Key Stage 3 · ages 11 to 14
Key Stage 3 languages: what your child learns
In Years 7 to 9 your child continues a modern foreign language chosen by the school, such as French or Spanish. They use present, past and future tenses, give and justify opinions, cope with unexpected conversation and learn formal and informal ways of addressing people. They also listen, read, write creatively and translate short texts into English and into the language.
Guides for parents
Key Stage 3 languages
Accurate grammar and spelling
What accurate writing means in KS3 languages: verb forms, agreements, accents, punctuation and translating into the language, with a French proofreading example.
Key Stage 3 languages
Speaking and pronunciation
How KS3 language lessons build confident speaking, accurate pronunciation and natural intonation in French, Spanish or another language, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 languages
Developing ideas and opinions
How KS3 language lessons move pupils from short phrases to giving reasons, examples and different points of view, in speech and writing, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 languages
Formal and informal address
How KS3 language lessons teach polite and friendly ways of addressing people, such as tu and vous in French or tú and usted in Spanish, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 languages
Talking about the future
How Key Stage 3 students talk about plans in French, Spanish or another language: the near future, the simple future, irregular stems and common errors.
Key Stage 3 languages
Conversations and the unexpected
How KS3 pupils learn to start and keep going in conversations in French, Spanish or another language, cope with unfamiliar words, and use formal and informal address.
Key Stage 3 languages
Giving and justifying opinions
How KS3 pupils learn to give opinions, back them with reasons and discuss wider issues in French, Spanish or another language, with a worked example and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 languages
Key grammatical structures
How KS3 pupils learn to use and adapt the main grammar patterns of the language their school teaches, with a worked example, common mistakes and ways to help.
Key Stage 3 languages
Listening for information
How KS3 pupils learn to listen to spoken French, Spanish or another language for key information, with a worked listening task, common difficulties and tips for home.
Key Stage 3 languages
Stories, songs, poems and letters
How KS3 language lessons use stories, songs, poems and letters in French, Spanish or another language to build creativity and cultural understanding, with an example.
Key Stage 3 languages
Talking about the past
How Key Stage 3 students use past tenses in French, Spanish or another language: avoir and être, past participles, agreement, the imperfect and common errors.
Key Stage 3 languages
The present tense
How Key Stage 3 students use the present tense in French, Spanish or another language: regular and irregular verbs, reflexives, stem changes and common errors.
Key Stage 3 languages
Reading original texts
How KS3 language lessons teach pupils to read original and adapted texts and pick out the purpose, main ideas and details, with a worked example in French.
Key Stage 3 languages
Dictation and transcription
Why KS3 languages lessons include dictation, how pupils turn the sounds of French or Spanish into correct spelling, a worked example and ways to practise at home.
Key Stage 3 languages
Translating into English
How KS3 language lessons teach pupils to translate short French, Spanish or other texts into accurate, natural English, with a worked example and common mistakes.
Key Stage 3 languages
Translating into the language
How KS3 language lessons teach pupils to translate short English sentences into French, Spanish or another language accurately, with a worked example and common errors.
Key Stage 3 languages
Voices and moods
What active and passive voice, commands, the conditional and the subjunctive mean in KS3 languages, with French and Spanish examples and ways to help at home.
Key Stage 3 languages
Wider vocabulary
How KS3 pupils widen their vocabulary beyond family, hobbies and school, plus false friends, word families and simple ways to help at home.
Key Stage 3 languages
Writing prose and creatively
How KS3 language lessons teach pupils to write paragraphs and creative pieces in French, Spanish or another language, using wider vocabulary and grammar, with an example.
Everything in the Key Stage 3 languages curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Key Stage 3, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.
Grammar and vocabulary
- Structures conveying the present
- Structures conveying the past
- Structures conveying the future
- Using and manipulating key grammatical structures and patterns
- Voices and moods (as appropriate to the language)
- Developing a wide-ranging vocabulary beyond immediate needs
- Giving and justifying opinions and discussing wider issues
- Using accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation
Linguistic competence
- Listening to a variety of spoken language to obtain information and respond
- Transcribing words and short sentences heard
- Initiating and developing conversations and coping with the unexpected
- Social conventions such as formal modes of address
- Expressing and developing ideas clearly, orally and in writing
- Speaking coherently and confidently with accurate pronunciation and intonation
- Reading original and adapted materials for purpose, main ideas and details
- Translating short, suitable material accurately into English
- Reading literary texts: stories, songs, poems and letters
- Writing prose and writing creatively to express ideas and opinions
- Translating short written text accurately into the foreign language