How do you support your child in learning a MFL?

[jellymaker]

I'm looking for ways to support my son as he begins year 10 German.
What tips / products can you pass on for me to try and expose him to the language more as I don't speak a word of it.
thanks

you could get him to do an hour of duolingo a day. he can do it online, or i think there is an app. best of luck.

If possible, visit a German speaking country for a weekend or longer (I know it's not always feasible).

It can really help to bring a language alive.

Exposure is essential. Anything that increases what he can hear and speak is helpful. There are loads of options for that from trips to Germany/Austria (not Switzerland so much) to downloading German music and the corresponding lyrics with translations and learning them. Also Netflix shows I switch the language to German and watch with German subtitles. Can pause and repeat too. And switching to the English to translate.

Also if you live in a place where there may be German students perhaps getting one to come and hang out and speak German to your son.

There's a difference between passing exams, learning grammar and vocabulary (all are important and have their place) and enjoying communication as well as experiencing it in a format that is interesting.

Memrise and TinyCards as well as Duolingo. Lots of cultural engagement. A visit to Germany or Austria.

Reading German magazines/newspapers. I presume these are available online. Back in the day, I used to get family/friends who were visiting Germany to bring me back the free newspapers from the flight.

We have a tutor - that helps enormously. Apparently it is also very helpful to find s tv show that you have already watched in English and watch it dubbed - you know the story and the characters so apparently it makes it easier to understand the language.

Exchange trip? Our school.no longer do them so friend organised one privately online this summer.

My DD made friends with a German speaker through our church and went out for coffee with her to practice. Maybe you could ask around via social media if there are any German speakers who fancy helping?

And yes, DD found Memrise v helpful.

When I studied French, my Mum found some brilliant French films (Diner de cons, beinevue chez les chitis etc) which really got me into the language because they were fun to watch.
I also had a children’s French newspaper delivered to the house.
Times have hopefully changed, but I remember our school French lessons were fine for reading/writing and listening skills, but we were all pretty hopeless at speaking French. So I used to spend an hour with my Mum’s friend (a French lady) every couple of weeks, practising French conversation. I improved massively and also learned a lot about French culture from her.

DD does Duolingo and Quizlet as neither DH or i speak Spanish. She also knows a couple of people who are fluent who she can ask for help. We're also planning a holiday to a Spanish speaking country next year.

thank you. all brilliant ideas.

Watch films with the subtitles on in German (not English). Listen to German radio. Find a penpal type friend who has similar interests and hopefully get your DS to go there for a visit so he can have some immersion, if you don't already know people that he can visit.

Could he find penpal type person, these days I think they Skype? DD had one since she was 13 and has penpal now in UK since last year at University and DD just joined her at the same place which is great as she is her first friend there ! I can’t remember how she found her though.

We don't speak German at all but ds has just done it very successfully for GCSE and is now embarking on A level (intending to do it at uni). He did things like watching Deutschland 83 and Das Boot and spent time with a friend of his whose mother is German and who helped them both prep for the oral. We did a couple of visits to Germany over the last couple of years, Frankfurt and Heidelberg, finally spending a few days in Berlin at Easter before his oral in April. It's hard to get the Germans to speak German though if you are English. I ended up pleading with one nice person in a museum to speak German not English so he could answer!

If you can get in to London the absolute best thing we did was book him on to the Goethe Institute GCSE revision course - that was worth every penny. They run them on Saturdays and ds did his from Feb half term this year and he learned a huge amount from it and it gave him much more confidence. Just google Goethe Institute and the info is on their website.

www.gut.languageskills.co.uk

A useful site which offers free access after 4pm weekdays and at weekends.

Lots of comprehension practice, games, etc. All the language that features in a topic is given in a list (see bottom of menu) with sound for accurate pronunciation.