Why do we learn modern foreign languages?
We want Ark Acton students to have the confidence and skills to: a) have a foundational conversation in French with native speakers talking about themselves, their interests and their opinions on topical issues, and to ask questions, and b) use French with purpose in businesses such as restaurants, shops and accommodation.
Head of Department
Our approach
In order to gain fundamental communication skills there is a strong focus in year 7 and 8 on high frequency structures and cognates. Our approach at KS3 is to flood the pupils with the same language over and over again until they can produce it automatically. We try to emulate as best we can the process of learning a language naturally, whereby babies slowly but consistently build up their vocabulary schema.
There is more of a focus on grammar towards the end of KS3 and at KS4 so that pupils can manipulate the language further. Grammar is not taught early on because we want pupils to experience rapid progress in how much they can understand, write and say.
At KS4 pupils will build on KS3 knowledge and learn how to have longer conversations (using a greater variety of language) on hobbies, school subjects, food, clothes, hobbies, the weather, family and relationships and also careers.
These topics also create a more academically rigourous curriculum where pupils develop their analytical thinking in MFL as well as other subjects. These modules will also better prepare pupils for A level, when they need to engage in even more depth with Francophone society, history and culture.
Year 7
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Introduction to French. Different greetings in French, ask and give our names, spell words in French including our names. Talking about ourselves - name, age, birthday. Likes and dislikes. Pets, family members, colours in French. Understanding simple classroom instructions in French. Pencil case items. Simple physical descriptions of self and others. |
School subjects, giving opnions about the subjects. Using because and reasons. Numbers from 1 to 60, telling and understanding the clock in French. Days of the week and description of school day. Use of on+verb. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Discussing activities and hobbies done on the phone or computer (e.g I surf the internet). How often are those hobbies done, an introduction to time phrases. Sports in French and the correct use of jouer and faire when talking about sports. Introduciton to weather expressions and discussing activities done in different hobbies. |
Use of il y a and il n'y a pas. Places in town and compass direction to our town (south-east, etc...). Giving opinions about our town. Ask for and give directions to various places in town using simple directions and prespositions. Full conjugation of the verb aller. Talk about where they go on the weekend. The use of modal verbs (pouvoir and vouloir) to ask and say if they can or want to go somewhere. |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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Introduction of the daily routine, talk about their routine in preparation for a holiday using reflexive verbs and sequencing adverbs. Introduce different countries in French (cognates and non-cognates). Full conjugation of aller to talk about where they go on holiday. Activities done on holiday - focus on frequent verbs like (manger, visiter, faire, rester). Re- visit numbers How to contruct a dialogue and order in a cafe. Introduction to the near future and discusing their future holidays. Use of je voudrais + infinitive to talk about their dream holiday. |
Revision of key grammar and re-teach of topics done in the year |
All Year 7 subjects Next Year 7 Subject - Physical Education
Year 8
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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Re-teach of last year's key grammar and vocabulary. Discuss different TV programmes and talk about their favourite show. Use of adverbs of frequency to say how long or how often you watch TV. Introduction of Film genres and of more complex opinion phrases. Discuss reading and give opinions about reading habits. Discuss the internet and their internet habits and the habits of others. Introduction of the perfect tense. How to sequence events in the past. |
Discuss the past tense in more details and look at the full conjugation. Differentiate between the past and present tense in a reading and listening exercise. Discuss holidays in the past and give opinions about them using c'etait. Talk about different transports and talk about how we travelled on holiday last year. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Discussing qualities and faults using various adjectives. Use of adverbs and negative to talk about themselves and other. Discuss family relationship using reflexive verbs (je m'enetends, je me chamaille) Revision of the past tense. Discuss activities they did in the past with their family. Discuss music genres and their preferences. Discuss their favourite singer using whole clauses rather than single words. Discuss fashion and clothes. Talk about what they normally wear. |
Discuss types of houses and use of expression (chez) How to compare houses. Identify rooms in the house and give descriptions of the house. How to use prepositions to give a more detailed description of the house. Discuss food and mealtimes. Discuss our favoutite foods and drink. Discuss festivals and celebrations. |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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Discuss our talents. Explore the use of Vouloir + the infinitive to talk about talents they want to learn. How to use modal verbs pouvoir and devoir + the infinitive. Discuss what can be done and must be done to achieve a goal. Discuss the imperative tense and how to recognise it and use it to give instructions. Discuss talent shows and give opinions about them. Explore best ways to use superlative to give opinions. How to best sequence a paragraph |
Revision of key grammar and re-teach of topics done in the year. |
