Key Stage 3 languages · Linguistic competence

KS3 languages: translating from English into the language

Translating from English into the language being learned is often harder than translating the other way, because the pupil has to produce every verb ending, gender and accent correctly. At Key Stage 3 the National Curriculum asks pupils to translate short written text accurately into the foreign language, using accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation, so it is a test of how secure their core grammar and vocabulary really are.

Translating into the language, explained

When a pupil translates into English, the meaning is on the page and the English comes easily. When they translate into the language, they have to choose every word and form themselves. That means working out the right verb, the right tense and person, the gender of each noun, the agreement of every adjective, the position of words in the sentence and the spelling, including accents. That is why translation into the language is such a good check of how well grammar has been understood.

Schools usually teach a routine. First, read the English and decide what it means, not just what it says. Second, find the verbs and decide the tense and person. Third, choose vocabulary the pupil is confident with. Fourth, build the sentence in chunks, thinking about gender, agreement and word order. Fifth, check the finished sentence for spelling, accents and punctuation. The passages are short, for example a few sentences, and use language that has been taught, though schools decide the content and the language.

English and the language being learned often express things differently, so literal translation fails. English says “I am thirteen”, while French says “J’ai treize ans” and Spanish says “Tengo trece años”, which are literally “I have thirteen years”. English “I like football” becomes Spanish “Me gusta el fútbol”, which is closer to “football pleases me”. English uses “the” less often than French and Spanish do with general ideas: “I love music” is “J’adore la musique” and “Me encanta la música”. Pupils need to learn these patterns as whole units.

A valuable skill is avoiding unknown words. If a pupil does not know a word, the best answer is usually to express the same idea with words they do know, rather than guessing from a dictionary and ending up with a wrong entry. A pupil who has forgotten the word for “enormous” can still say “very big”, and one who cannot remember a set phrase for illness can often say “I am not well” instead. Accuracy is rewarded, so a simpler correct sentence beats an ambitious wrong one. Translation tasks also appear in the language GCSE, which is why schools practise them.

Words your child will hear

Target language: The language the pupil is learning, such as French or Spanish.
Gender: In French and Spanish, whether a noun is masculine or feminine, which affects words like “the”, “a” and adjectives.
Agreement: Making adjectives, and sometimes verbs, match the gender and number of the noun or person.
Conjugate: Change a verb to fit the person and tense.
Preposition: A small word showing position or direction, such as “to”, “in” or “with”.
Accent: A mark on a letter, such as é or ñ, or the cedilla under ç. It is part of the correct spelling and often changes the sound.
Set phrase: A fixed expression learned as a whole, like “J’ai faim”.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 3, pupils should be taught to:

Write prose using an increasingly wide range of grammar and vocabulary, write creatively to express their own ideas and opinions, and translate short written text accurately into the foreign language
Use accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation

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

A worked example: English into Spanish

Translate into Spanish: “Yesterday I went to the cinema with my friends and we watched a funny film.”

Decide the meaning and the tenses. Both “went” and “watched” are finished actions in the past, so Spanish needs the preterite.
Choose the verbs. “I went” is the first person of ir: “fui”. “We watched” (saw) is the first person plural of ver: “vimos”. Use “Ayer” for yesterday.
Handle the preposition. “To the cinema” is a + el, which combines into one word: “al cine”.
Check gender and agreement. “My friends” is plural, so “mis amigos”. “Film” here is película, which is feminine, so “una película” and the adjective agrees: “divertida”.
Assemble the sentence, then check accents and punctuation: película has an accent on the í, and “Ayer” starts with a capital letter. The French equivalent would be “Hier, je suis allé(e) au cinéma avec mes amis et nous avons regardé un film drôle.”

“Ayer fui al cine con mis amigos y vimos una película divertida.” Every verb is in the right tense, al is used for a + el, and película and divertida agree in the feminine singular.

Common mistakes and how to help

Translating word for word with a dictionary

Dictionaries list many meanings and pupils pick the first one, which may be the wrong word or the wrong type of word.

What helps: Check that the word type matches (noun, verb or adjective) and that the example sentence fits. If unsure, use a simpler word you already know.

Copying English structure

Pupils write “Je suis treize ans” or “Soy trece años” because “I am thirteen” uses “am” in English.

What helps: Learn the fixed phrases for age, feelings and likes as complete patterns, not word by word.

Forgetting agreement and accents

Gender, plurals and accents are small details that are easy to lose when concentrating on the meaning.

What helps: Finish with a checking pass for each: nouns and adjectives, then verb endings, then accents. One pass for each job catches more than one rushed read.

Giving up when one word is missing

A pupil who doesn’t know a word may leave a gap or write an English word, which loses the whole unit of meaning.

What helps: Rephrase using words you do know. “It’s enormous” can become “it’s very big” if “enormous” hasn’t been learned.

How to help at home

Translate three sentences a day. Say three short English sentences about your day and ask your child to say or write them in the language. Small, regular tries are more useful than a long weekly session.
Spot the pattern. Pick a fixed phrase, like giving your age, and write it in both languages side by side. Notice where English and the language use different words.
Use the checking list. After writing a translation, ask your child to check verbs, then agreement, then accents and spelling. A short, fixed routine like this builds independence.
Say it simpler. Practise rephrasing: if your child can’t say “enormous”, how else could they express it? Finding another way is a skill used by real speakers every day.