lists GCSE vocab by topic.

Thank you.

Is this it Tinuviel?