Ds is doing well in most subjects but in one he is not doing so well. He is great with his homework and revising, but this subject needs a bit more of a push (a MFL). So my question is how do I motivate him to "revise" when there is no exam ahead of him? He needs to put in extra effort but not sure how to get that across so that he does it. I am talking about a teenage boy so any strategies would be appreciated. I have done the legwork to find the info he needs (on the advice of his teacher) but I have no idea how to incentivise him to look at it outside of exam time (and by that I don't mean rewarding him with an Xbox game!). I don't want to make a big deal of it with him so if anyone has any tips then I would be truly thankful.

BBB

netflix or similar?
Film with subtitles.
Could also look for quizlets in his language. They have relieved th3 tedium of avoir or être
past tense revision for my French course.

Thank you Yoyo... he does like the language and does use it but not the vocabulary that is needed for GCSE. I need to find a subtle way to intrpduce the right words needed for GCSE.

My daughter changed from 1/2 GCSE french to full and had to make up the extra vocab herself. How about magazines or online news programmes? TV monde is quite good.

We use car journeys for MFL revision. Quizlet can be used in the car on a phone. It seems to be particularly well suited to this time. Watching films in the MFL is also very helpful. My Dd finds That stomping around the house with a revision workbook reciting it helps. We are not doing it at the moment and your post has reminded me to restart talking in the MFL at meal times.

In regards to motivation, does your DS know what he wants to do for a job or at least at Uni? Many universities now want a certain number of 7s 8s and 9s at GCSE for entrance. For example entrance to medicine at Oxford requires 8 level 8s at GCSE however those who got a place had 10 level 8s (A*) or above. Perhaps you could explain to him that even if he doesn’t need MFL for his chosen career he may need a good level to attain a university place of his choice.

In my experience with YP the biggest motivator is what they are working towards. I hate the exercise because it is very materialistic but helping DC to think about what sort of house, car, holiday and lifestyle etc they want as adults and then sitting down with them and working out how much that will cost and then looking at salaries of jobs and how that matches and then looking at what they need to do in order to progress to the job that they want is quite a good wake up call and can motivate them to do the bits that they find hard and don’t like so much.

If you think a 'reward' structure might work for your DC then I'd advise it being 'self-administered' so he takes control. If its applied by you it doesn't help with the whole independent learning thing that's important to be working towards.
So you could talk with him what a sensible goal is for each week ( a particular number of words) and he rewards himself with doing something he enjoys either by himself( including 30 mins on the x box if thats his choice!)or with family (eg kick about in the garden) if you feel thats more appropriate.

If he's motivated by seeing his progress then having a spreadsheet might help. My grown up DCs still use this method at times! Its a bit like the satisfaction from crossing jobs off a list

Vocab learning is often a sticking point because there are no short cuts. Those with good memories find it easier but it's still a process that has to be gone through, however bright one is.

Try memrise app for vocab. You can pick higher vocab or foundation by language. Interactive and generates new vocab once it is sure you know a word.

Thank you Eccentric. He has homework tonight and has just been asking if would it be more beneficial to put effort into the other subjects than this one as he is no good at languages I tried saying roughly what you said but not so eloquently so I will try again on that one at my next opportunity.

Thank you KB - rewards have never worked for him unfortunately. But the whole end goal should suit his temperament. I know there are no short cuts to learning vocab but just trying to find the right way to enthuse him.

Thank you, I will look into that one.

There used to be a good thread on here for French called L'actualite Francais (I think) but it has disappeared. It used to have some interesting links - I was always hoping a German one would turn up but I haven't found it yet (point me in the right direction if it is here!)

Re. having to do the hard slog of learning the vocab, do people with reluctant DCs find flash cards, post its, quizlet or just plain cramming work best? I know it is an individual thing though.

Thank you for all the input and great advice. I will digest your answers and be prepared to re-energise DS! Obviously, any other suggestions will be gratefully accepted.