Paradoxically, being at home for twelve months has made the world more accessible for those students, who have access to a solid internet connection. Virtual field trips, virtual concerts and museum visits have opened the doors of possibility for intercultural understanding. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the language classroom, where an insight into […]
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We all know that learning a language requires perseverance over time, so helping students to develop this is key to their success. My years in teaching have been very varied. I’ve taught languages in primary and secondary schools and taught English and PE as well. Completing the gold Duke of Edinburgh award and returning […]
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As a white, straight woman teaching in an outstanding school in an area with low levels of deprivation compared to the national average, it is more than apparent to me that I ought to be more than just aware of my ‘privilege’. Not only this, one of the main reasons I fell in love with […]
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Following months of screen gazing, limited interaction and working in isolation, our students are ready to come to life and to feel the buzz that our lively and dynamic MFL methodology brings. A foreign languages lesson is a social event where interaction and communication are essential, just what our young people need, having been starved […]
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In 2019, the British Academy, the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering produced a shared statement calling on the UK Government to adopt a national strategy for languages. They were concerned that the “UK’s poor language capacity has resulted in the loss of economic, social, cultural, and research […]
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The single most requested training I get from MFL teachers relates to listening skills. Colleagues often feel this is the most difficult skill to prepare pupils for, possibly because it is easy to misunderstand the myriad of micro-skills that make up “listening”. For pupils it is also difficult: it often triggers anxiety and leads to […]
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We will soon know Ofqual final decisions about awarding grades for GCSE and A Level students this summer. Their consultation closed just over a week ago and has received a record number of responses, not only from educators but also from the young people whose grades are at stake. In our profession we are all […]
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Last week we saw the final criteria for the MFL speaking endorsement published by Ofqual ( link here ). For our colleagues in English this is not a new thing, but for us in MFL it is a novelty and as such it has raised a certain amount of uncertainty and concern. How can we decide fairly […]
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The Translation Exchange at the Queen’s College, Oxford, launched a brand-new competition for schools in September 2020. The competition is inspired by the work of the translator Anthea Bell OBE (1936–2018), one of the finest and most influential literary translators of the 20th and 21st centuries. The competition takes place in March 2021, but we […]
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This return to school has been like no other. As usual, we have had to face confirmation of Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve after a long summer break; but this time, with the addition of those months in lockdown. And, although happy to be back in school, we have found ourselves having to work extra hard not […]
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