Encouraging children to look for clues and patterns, using the literacy knowledge and skills they already have, shows them how languages aren’t as scary as they seem.
How to use this MFL worksheet:
- Show the children some different text types, either on the whiteboard or on a worksheet, including letters, recipes, menus, adverts, a weather forecast, TV pages and school timetables.
- It doesn’t matter which language or languages the texts are in. The aim is to train the pupils to look at the format and work out what kind of text this is.
- Can they find any English cognates or other clues? Give each pupil a copy of this MFL worksheet and ask them to write down what they’ve discovered.
Dr Amanda Barton is a freelance writer and educational consultant who has taught MFL in primary and secondary schools. She is co-author of Teaching Primary French and Teaching Primary Spanish.
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MFL worksheet – language detectives
