If there's one thing that makes a language teacher scream in exasperation and apply lots of red pen to children's work, it's poor spelling. There is a big emphasis on correct spelling (and punctuation and grammar - SPaG) elsewhere in the curriculum, so we should expect careful spelling in languages too.
However, if we look at the Making and Marking Progress document for Key Stage 2, we read the following:
"Spelling may not always be completely accurate but your meaning will be clear."
So just how important is spelling?
Here are the results of a #mfltwitterati crowd source about common spelling mistakes:
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FRENCH:
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nerf
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neuf
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beucoup / beacoup
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beaucoup
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familie
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famille
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blue
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bleu
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souer
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soeur
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jamie
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j’aime
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interestant
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intéressant
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compains
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copains
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chevaux
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cheveux
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fréré
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frère
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collage
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collège
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je mapple / jem’appele etc
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je m’appelle
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trios
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trois
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mecredi
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mercredi
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jabeet
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j’habite
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vancances
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vacances
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SPANISH:
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abburido
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aburrido
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me enchanta
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me encanta
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anos
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años
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viente
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veinte
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mardre
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madre
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GERMAN
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Ich speile
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Ich spiele
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Wochende
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Wochenende
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Fruende
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Freunde
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Some questions:
- Are there more French examples because French is harder to spell than Spanish and German?
- What do the exemplified errors tell us about what the students find difficult about the languages?
- How much is English to blame?
- How much are spell checkers responsible for? (see above image!)
I would be interested to hear your thoughts, and of course any other cracking examples.
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