KS3 Languages

Year 7

During year 7, all pupils are given a taster; learning one language for 4 weeks from German, Spanish and French before choosing which one they would prefer to continue studying  in the future. Students will cover the following topics:

 

  • How to learn a language
  • Personal description
  • What I like to eat
  • Where I live 
  • Olympic Sports
  • Hobbies & Free Time

MFL

How to learn a language

Students learn about phonics, dictionary skills and simple grammatical terms. Students also learn how to access online learning and homework platforms.

Personal description 

Students learn how to introduce themselves in German and French and give personal information such as name, age, birthdays, nationality and characteristics.  Building on this, students learn to describe their family members and give opinions about them.

What I like to eat

Students learn how to introduce themselves in Spanish before exploring food and family life, both at home and in Spanish speaking countries. The term ends with students learning about Christmas traditions and customs in all 3 target-language speaking countries before making their language choice.

Where I live 

Students learn to say where they live and where it is situated on a map. They will then learn to talk about what is in their town before moving on to describe their dream town. Following on from this, they will learn to describe their house and bedroom in detail and finally describe their dream house.

Olympic Sports

Students learn the vocabulary for  Olympic sports, how to give opinions on them and learn about cultural aspects in relation to the target-language speaking countries at the Olympics. Students then learn how to say which sports they play, how often they play them and give an opinion.

Hobbies & Free Time

Students then look at hobbies in general  and talk about when they do them, who with and where. Students then look at the weather and which hobbies they do in different weathers. Finally, students look at the conditional tense to say which sports they would like to do in the future.

Year 8

During Year 8, students recap, consolidate and extend their previous learning through the following topics:

  • My family and I
  • Friendships and Pets
  • Fashion
  • Festivals and celebrations
  • Food and healthy eating
  • Well-being and illnesses

Word languages and edges of flags

My family and I

Building on prior knowledge, this unit focuses on describing family members in more detail to include extended family, what students would like their family members to be like, whether they get on with their family members or not and why and what type of family they would like/will have in the future.

Friendship and Pets

Students learn to talk about their friends and pets. They learn how to describe their friends both physically and personally as well as to talk about the qualities of a good friend. They also learn how to say which pets they have and describe them. Students focus on giving complex opinions and justifying them, using modal verbs and the conditional tense.

Target Language Festivals

Students learn about different festivals celebrated in France, Germany or Spain depending on the language they are studying. They will recap food and look at what foods are eaten at specific festivals and talk about specific traditions that happen. They will also learn to talk about what target language festival they will or would like to visit in the future.

Celebrations & Traditions

Following on from the target language festivals topic, students learn to talk about festivals that they celebrate and will learn to compare them to those in France, Germany or Spain. They will also be able to describe what clothes they wear for certain occasions and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of celebrations.

Food and healthy eating

Students say what foods they like and don’t like to eat in general before revisiting modal verbs to talk about what foods they should and shouldn’t eat and why to be healthy. Students then talk about food they would and wouldn’t like to try if they were to visit target-language speaking countries. Finally, they learn how to order food and make complaints in a restaurant to develop their transactional language skills and experiment with role play scenarios.

Well-being and illnesses

Students learn the body parts in the target-language, the verbs to talk about what hurts or aches, to say what other illnesses they have and what they could do to get better. Students then extend their knowledge of modal verbs to say what they should, could or have to do to be more healthy, revisiting sports and food. They will also learn how to say what other ways they could lead a healthier lifestyle in the future.

Year 9

During year 9, pupils develop their language skills by focussing on 4 topics in greater depth over the school year. Student’s build on prior knowledge from years 7 and 8 as well as introducing more challenging grammar aspects needed for the GCSE. 

  • Entertainment 
  • My future
  • My home and environment
  • Holidays

 

lang

Entertainment and technology

Students learn how to say how often they use different types of technology and what for and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of technology, social media and the internet.

Students will also learn to talk about different types of film and TV genres and say how, when and why they watch them, giving higher level opinions. They will also watch a film in the target-language and write a review.

 

Other media and music

Students learn to talk about  music genres, say why they listen to them and which ones they like the most. Students will also be able to say what their favourite song or singer is and why. Students will listen to different songs both in the target-language and say which ones they would take to a desert island and why.

Finally, students will learn to talk about different book genres and explore extracts in the target-language from popular books.

School life 

Students learn to talk about what subjects they learn at school and give their opinion on these, as well as describing their school building and uniform. Students will then look at school life in the target language country and compare this to that of the UK. Students will then look at post-16 options for them and finally, talk about what they will study in the future and say why. 

My future 

Students learn the vocabulary for different jobs and say which jobs they would like to do in the future and why. Students learn about the skills, school subjects and the tasks they may be  required to do for certain jobs, exploring careers and post 16 choices. Students also learn how to talk about any part-time jobs they may have or want in the future. Finally, students  look at ideal and dream jobs and say why they would like to do them.

Travelling & Dream Holidays

Students recap countries from Y7 and will be able to say where they go on holiday, who with and when. Students learn different types of transport and accommodation and give opinions on them. Finally, students talk about holiday activities and food, recapping vocabulary from both Y7 and Y8, before describing their dream holiday.

Holidays in the Past & Future

Students learn how to talk about a holiday in the past, both positive and negative and how to make complaints. Students then learn to talk about where they will go on holiday in the future including how they will get there, where they will stay and what they will do. Finally, students will be able to produce a piece of writing about holidays in 4 tenses.