Am good hints for MFL vocab learning?

[Thethingswedoforlove]

Dd2 is really struggling to retain her MFL vocab. She is doing both French and Spanish. It is stressing her out and she works so so hard!

What level vocabulary is she trying to learn?

Quizlet is an option - especially if she creates her cards herself.
Handwirtten flashcards are also effective, as is the right spacing between repetitions.

Reading (books she knows translated into the target language), watching DVDs, You tube channels in Spanish and French.

My Spanish teacher taught me the secret of the 'fiches'! It works a treat.

Write your vocabulary on business sized cards, about 10 is enough to start. Keep them with you and read them when you've got a minute, on bus, watching TV etc. Test yourself at the end of the day and when you remember them, create a 3 day pile and move them to there.

Add new cards to your every day pile, so you've always got 10-30 cards. Any more is a chore to carry and takes too long to flick through.

On the third day, read your 3 day pile, if you remember them, move them to a week pile. If you forget, move them to your daily pile.

Each week read you week pile, if you remember them, they go to your month pile, if not back to the daily pike.

Go back once a month to your month pile and check you still remember, if not, back to the daily pile they go ... no need for another pile as it's very quick to go through when they're ingrained in your memory.

You'll end up with 4 piles of cards, daily, 3-day, weekly, monthly.

Hope that makes sense, I'm struggling to explain in words and on my phone! And make sure to do English to language and vice versa

Thank you. She is in year 7. She is writing out flash cards as we speak

Try an app called
Memrise. It has all sorts of vocab lists and verb tables which it uses to create games that drill you either mfl into English or the other way round. It's been created by researchers based on the way the brain learns and stores information so is really effective. I really recommend it. If there isn't already a game on there with your exact vocab list, you can make your own (just make sure you get the spelling right!). Hope that helps.

What is the level expected at the end of year 7?
I second Memrise and actively using the vocabulary. I remember sticking post it notes to furniture and trying to identify supermarket goods.
If you learn new voacabulary - without repetition ca. 30% ist gone after 20 minutes, 50% after a day, 70% after a week and 80% after a month. That's why stacked or laddered repetition is so important.
And learn it in context. Put a sentence of your own making on your flashcard. Everything that comes out of your own head sticks better.

www.zut.org.uk/index.html

oye.languageskills.co.uk/index.html

Free between before 9.00am and after 4pm weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday.

zutjunior.languageskills.co.uk/juniorbeginner/exercises.html

The KS2 site above would probably be very useful for Year 7 beginners.

Just to add, with regard to the above, the vocabulary and pronunciation are always right at the bottom of the page for any given topic and activities. Best to start here.

I recommend Memrise. They have great little animations to help remember vocab.

Also AnkiDroid is a great app which effectively does what Dalziel describes electronically. It has the advantage that your DD can go through the decks anywhere or on her phone. AnkiDroid also has ready made desks for various languages and levels.

memrise and duolingo are great !