A thread for sad mfl teachers

[emkana]

MN is full of highly educated parents, but even here the majority view seems to be that continuing with learning a mfl is pointless. Often the advice is to go for the subject that will give you a higher grade over the mfl. Makes me feel like there really is no hope for language learning in this country...

All mimsy
The ebacc had unforeseen consequences... DC that had no interest were forced to take MFL and so this had an effect on those cohorts. I see this in the state schools I work in.
My own DC are at a selective independent school and have the opportunity to take several languages, including eg Russian, Spanish, Italian ab initio for GCSE, starting Y10. DC2 has chosen to do one of these, as well as French and German which he has been studying since respectively Y7 & 8.
I was on a webinar earlier today of MFL subject leaders, and there is a very real fear the MFL will wither on the vine in state schools.

I am not an MFL teacher, but I studied three languages at o level, then two languages with maths at a level and then did a degree in French and German. I loved languages and was good at them, but sadly I haven't found them useful for work, only for travelling. My DDs are good at languages, but are choosing sciences for a level, as we all think they will be more beneficial for a good career.

I agree with the comments about A levels. I did my A levels 25 years ago, and hated having to do literature. I was able to choose to do an extended language option, and only a little literature. Then in university, I felt that there was too much emphasis on culture and literature. I would have preferred to do more business and advanced translation options, they would have been much more useful.

Some really interesting points here. I agree that the new A levels in languages are a mistake! It will make them even more elitist. I loved my traditional, literature - based MFL degree and do teach a little literature at A level but realise it's not going to motivate everyone. Students need a variety of cultural knowledge.

I do think languages are useful for careers if only with transferable skills. I always, however, advise students to do Languages and something else at uni.

I also think that sending students abroad more would be a much better way of teaching MFL. But young people are really resistant - as someone who has organised numerous exchanges and trips abroad, I have been surprised (sadly, not any more) by the resistance of teenagers to want to travel and see more than just tourist hotels etc. It is very difficult to persuade young people to take part even in a week's (fairly cheap) exchange trip even in the relatively affluent area I am in. It's not lack of money, it's lack of interest in other cultures that stops most students.

I currently teach another subject as well but think that otherwise I would be made redundant this year.

I fond it really sad. Will definitely be encouraging mine to learn languages, as it opens up so many possibilities. I learned German from y7 and French from y9. The German meant that I was fortunate enough to be able to communicate on an exchange trip, a county youth orchestra tour, a school ski trip to Austria and a world scout camp in Switzerland - as well as with many of the German kids who stayed in the UK campsite our family frequented. The French was a good grounding for picking up some Spanish and understanding more of the world around me, as well as giving me a kick start on learning Italian when I moved there.
In all cases, knowing languages has been great for my love life!

DD2 is in y9 and has chosen French, German and Latin. Time tabling doesn't allow a third MFL, so the teachers are encouraging her to do Spanish GCSE outside school, and she is desperate to do it, but I think it will be too much.

She is at a 'super selective' grammar, and is very keen to do language A levels, (and then at university) but 98% of girls do sciences and end up studying medicine etc. I hope enough girls choose languages so she can study them at A level. Otherwise she will have to change school.

Btw a slight derail, should she do Spanish or French GCSE? She prefers, and is better at, Spanish, but has been advised that French is more 'useful'. I should say that we have been told that she is an unusually gifted linguist (sorry) so is actually very good at all the languages. Thanks

But I think MFL need to be prioritised, and I think it's crazy that one isn't compulsory at GCSE. This makes us laughing stocks around the world. Thanks for teaching MFLs, and please carry on the good work.

Well, we have managed to buck the trend and increase numbers considerably this year. We are hopeful we will maintain this when options are taken this year as well.

I personally work from day 1 with the year 7s and talk in terms of 'when you do GCSE', not 'if' (only with top sets, mind!). A subliminal drip feed of 'this is your future'...! I pull out GCSE questions that match topics we are doing and use them for plenaries mainly, making it clear that this is an actual, real-life GCSE question and you're doing it now in Year 7/8/9. We do foundation reading and listening papers with top set year 9s to again show them that for topics they have done, the questions are do-able. This has also helped us identify those who are likely to do well because some are scoring in the high 20s out of the usual 35 by mid-year 9 so we know who to target for a more personal chat about their options. I do find a lot of students think it's 'too hard' therefore this approach seems to show them that perhaps it isn't and gives them food for thought.