All Year 8 subjects Next Year 8 Subject - Physical Education
Year 9
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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Understand the basics of the GCSE course. Revise vocabulary from year 8. Discuss family members and describe our family in more details. Explore the use of new er verbs and learn how to conjugat them. Discuss friends and what the qualities of a good friend are. Explore the use of relative pronoun "qui". Discuss family relationships in more details using reflexive verbs. Compare their relationships with different family members. Discuss and use the near future to write a message about what they are going to do this week with opinions. Explore the different ways to formulate questions in French. |
Re-visit the perfect tense and dicuss activities done with the family in the past. Explore the pronunciation of verbs in the present tense and verbs in the perfect tense. Discuss the best way to include all three tenses when talking about their family. Look at sequencing. Discuss role-models. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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To discuss sports and instruments they play and how frequently. |
Discuss TV programmes in more details. Compare one type of programme with another by using comparative adjectives. Re-visit |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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Identify different food and drinks in French. Use the partitive article correctly (du/de la, etc...) Discuss clothes and fashion. discuss what they normally wear and describe it. Identify the demonstrative adjectives and use them in a conversation about an item they have bought and a problem they have with it in a shop. Discuss daily routines and compare our normal routine with routine on special days. Explore how to ask and answer questions in simple, brief statements (role-plays) Explore different festivals and celebrations. Discuss our favourite celebrations or occasion. How to write about a past celebration using the perfect tense |
Revision of key grammar and re-teach of topics done in the year. |
All Year 9 subjects Next Year 9 Subject - Physical Education
Year 10
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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Revise the key grammar and vocabulary from year 9. Re-visit the comparative and superlative. To give description of where their town. Discuss what can be done in town using pouvoir+infinitive To explore places in town. Explore the use of irregular adjectives. Look at how best to give a positive description of their town. Ask for and give directions in a town Discuss tourist information of a town and take part in a role-play |
Identify different weather expressions. Explore the use of si clauses+present+near future to discuss what they are going to do in their town in different weather conditions. Identify and use the simple future to describe what the climate will be like in the future. Conjugate the imperfect tense. Discuss and compare how their town was before with now. Use the conditional to discuss their dream town. Explore how best to answer role-plays and photo cards on this topic. Discuss community projects and they do to help in town. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Identify various countries and modes of transport in French and use the correct word for "in" before. Discuss different hotel accommodation and look at facilities. To discuss travelling and explore topic specific vocabulary. Perform role-plays around hotel reservations and train reservations. Revision of present and past tense and explore how to differentiate betwen activities in different tenses in spoken and written language. Discuss our holidays of last year and compare it with this year. |
To recognise and translate idiomatic phrases. Discuss food and ordering in a restaurant while on holiday. Discuss issues that could happen during holidays and talk about disaster holidays. To explore tips on how to translate a simple paragraph including three tenses into French. Discuss buying souvenirs. |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Physical Education
Year 11
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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Discuss timetables and subjects chosen for KS4 Describe our school. Learn the how to use pronouns “il” and “elle” to talk about other people’s school Learn to compare school life in the UK and French-speaking countries Learn how to use pronouns “ils” and “elles” to give generic statements Discuss getting the best out of school and the importance of school. Discuss school trips and school exchanges. |
Discuss jobs and look at job nouns in the masculine and feminine. Discuss the work parents and family members do. Explore job sectors in French and discuss what kind of environment they would like to work in and why How to recognise and use simple future phrases to talk about future ambitions. Discuss the importance of languages in the workplace as well as in general. Explore how to employ adverbs in a sentence in French Explore how to use the imperfect tense to describe work experience. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Discuss problems that might be worrying them and what can be done about them. Discuss how to use the relative pronouns to link their sentence together. Identify problems in the world and discuss climate change. Discuss the causes and effects of environment problems on the planet and on people. Explore how to use modal verbs « pouvoir » and « devoir » to discuss what we must and should do to protect the environment. Look at the sentence structure « en + present participle » and how to use it in a phrase. Explore the “passive voice” in French and learn how it is used in a sentence. Discuss fair trade and explore live examples of fair trade in the world Discuss volunteering and its positive effects on society Discuss major world events like the Olympics or national and international festivals |
Revision and re-teach |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Physical Education