Key Stage 3 languages · Linguistic competence

KS3 languages: having conversations and coping with surprises

A real conversation never follows the script. At Key Stage 3, pupils are taught to start conversations and keep them going, to cope with language they do not know and with answers they did not expect, and to use social conventions such as formal ways of addressing an adult. These skills make speaking feel useful rather than memorised, and they build the confidence that matters most.

Conversations and the unexpected, explained

The National Curriculum asks pupils to initiate and develop conversations, coping with unfamiliar language and unexpected responses, and making use of important social conventions such as formal modes of address. The language is the one your child’s school teaches, so the examples here are in French and Spanish, but the skills are the same in any language. Practising them in lessons through role plays and pair work is common, since conversation cannot be learned from a book alone.

Initiating means starting: greeting someone, asking a question, introducing a topic. Developing means keeping the conversation alive by giving more than a one-word answer, adding a detail or a reason, and returning the question with “Et toi ?” or “¿Y tú?”. Pupils are also taught small “filler” words that real speakers use while they think, such as “alors”, “eh bien” and “bon” in French and “pues”, “bueno” and “a ver” in Spanish. These sound natural and give thinking time, so a pause is less awkward.

Coping with the unexpected is a skill in its own right. Teachers show pupils how to ask for repetition (“Pouvez-vous répéter, s’il vous plaît ?” or “¿Puede repetir, por favor?”), ask someone to speak more slowly, check a meaning (“Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ?”), and ask how to say something (“Comment dit-on ‘tent’ en français ?” or “¿Cómo se dice ‘tent’ en español?”). If they do not know a word, they learn to go around it by describing it, using a simpler word or pointing, a strategy called circumlocution. Having a few of these phrases to hand makes it far less frightening to speak.

Social conventions matter too. French and Spanish both have a formal and an informal way of saying “you”. French uses tu with friends, family and children, and vous with adults you do not know well and for more than one person. Spanish uses tú and usted, and the verb form changes with each. Greetings, titles such as madame, monsieur and señor, and polite phrases make up formal address, and getting this right is part of speaking well and respectfully, not just a point of grammar.

Pupils also practise answering without preparation. At first they may have time to plan, but by Year 9 teachers expect more spontaneous replies, within the topics they have studied. Accuracy matters, but communicating matters more in conversation. A pupil who makes an error but keeps going is doing well, and teachers often note errors to work on later instead of stopping the flow.

Words your child will hear

Initiate: To start a conversation or introduce a new topic yourself.
Develop: To keep a conversation going by adding detail, reasons or questions of your own.
Formal address: The polite way of speaking to someone, such as vous in French or usted in Spanish.
Informal address: The friendly way of speaking to a friend, a relative or a child, such as tu or tú.
Filler word: A short word like “alors” or “pues” that speakers use to give themselves time to think.
Circumlocution: Describing a word you do not know in other words, for instance “a thing you sleep in outdoors” for tent.
Intonation: The rise and fall of the voice, which shows a question or an emotion.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

Pupils should be taught to initiate and develop conversations, coping with unfamiliar language and unexpected responses, making use of important social conventions such as formal modes of address
It should enable pupils to understand and communicate personal and factual information that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, developing and justifying points of view in speech and writing, with increased spontaneity, independence and accuracy.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: a role play with a surprise

Your child is on an exchange visit and meets their host family’s neighbour, an adult, in the garden. They must start a conversation in French. The neighbour then asks a question quickly, and your child does not understand.

Use the formal address, because the neighbour is an adult your child does not know: “Bonjour, madame. Comment allez-vous ?” (Hello. How are you?) In Spanish: “Buenos días, señora. ¿Cómo está usted?”
Answer the reply and give the question back: “Je vais bien, merci. Et vous ?” Returning the question keeps the conversation moving and shares the work of the talking.
The neighbour asks something fast and unfamiliar. Do not freeze or switch to English. Use a coping phrase: “Pardon, pouvez-vous parler plus lentement, s’il vous plaît ?” (Sorry, could you speak more slowly?) In Spanish: “Perdone, ¿puede hablar más despacio, por favor?”
Now your child catches one word, jardin, and guesses that the neighbour is asking about the garden. Replying with a short answer is better than silence: “Oui, le jardin est très joli.” Then add a detail or a question: “Vous aimez jardiner ?”
If the neighbour uses a word your child does not know, ask directly: “Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ?” (What does that mean?) Then carry on. Asking is a normal part of a real conversation.

Bonjour, madame. Comment allez-vous ? / Je vais bien, merci. Et vous ? / Pardon, pouvez-vous parler plus lentement, s’il vous plaît ? / Oui, le jardin est très joli. Vous aimez jardiner ?

Common mistakes and how to help

Believing a conversation means reciting a prepared answer

Pupils often learn a block of text for a speaking task, so when the question comes in a different form, they cannot adapt, or recite the wrong answer.

What helps: Practise short, flexible answers and follow-up questions. Ask the same thing in different ways, and answer with a detail that is not in your notes.

Freezing or giving up when they do not understand

Children worry that not understanding is a failure. They may nod, say nothing or switch to English because they do not know how to ask for help in the language.

What helps: Make the “help phrases” automatic: repeat, slower, what does that mean, how do you say. Say them often so they come naturally under pressure.

Using tu with every adult

English has only one “you”, so the difference between tu and vous (or tú and usted) is easy to forget. Using tu with a stranger or a teacher can sound disrespectful.

What helps: Link the choice to the person: a friend or relative is tu, an adult you do not know is vous. Role-play the same dialogue with a friend and then with a head teacher.

Answering with one word

A one-word answer is safe, so children stick to it. But it leaves the other person to do all the work, and the conversation stops.

What helps: Use the “answer plus one” habit: give the answer, add a detail or reason, and ask the question back. Count how many extra bits they can add.

How to help at home

Role play with a surprise. Pick a scene such as a café, a train station or meeting a host family. You play the other person and, partway through, ask something unplanned. Your child practises coping, even if you only use simple English with a few words in the language.
Ask me three questions. Challenge your child to ask you three questions in the language about your day or opinions, and to react to your answers. It trains the starting and developing parts of the skill.
Describe, don’t name. Choose an object and ask your child to describe it without saying its name, using words they know or gestures. You guess. It is practice for going around a missing word.
Keep help phrases handy. Write four or five help phrases on a card, such as repeat, slower, what does that mean and how do you say. Practise them until they come out without thinking.
Praise the attempt. Resist correcting every error. Praise your child for starting, for asking for help and for keeping going. Confidence is what makes the next conversation possible, and accuracy improves with practice.