'A' level is a different kettle of fish and I agree, depressing.

It does not make us laughing stocks. Being native speakers of the dominant language is a fantastic advantage in life.

If anything, foreigners regard me with suspicion when they discover part way through a negotiation that I am picking up some of what they know.

I refuse to be a sad MFL teacher. Why beat myself up when the Daily Fail does it so well already? ;)

In all seriousness though, sometimes I worry. I'm lucky to work in a school currently that has a good take up of GCSE French... but also unlucky in that it's just French. No time in the curriculum for anything else... However, we do get three fifty minute lessons a week - better than many schools give to MFL now. Must be because the head's a linguist ;)

My DD is in Yr 11 and doing 3 MFL for GCSE. She loves and breathes her languages.

We have been very dissapointed with the lack of MFL available for A level. She wants to do 3 MFL for A level and we have had a big problem finding anywhere offering such provision.

I do think MFL are under valued in this country and can only assume its because we are as a nation generally lazy because so many people from other countries speak English so well.

However, please dont be sad. People like my daughter are being spurred on by staff like you. The MFL staff at her school have been fantastic offering so much support and encouragement.

I have a little girl well 11 who wants to learn as many languages as she can.
she has a tutor for Italian and french and from september will start German.
She is teaching herself some Latin and a friend is teaching her Polish.

I know she is only one child but there are some out there for whom language is important.
I have no idea how many she will be able to continue to GCSE standard, but her friend who teaches her Polish has taken several GCSE languages outside school.

It must be hard when your subject is overlooked by the system, parents and students. Languages are important and I think you all do fantastically well OP.

There are quality issues. I would not teach every musical instrument though I teach music. Yet my son has the same teacher for French and Spanish. That is not a situation I support.

I think that Mfl who are native speakers should be preferred.

I teach French and German because I have a degree in French and German and have lived in both of those countries.

I am a native English speaker but that wouldn't necessarily make me a good English teacher abroad.

Some people think native speakers are not as good as language teachers because they can't empathise with the difficulties learners are facing.

Not sure I agree, but I do find it odd how you are expected in Britain to be a teacher of MFL, or science, or humanities. In Germany people can teach completely different subjects, and do it very well. I could be a very good history teacher, as well as German, whereas I'm not that great at French.

DD is Y8 and she's currently doing French, Spanish & German at the moment. She's hoping to do two of those at GCSE and i can definitely see the benefits of MFLs.

I just wish i'd had the same opportunities when i was at school

Fair enough. I come from the "7 years of French A level grade A and I can't understand or say a thing" school of French so that has probably prejudiced me.

As an MFL teacher, I think I teach my second (weaker) MFL better, even thought I am as fluent in my first MFL as English, precisely because I can see and understand the difficulties better - I only learned that language recently - and in a hurry - for my teacher training).

I had a letter from my ds' (state) school on Thursday saying that they are not going to do the Ebacc and they won't require the students to do either history/geography or an MFL anymore.

I may make myself unpopular here, given it's a teachers' thread but I am really worried about this. When I was at school I had to do a GCSE science even though I didn't want to but I accepted it as part of a balanced curriculum. Shouldn't those who prefer science have to do something out of their comfort zone as well? And I think it's a huge backwards step for a school to stop requiring MFL at GCSE. It feels like downgrading it, and will that make it less attractive for MFL teachers to go to that school and in turn lead to a vicious circle of teachers not joining the school, so the school can't offer a decent MFL offering which in turn leads to students not doing MFL etc.

To be fair, my school didn't require a humanity but I suppose if you do 2x English and an MFL you are doing something over and above Maths and Science.

The problem with making the DC do MFL ( or hist or geog) that are u willing means that DC with lower interest have to take those subjects, and when they get below target grades for being bone idle teachers' pay suffers. Better to have fewer, motivated than many unmotivated is probably the school rationale.
I see classes in many subjects and Year 11s who are are not interested in the subject make lesson a misery for everyone. At least with Maths Eng and Science, even if they hate them they have to get the grades for GCSE so there is some incentive to work.

I'm a sad parent.

My dd is doing 2 MFLs for GCSE this year, and my ds did one 3 yrs ago.
However - neither of them can speak the language - it's all about perfecting a pre-written passage, then learning it off by heart.

French was one of my weakest subjects over 30 years ago, but I can still make a FAR better attempt at a conversation in French than either of my dc. It's the course content that needs to be overhauled.