How to Help Your Child Revise French or Spanish—Even If You Don’t Speak It

You can support your child’s French or Spanish revision without knowing the language yourself. Your role does not have to be teacher, translator or pronunciation judge. Often the most useful help is making a little time, asking your child to show what they can remember and helping them follow the course their school has set.

GCSE and IGCSE courses can differ, and exam-board requirements are not interchangeable. Before looking for extra worksheets, help your child find out what they are actually studying and what their next assessment covers.

Start with the course details

Ask your child to find the course name in their school portal, exercise book or teacher’s messages. Write down:

• whether the qualification is GCSE or IGCSE;
• the exam board and, where relevant, the tier or course route;
• which skills the school is assessing, such as speaking, writing, reading or listening;
• the mock date and any specific instructions from the teacher.

If one of these details is unclear, your child can ask their teacher. Avoid choosing a revision guide based only on a friend’s course or a search result: a resource for a different qualification may practise a different task.

Make sessions short and specific

A short session is easier to begin when it has a clear finish. Help your child choose one task for 15 or 20 minutes rather than making a long list of everything they have not done. For example: retrieve ten words from a topic, write six sentences using one grammar point, answer three questions about a short text, or practise one answer aloud.

Build in a quick check. Your child might compare their work with class notes or a teacher-provided model, mark the words they could not recall, or explain which detail in a text supports an answer. Keep a small list of mistakes to revisit. Rereading can be part of revision, but it is more useful when followed by an attempt to remember or use the material without looking.

Use resources that match the current course. The GCSE French, GCSE Spanish, IGCSE French and IGCSE Spanish revision hubs link to skill pages and board guidance. The existing French and Spanish speaking packs provide speaking prompts and models; they are not a complete course for every skill.

Help with a model answer without translating it

If your child has a supplied model answer, you can ask them what it means or which phrase they want to reuse, but you do not need to translate or correct it yourself. Ask your child to check unfamiliar language against the teacher’s material, then cover the model and try to say the main idea from memory. They can change one detail and compare their version with the model afterwards.

You can help by reading the English prompt aloud, keeping time for a short practice turn, or asking a follow-up question in English for your child to answer in the target language. If you do not understand the response, ask them to explain in English what they wanted to say. That checks whether the idea is clear without asking you to judge every French or Spanish sound.

Encourage speaking without correcting every pause

It is normal for a learner to pause while finding a word. Try to let your child finish their thought before commenting. If they stop, give them a moment, then ask whether they want to try a simpler phrase or check one word in their notes. Praise a specific action you saw, such as continuing after a hesitation or correcting one verb, rather than making broad promises about grades.

Pronunciation practice can be useful, but you are not expected to decide whether an accent is correct. Your child can use the audio or sound guidance supplied by their teacher or a trusted pronunciation resource. You can ask, “Could you hear the difference when you listened back?” or “Which sound are you practising today?” without marking the sound yourself.

Questions that help your child do the thinking

Open questions are often more useful than “Have you revised?” Try one at a time:

• “What can you remember without looking?”
• “Which part would you like to practise again?”
• “How will you check whether that answer is right?”
• “Can you explain why you chose that word or verb?”
• “What is one thing you want to remember next time?”

If your child says they have finished revising, ask them to show one small thing they can now do without notes. It might be recalling several words, explaining a grammar choice, finding evidence for a reading answer or saying a short response. If they can do it, let the session end. If not, help them choose one manageable next attempt instead of extending the session indefinitely.

A simple weekly routine

Use this as a flexible example, not a timetable your child must follow every week:

• Monday: retrieve words from one current topic; check and list the difficult ones.
• Tuesday: use one grammar point in a few original sentences; check with class notes.
• Wednesday: complete a short reading task and point to the evidence for each answer.
• Thursday: practise listening with a real recording if listening is part of the assessment; check the answers and replay a difficult section.
• Friday or the weekend: write or say a short answer, then revisit one earlier mistake.

Move the days around school, sport and family plans. A missed session is not a reason to double the next one. Pick up with the next useful task and keep the routine realistic.

Your support can be calm and practical: help your child find the right course materials, make time for a short attempt and ask what they learned from checking it. They remain the language learner; you do not need to become the teacher.