11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi,

My ds will be learning German and Spain in KS3, a bit of shock! As I am completely unfamiliar with these two.

Can anyone recommend good dictionaries and other resources to learn these languages please?


thanks

You need to get the one the school recommends. And they will provide all the resources he needs - don't worry!

If I were you I wouldn't spend too much if he is taking them to school. If your ds is anything like my ds he will have lost them in first few weeks, to be replaced and lost again. I've also lost count of the number of text books he has lost - expecting a bill for those any day!!!

It is very unlikely that your DC will need a dictionary or any additional resources other than what the school provides for the first 2 years of study.

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies. I have decied to wait for couple of years and then buy the dictionaries if required.

for now I will buy couple of wine bottles instead. (not for my DS!)

Cheers

I must disagree with most of the comments so far. If you speak neither language yourself and want to be able to help your child with homework (or allow them to help themself) a dictionary or similar is essential.

As a starter I recommend the Collins Easy Learning Series for each language. They are totally accessible for a non-speaker of each language, but also comprehensive for more advanced students. They are also accessible for parents who need to help their DC learn the days of the week, months of the year, essential grammar - all the basics.

Sally-Anne

Have to second Sally-Anne on this. Collins easy learn series was excellent and also on the 'compulsary' list for our dd at her Grammar. I moaned a bit at the time along with all the other expense, but was totally worth it and I can happily recycle them for my son in September

Sorry, but I would still hang fire. If you do want to help your child learn things like the days of the week (and remember they will probably be better at it than you are if you don't speak the language) then the school text book will have them in in a nice neat format, easier to access than a dictionary. Parental 'help' on languages they don't speak will surely be rather limited? My DD has done 5 languages since Year 7 and didn't pick up a dictionary in any of them till Year 9. (In fact she has just looked over my shoulder and said she doesn't even use one now!). Schools almost always recommend the Collins ones for new Year 7s, but in practice don't use them for a long time. I would still go with the wine, Ruby!

I would throw in the caution that the two subjects our little darling has done worst in this year are the two he gets most help at home. That's probably not because we're rubbish at them, it's because no matter how careful we are to make him work through the stuff himself, he isn't taking responsibility for actually getting his head round it. If he thinks he's going to get help he completely disengages his brain and doesn't bother to even think about what he needs to do until someone sits down with him one-to-one, and certainly doesn't bother to retain any of it afterwards. So leave it to the school and open that wine. Not right this minute, obviously.

Mike

I can - and do - help with French, because I can and am very surprised at how he is taught. We did buy the Easy Dictionaries suggested and I think they are helpful but I am just relieved that I have some scant prowess in French since his learning is SO topsy turvy. No basic understanding of avoir and etre or any underpinning of structure (relating to the Latin thread, I attribute all my understanding of grammatical structure to basic instruction in foreign language learning whether modern or dead). DS1 seems to have a scattergun, pick'n'mix grasp on French which is crying out for basic, fancy-free, no frills basics. Which are not provided. He's getting by on vapours of natural cunning and not much else. So frustrating.