Extra tuition in French for high flier

[traceyinrosso]

Any french teachers out there ? My very bright year 9 daughter wants to take French to A level and hopes eventually to study law with French at Uni ( yes I know very forward planning!). She isn't struggling - on the contrary is taking foundation French at end of year 9 but knows she has to do really well both at GCSE and A level and has asked if we will ask a friend who is a French/Russian graduate for extra tuition. Is it really necessary or worth it ? If it would really alter long term chances of succeding then we would struggle to find the money for extra help but not sure if she is just a perfectionist who is worrying needlessly. Any words of wisdom ?

My DD is currently doing well with her French and sits her GCSE's soon. Rather than spending money on tutoring to get the extra few marks, another option would be some time in France where she can be totally immersed in French. We're lucky in that DD's best friend now lives in Paris, so she goes for short breaks where yes, English is spoken. But the parents are very good at making sure she speaks a lot of French and also spends time with her best friend's friends who only speak French. A lot of schools also do French trips and French student exchanges.

Are you listening to french radio? Thats a very good way to practise listening skills.

Try the student union for your local uni, they are normally happy to point you in the right direction, plenty of languages students would like to earn a few extra pounds.

I am learning french for my degree at the moment, I have found it really helpful to have an hour once a week with my friend who is bilingual just speaking in French.
I also write to her every couple of weeks to practise my grammar etc.

OpenLearn is a good website as well, it is the free resource from the OU where you can do short courses online in lots of different subjects including french. You register and can track your progress as you work through the modules.

ditto re French radio - also french dvds available from local library, very useful for broadening her knowlesge of French culture as well as language also lots of mainstream films have also been dubbed into French. Here in London news stalls at stations have lots of French mag - equivalent of OK etc very easy to read

Francais est pas difficile, le BBC sont tres bien pour les cours du francais.

Have you asked at the school if the MFL staff have any contacts for exchanges? There really is nothing like spending time around native speakers for helping with fluency in spoken French.
Get her films from LoveFilm such as Mon Pere Ce Heros, La Boum, etc

What does her teacher say?

Haven't actually spoken to her teacher as think he would just think it was unnecessary and I suppose it is in terms of passing as I am sure she will do well but she feels that they don't get much practice in speaking - her french with a Yorkshire accent definitely needs some work !

Well, not knowing your daughter's abilities, or standard in the language, or how the school manages spoken French, I'm not sure how anyone on here can be very helpful! I would talk to her teacher, or the Head of MFL.

My dd in yr 13 is doing french Alevel , not sure she's a high flier though.
She is going to do economics and french at uni.

They have native french speakers at the school to give them practice for the oral parts of the exam. It is a language foundaion school so don't know if that's normal or not.I do know there are loads of them doing french Alevel which is unusual.

My dd has french magazine subscription and watches french films which al helps..I think .

I think she should approach the teacher and get some advice

Speaking to a native speaker is helpful at any level, as is listening to French radio or watching films in French with subtitles even if just to pick up the way words are said.

Reading French magazines will increase her vocab using the following method:
read through to get the gist and identify any words she doesn't know
try to work out the words from the context
read again to see if it 'flows'
check words she doesn't know in a dictionary and learn them

The more 'natural' Fernch she hears the better she will understand the different uses of grammar and idiom, especially the subjunctive(!) which is fine if you learn it as part of the language but a right PITA if you learn it as a rule from a textbook.#

Am not a French teacher - am an English teacher in France so just applying the principles and reversing it!

DD joined an Adult French conversation class when she was in Yr10, to give her a boost. She also arranged a French Exchange through a Teacher contact.

In Yr9 she used to like watching Disney or Girly DVD's in French (lots have this option - they know the story and so can follow the speech). ALternatively, watch in English with French subtitles - I picked up phrases when she did that, it's quite fun.

Sky has a few French TV channels, and you can get magazine subs through the school.

It is great though if you have a fluent "friend" who is just prepared to chat occassionally, but as has been said, the schools employ foreign students to help in language classes and they often do one-to-one booster session.

Thanks everyone - any ideas of titles of French magazines she could try ?

There are far, far more French children wanting to go to England on an exchange visit to learn English that there are English children wanting to go to France these days - you should easily find a family with a DD the same age as yours if you put your mind to it. Exchanges are the cheapest way of learning a language at secondary level.

Tracey; this was me at school. I vividly remember asking for extra classes - I loved French and knew it would be central to my future. My wonderful father did everything he could to encourage and support me. He found a french tutor, set up french exchanges and bought me french books and dictionaries. I am so grateful to him for taking me seriously at what was a relatively young age. Because of him, I went on to get top marks in my exams, get a french degree and I now have a career in which french is a key skill.

Please do support her with extra lessons if you can.

Thank you for the encouragement - BlameItOnTheBogey we might ask our friend who has a french/russian degree to help her but don't want to be seen to be pushy parent when push is coming from DD

I do understand Tracey but it would be a real shame if other people's perceptions stopped you from fully supporting her enthusiasm. Hope that doesn't sound harsh but my whole success is down to my father running with my request when I asked for extra classes.

tracey- dd gets a mag called J&J

I just googled frnech mags and ordered one that looked appropriate
it's a fashion/ beauty one for teenagers

you can choose here

thank you ggirl will have a browse

Is the magazine definitely called J&J ggirl ?

It's short for Jeunne et Jolie but it says J&J on the cover

http://images.google.co.uk/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=jeune%20et%20jolie%20magazine&oe=UTF-8&redi r_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi looks like this

merde
this

I would follow all the good advice here about French resources and save your money for tutoring until AS and A level. Your able DD will get an A* no problem at GCSE if she's good at and enjoying French now in Yr 9 - she'll find it easy, honest. A level is much harder and that's the time to pay for help if necessary. My DD is now at a good uni studying French - we paid for a tutor because the teaching wasn't good enough at A level. She also did German but didn't need a tutor for that because of better teaching. Your DD's AS results will alert you if she needs extra help - DD got low C in oral and As for the other bits so we knew there was a problem! Got As in everything at A level - well worth paying the money for that last year.