By Séverine Capjon, author and French teacher
‘Wait, what? The French GCSE specification is changing again?!’ This is the comment I made when a colleague informed me that the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual were working on a new French GCSE. I find change in education a little daunting but I was relieved to read…
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By Tony Weston and José García, authors and Spanish teachers
From September 2024, thousands of budding young Hispanists across the country will once again be embarking on a two-year AQA GCSE Spanish course, one which they hope will bring them both enjoyment and success.
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By Mariela Affum, author and German teacher
I have over 18 years’ of teaching and examining experience and have seen several “new” specifications come and go. As teachers, we must constantly adapt to these changes and make sure that we provide the best possible preparation for our students, as their grades depend on our understanding of the exam and assessment criteria.
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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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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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The last in our series of tales from language learning takes you on a journey of discovery to Somaliland. We hope these stories will help inspire your students to opt for a modern language (or two!).
Read more I believe that learning languages is not just about the language itself. You learn about culture and our differences and similarities, making you a more open-minded person in everyday life. I think this opens up different and exciting life opportunities, like being more willing to travel and live in different places.
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By Rebecca Nobes The examiners’ reports are a really useful way to pick up on areas to develop in the coming year. Here are my main takeaways from this year’s reports: Paper 1: listening, reading and writing Summary task This was by far the biggest area of weakness. The main things for students to note […]
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Having read the examiners’ reports on GCSE Spanish, French and German, here are my key takeaways in terms of what to work on this year: Listening Revise basic vocabulary It was disappointing to see that students seemed to have forgotten basic vocabulary; this was seen at both tiers. For example, students did not know the […]
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