11 Plus Exams Forum

DS1 is atrocious at French. We can't work it out as he is great at Latin and has a good memory. Anyway it is beginning to become a real problem and I am wanting to buy him a good CD Rom that will help all aspects of his french - oral, written, listening - and one that is stimulating and requires no interaction from his parent who struggles with her main language!

Whilst I'm here does anyone know of maths software which will write sums including trig and A'level questions/answers?

Thanks!

I posted recently with french links languagesonline, linguascope (a bit basic). For maths there is the mymaths website, usually available through schools. Ask him is he has a log in and a password.

We use the Michel Thomas cd's. I know some people disapprove but after trying various other means, it's the only thing my DS's will do regularly & as there is no memorising or writing, they love it. V. expensive though & we bought off ebay - though beware of all the different versions.
Recently I did a free 24 hour trial of rosetta stone for French & it was really good but I couldnt say how that would be on a more advance level though they do say money back guarantee for 6 months.
It's funny that no matter how much studying or courses I do, I find French very difficult to retain but Latin & German are a swizz. Must be the wiring of the brain - they are far more logical to me & would suit a more mathematical mind IMO.

Thanks. It's difficult to know what ones to pick.

Mymaths looks good but I need one that an individual can buy or just the software to write sums.

rosered100 wrote:We use the Michel Thomas cd's. I know some people disapprove but after trying various other means, it's the only thing my DS's will do regularly & as there is no memorising or writing, they love it. V. expensive though

Hi,

That looks very useful for us, thanks Found a download version for "half-price" which means it can go onto a portable mp3 player or phone with a large memory. Now just have to get DS1 to agree to listen to it!!

steve

rosered100 wrote:We use the Michel Thomas cd's. I know some people disapprove but after trying various other means, it's the only thing my DS's will do regularly & as there is no memorising or writing, they love it. V. expensive though & we bought off ebay - though beware of all the different versions.
Recently I did a free 24 hour trial of rosetta stone for French & it was really good but I couldnt say how that would be on a more advance level though they do say money back guarantee for 6 months.
It's funny that no matter how much studying or courses I do, I find French very difficult to retain but Latin & German are a swizz. Must be the wiring of the brain - they are far more logical to me & would suit a more mathematical mind IMO.

I had a conversation with my OH the other night about Midget not being any good at French and doesn't have an interest. We were going to see if it's all language's once at senior or whether he will pick up other one's such as German and be good at it, if not then we will have to do some extra work Your comment on the mathematical mind I find very interesting and hoping my son is like this and will atleast be good at a different language

We have exactly the same conversation at home all the time. DH is completely English / French bi-ling as was his father. Both of his siblings find languages very hard - he finds learning new lang as easy as falling off a log. DS1 is superb at French and loves Spanish too, DS2 has no interest and finds it much harder - DS2 is far more mathmatically minded than DS1. DS1 finds Latin a lot harder despite getting help at home as I did Latin A Level (but my French is completely atrocious). Is there a pattern developing here? I am sure there is something in the genes when it comes to language learning and not sure you can force it. They used Muzzy when they were very young and now DS1 practices at home with DH - I am sure it is exposure to spoken that helps him - could you use french story tapes or radio?

Latin and French are, in many ways, chalk and cheese.

Latin suits logical children who can apply the different rules to endings and learn volume vocabulary. There is very little call to converse in it or understand someone talking in the language. It is very much on the page and like a mathematical sum you have to decode.

French requires quite different skills of listening and speaking, and you tend to have a 'flair' for this --or not, as the case might be.

To Tipsy:

As far as advanced maths questions, look no further than the exam board websites. You can download previous years' exams from AQA for free and Edexcel for a small fee.

If it is only paper based questions and material then you can also use: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects ... alevel.htm

For the French - I have these sites bookmarked but never used

A daily French lesson - can download to an ipod ************

French tv reports - good for pronunciation
http://www.tf1.fr/jt-13h/

I have used this one, only the free version though & quite a while ago so it may have changed - byki lite. It uses flashcards & I think you can make your own. Other users upload their lists & some are quite advanced
************* Before You Know It

removed by amoderator