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Secondary education

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Original poster

Is there an easy way for DD to catch up in French & Spanish?

31 replies

Katymac · 29/01/2010 21:18

Always assuming she can

They are her worst subjects & while I don't want to pile stuff on her something fun might be good.

Mind you I am an abysmal linguist & if it was really good I might try too

OP posts:
Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 22:51

Bump

OP posts:
bruffin · 29/01/2010 23:06

What level is she on?
Looking at your other thread it's not clear what level she is on for languages.

Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 23:10

She is Yr 7 - never done Spanish befroe but has done bits of French off & on for about 4 yrs

She is about 3c for both of them

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bruffin · 29/01/2010 23:15

Thati s not behind in fact it is really good! At Dcs' school the expectation for top set is level 4 at end of year 7 and your dd is on target for that.

seeker · 29/01/2010 23:17

That's a good level fort this time of the year if she's never done the subject before! Hand on, I'll see if I can find my dd's year 7 targets.....

Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 23:21

For end of year 7 they are expecting a 4a

Am I not reading this right

F&S are her worst apart from Art (3b/4b) & PE (3a/5c)

I can explain PE - she is a dancer & terrified of contact sports as if she takes an injury it could wreak her training

Art isn't so easy

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seeker · 29/01/2010 23:23

OK - in the May of year 7, dd was at 3b for German and that was her target for the end of the year, and she was at 3A for Spanish with a 4c end of year target. Remember this was in May!

I've got her target sheet in front of me - she was doing well but not wildly brilliantly in a high achieving selective school. Would any more of her levels be helpful to you?

Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 23:26

Yes please Seeker if you don't mind

DD is broadly average (IMO) little sparks of greatness (iykwim - intuition maybe?)

I just don't want her to fall behind (bog standard comp)

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bruffin · 29/01/2010 23:34

My DS was 3A for french and german in may of year 7 but we only get targets for KS3 He was top set and had quite a lot of pressure on him. At this stage he was only 2b/2a for french/german. I think my DD yr 7 was a 2c for french in November when we got her progress report.

Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 23:38

Targets for KS3 are 6c - is that not realistic?

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bruffin · 29/01/2010 23:44

Yes
DS is now yr9 and his targets are 6b his report that is being compiled at the moment (we can see it on line) gives his level as 5a for both french and german.
DDs target for ks3 is a 6b as well.

bruffin · 29/01/2010 23:49

I should say DS really lacked confidence in languages as he has dyslexic problems but I had him moved down a class in german and then school decided to move him down in french and he has really grown in confidence and is now even thinking about taking a language for GCSE

Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 23:51

Blimey - that is good

I am very confused by it all & I just don't know what is going on

The school is always banging on about her being off & it causing her to fail but I'm not sure she is failing tbh

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bruffin · 29/01/2010 23:56

I have also found progress is not steady, it does tend to speed up at the end of the year as they do exams.

Original poster
Katymac · 29/01/2010 23:57

Thanks for this - I'll come back to the thread tomorrow

Night

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magentadreamer · 30/01/2010 07:16

I find the setting of MFL targets slightly bizarre and very much the computer says due to the fact they are set before the DC has even set foot in the classroom.I can imagine the frustration for MFL teachers Dd's target is a 6b for the end of KS3 this was set on the assumption that her school was doing a 3 year KS3, they have now introduced a two year KS3 but officially her target stays at a 6B, unofficially her MFL teacher has told DD she has a target of a 5B for the end of Yr8 and KS3 at her school.

DD isn't a linguist, works hard and puts the effort in. She was a 3a end of year 7 and her latest report at Xmas was a 4a. So your DD is actually doing well.

Does the school have a subscription for lingoscope? DD has used this plus Livemocha.com was recommended by a friend of mine, the basic courses are free.The level is pretty basic but covers a fair bit and has a range of languages. If you did use Livemocha you should be aware that it does have a social network side to it in that you can be asked to mark students doing English work plus you can be contacted on the site - I just changed DD's status to offline and she has never had any problems.

Original poster
Katymac · 30/01/2010 09:33

That is really interesting - I will have a look at those websites thanks

I crashed & burnt @ French while at school & I'd rather DD didn't do the same

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claig · 30/01/2010 09:39

for a break from the hard slog of studying, let her listen to some great French music by Edith Piaf or Charles Aznavour etc., all available on youtube. The lyrics are truly beautiful and poetic and she can find them by googling. When she starts singing along to "La Vie en Rose", it will probably drive you nuts, but it will improve her accent no end. Get her to watch great French movies about Piaf's life story or classics of French cinema like Jean Gabin in "Le Jour Se Leve". You can buy or maybe get these films out of the library, they come with English subtitles.

Original poster
Katymac · 30/01/2010 09:42

Oh - lots of DVDs can be 'played' in another language - maybe watching films she knows well in french/spanish would help too

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Tinuviel · 01/02/2010 16:09

I teach MFL 2 days a week in a bog standard comp!! Are they starting both languages from scratch in year 7? You mentioned that your DD has done some French before - have all pupils done French before? IE Are they starting further on, IYSWIM?

Most of our pupils get between Level 1 and Level 3a by the end of year 7, starting from scratch. A Level 4 after one year of learning a subject would be quite high IME. I might expect a handful to be getting that but not many. And I certainly wouldn't count a Level 3 as 'falling behind'!

As far as the Level 6 at the end of KS3, well that depends on how well she copes with tense work later on - to achieve a Level 5 you must be able to refer to past, present and future events. Obviously you are dealing with longer passages at that level as well.

Original poster
Katymac · 01/02/2010 16:16

Depending upon which school they have come from they all have different levels of each languages

Interesting that she is the same level at each; when she has done so much more in French than in Spanish

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Prosecco · 01/02/2010 16:32

look at the shared activities

this one

BBC

I like this one

Bitesize

a list of other links

BUnderTheBonnet · 01/02/2010 16:37

MFL levels are lower than subjects like Maths, because they've only just started. That's entirely normal. Eg level 3 in French and level 5 in Maths would be fine for both. National curriculum levels are very confusing. Thanks, OfSTED

Original poster
Katymac · 01/02/2010 18:30

Thanks for these - they look great

The grading system does seem odd - but when OFSTED are involved

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frakkinaround · 01/02/2010 18:54

If she wants some practice in written French she's more than welcome to have my email! Or if there's anything she's struggling with as a concept and needs a leg up I'd be happy to help. I think you have my email?

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