French!

[Labro]

Just had ds half term report for french, hes Yr 6 prep school, started in year 5 with no french at all.
She keeps being so negative about ds, he has aaked her numerous times about the basics of french. Last year with a different teacher he was getting 90% in all tests. The yr 6 teacher has written that ds has a mental block with french and is resistent to support (she shouted at me when I asked about a dictionary for him and was very critical when he explained that the french club she runs basically follows the yr 5 curriculum for those who have joined in yr 6)
So, french teachers out there, how do I explain to her that its the very basics he doesn't understand so can't then build on the basics. Shes put that in the latest test on ER verbs he had an excellent grasp of grammar but lacked in terminolgy..... what on earth does that mean?????

Lol, more raised voice than shout. Are there any resources for french games online which might switch the enjoyment back on and fill in what ds feels are massive gaps - he said to me earlier that the only way he can explain is that he doesn't know the basic words for objects and doesn't know what would be used in the same way as connectives (so the french equivilent of because for example)

The head of French at the prep where I work likes languages online as a resource for children to use at home to he practice things.

I would image that your son is lacking in vocab learnt in previous years. I would get a good ks3 revision guide, or the ISEB French revision book to have at home to help fill the gaps.

Not a game as such, but DS1 has picked up French by using the google translate tool. There is the CBeebies Lingo show but I have no idea if it covers connectives.

Loads of stuff out there if you google ... I found this about conjugating verbs www.digitaldialects.com/French/VerbConj1.htm I really like using songs with my classes; there are various companies producing teaching songs.

If you have learnt French, and you could BOTH BEAR IT, I would set yourselves the challenge of conquering this by working methodically through whatever notes your son has since he started French, just a few minutes every day, testing him regularly on anything you think is important . Painful but useful practice which should help with confidence. I did this with my ds who was feeling battered a few years ago. We did it for six weeks and it made such a difference. I also recommend a youtube channel called 1AGREENMOUSE for some age-appropriate listening practice.

I got that youtube channel name wrong. It's actually agreenmouse1 or AGREENMOUSE1 - the 1 was in the wrong place but using capitals or lower case doesn't make a difference.