French or German for Y7?

[flibbylake]

Secondary school split year group into two and randomly assign French or German - unless parents make a strong preference for one or the other. Initial language is continued into Y8 and y9. Bright students are allowed to pick up Spanish in Y9. It is not possible to learn both French and German. DS has done a bit of primary French but really doesn't have a strong opinion about this one way or the other. DH and I have a smattering of French but reasonable A level German. Should we ask for German where we can help out more? Or go for French and teach a little bit of German along the way?

Should have said that we realize/assume that Spanish will be easier to learn post French than German. And that teaching 'a little German along the way' may be idiotically naive.

Clearly I've hit on the dullest question ever.....

Just got a letter and have choice of French German or Spanish. Can see pros and cons of each so will probably say no preference and leave it to fate.

Older DS is currently taking GCSE Getman and despite my A level in it I've not helped him with anything - I have offered but you may find grumpy teenagers don't want help even when it would be useful!

Dds secondary do both in year 7. All of her friends love German and hate French so far! All MFL teachers at the school teach both languages, so can't really blame it on the teachers... Might be the curriculum? Or is German just more fun to learn initially????
Don't know if this helps...

Exactly the same thing happens at DS's school except we don't even get the choice of Spanish later on! In theory it's possible to request one but you have to be able to give a good reason (e.g. one parent is fluent in the language, it's spoken at home but they appreciate learning the grammar rules etc). I'm not thrilled about it but, having said, that DS isn't that bothered about French or German. So, I didn't stress too much about which he got - as it is, I speak French much better than I do German so he was probably lucky to get the former!

I would ask to see the GCSE results for the two groups. Is one notably stronger than the other? What are the teachers like? What is the ratio of boys to girls in the respective groups? Assuming that there are no big differences, I would go with German if DS is not bothered as that is the language you can support at home - and German is the most widely spoken first language in the EU.

Has your DS enjoyed the French he's done at Primary? If not, or if he's completely ambivalent, I'd be tempted to opt for German if you have an A level in it. There's also something to be said for the argument that German is a bit more like English than French is.

Waiting - yes, quite, I can well imagine help may not be gratefully received!

Ms Marg - The results are almost exactly the same for both. Only 30% of children take a language at GCSE. The results for A Level are in single figures for both so not really terribly helpful. It's clear it's not the strongest part of the (rated Outstanding for what it's worth) school.