Help with French - any teachers around?

[almightygirl]

Ds1 is coming up to the end of yr 8 and is struggling with French, in particular his tenses.

Can anyone recommend any books or websites (other than BBC bite size) that can help him?

Tia

Really you just need to learn how to make the tenses and then all the irregular forms. It's simply about learning, I don't honestly think any websites can help you really.

The verbs are in the middle of any decent dictionary.

Good vocab learning apps/websites are Duolingo and Memrise.

This website is very good, it has good clear explanations and interactive quizzes.

There are also a couple of apps where you can test conjugations, but I can't remember any offhand, and there are always new ones coming on stream anyway.

Thank you. I’ll have a look at those websites.

@clary we have a dictionary and we’ve sat down to practice them so many times but it’s just not sticking. I thought something more interactive might help.

Ds1 is in year 11 but doing German. From year 7 he did Duolingo app every day and then school moved them onto Memorise but he rates Duolingo alongside it.

When he came to do tenses he already had the basics nailed down so found it easier.

Ds2 is in year 8 and doing French and also does the Duolingo app. It is literally 5 minutes and that daily activity keeps it fresh in the brain. Plus it is on their phones so easy to log onto.

I definitely rate Duolingo, but I think it's better for rote learning of vocabulary, the repetition lodges it in your brain.

Op, firstly make sure he understands what the tenses and verb conjugations ARE - I think it's tricky because in English we don't conjugate in the same way - not much variation of verb endings - plus you don't learn tenses in the same way. I would focus on one verb eg jouer (regular) or faire (useful) and see if he can grasp that, use it in sentences about different people in different times. Then move on.

I often felt that setting students to learn je joue, tu joues, they just didn't understand why!

Sorry to seem dismissive in earlier post, I am just a bit weary of a website constantly being the answer.

I always used the '501 french verbs' book as a reference to test myself... have a quick google of it to see if you think it might help...

Language Gym for verb conjugation.

And yes to Tex's French grammar, linked above.

DD is in year 8 and they use Studio 2 Rouge.

Duolingo is fantastic for improving French; I use it to build on my GCSE French from many years ago. I feel it's particularly good at expanding vocabulary as the same words are repeated so ultimately you're forced into learning them.

Duolingo is good for verb conjugations as well but these are introduced at a very slow pace. If your son zipped through the earlier levels you could get onto conjugation practice but it does take time to find them; they're not clearly labelled. If he was willing to commit to practicing long term on a daily basis it works but it's only a solution for the long term I'd say; it's not a quick fix.

It's free so you've got nothing to lose by giving it a go! My son has just finished year 8 and he uses the site for a short period of time most days; he's been doing it for about a year and his French is excellent. Disclaimer I'm not a teacher but I'm not sure how many schools use Duolingo; I see it more as extra-curricular help.