Quiz Quiz Trade – Fun Vocabulary Building Activity for Language Lessons
Background into Vocabulary Building British Linguist, David Crystal states: Vocabulary is a matter of word-building, as well as word use. I totally agree with him. You have to learn vocabulary, but physically use it too. That’s why Quiz Quiz Trade is an effective vocabulary building activity for language lessons. Not only does it combine vocabulary building, it promotes understanding, as well as meaningful interaction between people. That’s what language learning is about right, communication and interaction between people? Many language teaching professionals advise not to teach vocabulary in isolation. Whilst, I agree with this theory to some extent, according to the National Reading Panel (2000), one principle of effective vocabulary…
Low-Prep Speaking and Vocabulary Practice Activity for Language Lessons – Taboo
Easy To Play Vocabulary and Speaking Practice Game for the Language Classroom As usual, I am always on the hunt for useful speaking and vocabulary activities for vocabulary and speaking practice! Especially low-prep speaking tasks to help my language learners to develop confidence in speaking. Luckily, I remembered this one recently and have used it with some of my KS3 German students for general speaking practice, as well as for food & drink practice. Taboo is a very low-prep, easy to play vocabulary practice speaking game. The activity is an oldie, but definitely a goodie! This speaking game with a vocabulary focus definitely works better face to face, especially with…
Complete GCSE French and Intermediate Level Revision Practice by Topic & Skill
200+ Intermediate and GCSE French Level Revision Activities by Topic please check back here tomorrow, I am currently working on adding my materials to this page. Revision can be quite boring and tedious, you can certainly use an interactive website with gap fills at sentence level, but why not do your French revision by topic with vocabulary rich activities, testing your intermediate French language skills in a more interesting way? If you wish to practice your intermediate French language skills and revise topics covered at French GCSE level or French CEFR A2/B1 level, then try out the activities below. There are over 20 common topics found in GCSE French courses,…
Complete GCSE German and Intermediate Level Revision Practice Activities by Topic
German GCSE and Intermediate German Revision Practice If you want to practice your intermediate German language skills and revise topics covered at German GCSE level or German CEFR A2/B1 level, then try out the activities below. Theses GCSE German revision activities are original and include a range of tasks from the most common topics German courses to help you improve your intermediate German language skills. Improve Your Intermediate Level German by Topic and Skill The tasks have been created by topic and by skill, such as: reading, writing, listening, speaking and translation, as well as vocabulary training activities to help you with your intermediate level German revision. The revision tasks…
Vocab, Speaking and Writing Prompts – ‘Take Your Pick’
Useful Vocabulary, Speaking and Writing Prompts for Language Classrooms As a language teacher, I am always on the look out for interesting activities. Especially speaking and writing prompts. Mainly, because I use them to help my students with vocabulary recall, new vocabulary and develop grammar structures in the language classroom. Where Did The ‘Take Your Pick’ Vocabulary Prompts Come From? Last week, I found this ‘I Spy’ worksheet whilst browsing the web. I felt it was a brilliant starting point for revising vocabulary and learning new words and perfect inspiration for speaking and writing. What Is This Activity Useful For? Whilst it’s not quite the traditional guessing game of ‘I…
Fun Games for The MFL Classroom
Fun Language Games for The MFL Classroom To Engage Learners Games are defined as ‘activities that one engages in for amusement or fun’. Nowadays, when learners think of language lessons, they don’t usually synonymy them with the expression fun. So, why not change their thinking? You can do this, fairly simply, by including some low-prep, fun language games for the MFL classroom into your teaching repertoire. Josh Beattie, Assistant Director at the Department for Education stated in 2018 that not enough pupils are taking languages, because “they either consider them boring, dislike their teachers or think they are too difficult.” Although I definitely don’t think that teachers have to have…
Fun Speaking Activity for First Lesson in Language Classrooms
Want to get some weird looks and questions from your family when packing for a new term of college? Get some toilet roll out…! Ready for a fun speaking activity during first lessons in any language classroom. The ‘Loo’ Roll Speaking Activity For First Lessons Today, I started back at college, teaching a speaking and listening course. This ‘loo’ roll activity for speaking was the first fun speaking activity that I learnt during my teacher training course in 2009. I often use it to get students to talk about themselves from the outset of a new course or class. It works for post beginners, intermediate and advanced speakers and allows them…
The Essential List of Websites To Learn French Online for Students
Where To Find Self-Study Websites to Learn French Online? I started teaching French in 2012. Ever since then, I have always been on the lookout for great self-study websites to learn French to share with my students to help improve their French level. I use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram religiously (come and follow me: @theidealteacher), which makes that task really easy. #mfltwitterati and languages teachers all over the world share websites to learn French online on these social networks, and in turn, I share these with my followers, as well as any other useful links I find myself. Thank you to all of you who share the best French resources…
Spontaneous Speaking with Video Clips in Language Learning
How To Improve Your Speaking with Short Video Clips Short video clips are fantastic prompts for spontaneous speaking practice when it comes to learning any language. “Videos generate visual stimulants that wake up the brain cells and demand focused attention” which can be used to enhance the language learning process. This post on using video clips for spontaneous speaking practice in language learning comes mainly from personal experience. Although “most teachers regard video as useful input” (Warwick University – Video For All). So…read on to see how using short video clips helped me to overcome my fear of spontaneous speaking, and to see some great websites with excellent short video…
36 Ingredients for Speaking and Writing To Access Higher Grades GCSE German
Students often ask me, 'Miss, how can I get a higher grade in my GCSE German speaking and writing?' I tell them there are a number of factors to consider, but generally, I tend to guide them to the MFL Progress Ladder, which I wrote about last year. I suggest that in addition to answering the question (!) they should include as many elements as possible from Grade 1- all the way up to their target grade. I advise them to add 2-3 different examples of each element, as far as possible, in any and all of their GCSE German writing and speaking to have more chance of accessing the…
Qualified German and French Teacher – Simplifying Language Learning
