KS3 French and Spanish (Years 7-9)
Depending on the student's prior knowledge, I will start with the basics (e.g. greetings, personal details), focusing on the alphabet and phonics. Once the student is ready, I will start to look at key vocabulary by topic and start to build in the present tense plus other grammatical concepts, such as adjectival agreements (masculine/feminine/plural) and possessive adjectives (my, your, his, our etc.).
At KS3 level, my aim is to increase confidence and self-belief in languages, whilst helping the student to become secure in three tenses across the core skill areas (writing/reading/listening/speaking).
KS4 (GCSE) French and Spanish (Years 10-11)
I have extensive experience of tutoring students for AQA, Edexcel and Edexcel iGCSE. Each exam board is distinct so I use resources which are appropriate to the papers which will be taken in Year 11.
Lessons are tailored to the student's specific needs but first and foremost I assess if more work needs to be done on gaining security in three tenses (past, present and future). We will work on the four skill areas of Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking across the designated topic areas and themes (these vary depending upon the Exam Board).
Writing
We work on sentence-structuring, justifying opinions with reasons, connecting different tenses in the same sentence and structures to make writing more complex. The range of tenses covered will depend on if the student in taking Foundation or Higher level GCSE. Translation into the target language forms part of the Writing paper (AQA and Edexcel) so this skill will receive continued focus throughout the students time with me.
Reading
I work on techniques to find answers within a text, such as skimming for words, identifying distractors, synonyms and inference. Prior to the GCSE I will work on exam-style questions, identifying any question styles which require further practice. Prior to the GCSE we will run through past papers question-by-question, focusing on exam technique and areas for development. Translation into English forms part of the Reading paper (AQA and Edexcel) so we will focus on how to interpret into English, using a 'best fit' approach, rather than literal or direct translation which can cause a passage to lose its meaning.
Listening
I focus on how to approach different styles of question and how to analyse and annotate questions prior to actually listening to the sound track itself. Listening is a skill which many students find challenging, so we also work on remaining calm as well as the common techniques used to increase the difficulty level of a question. As with Reading, prior to the GCSE we will run through past papers question-by-question, focusing on exam technique and areas for development.
Speaking
My primary focus is always on confidence with Speaking. Students will practise the skills of general conversation and how to describe/discuss a photo, some will also practise how to conduct a role play, dependent on the exam board. Pronunciation and fluency will also receive focus, as well as the ability to form and ask questions confidently in the target language. I can help students to formulate and develop answers to the possible questions they may be asked during the general conversation part of the speaking exam.