Spellian

[stuckasastuckthing]

Our school is encouraging pupils to sign up to spellian to practise speaking for GCSE languages. Does anyone have any experience of this?

My DD did this and enjoyed it - I think it helped with conversation skills, although the people she was matched with were not particularly a good match for her.

Thanks for the reply! Roughly how long did they talk each time? Think DC is worried it's going to be really awkward ...

DD did it at GCSE level and did not enjoy it at all. She loves languages generally, will talk to anyone, and is doing a language at A Level but really dislikes Zoom.

I don't think it's awkward, though. They are supplied with a topic for conversation and stuff to do so it isn't just sitting and chatting.

Thanks for the reply! What did she dislike about it - was it mostly the zoom?

Yes, just the zoom aspect!

Thanks. DS is already quite shy and dislikes zoom (doesn't even like video calls with friends) so I'm just not sure it will be helpful. I'm also worried about fitting it into an already busy extracurricular schedule.

It's just hard to say no when school are saying how helpful it will be for GCSE etc !

We are getting the same pressure for A Level but DD just doesn't want to do it so I am resisting! She also hates video calls and zoom in general (I think online school in the pandemic put her off).

I think it lasted 30-45’ and the topics helped. My DD was paired with very chatty younger boys, so not awkward just not a great match in terms of language skills and maturity.