Getting started with
Primary Languages
Have a go at our fun activities to enjoy and
progress in languages ready for entitlement in
2010!
Attached are 5 activities to try in a choice of
languages (French, German, Spanish and Italian)
Go on give it a go!
Classroom instructions
Greetings
My name is...
Numbers 1-20
Colours
Short activities to try in schools:
Praise words to use with the activities:
muy bien
French
Spanish
très bien fantastique génial bon effort
magnífico fantástico estupendo bravo
Italian
va bene
bravo
eccellente
German sehr gut fantastisch
molto bene fantastico
prima
Super sehr schön wunderbar
Classroom Instructions:
French
asseyez vous (sit down)
levez vous (stand up)
Spanish
écoutez (listen)
escuchad (Listen)
ensenadme (show me)
Italian
German
zeigt mich(show me)
silencio (Silence)
dadme (give me)
silenzio (silence)
alzarsi (stand up)
schaut her (watch)
gebt mich (give me)
repetid (repeat)
levantaos (stand up)
sguardo (Look!)
dialo (Give me)
hört zu (listen)
regardez (watch) arrêtez (stop) silence
mirad (Look)
ascolti (Listen)
mostrilo (show me)
répétez (repeat) levez la main (put your hand up)
senataos (sit down)
ripetizione (repeat)
siedasi (sit down)
ruhe (quiet)
wiederholt (repeat)
steht auf (stand up)
setzt euch (sit down)
Create flashcards with the above language. Show and repeat the vocabulary until the children are
familiar. Use mime to match the instruction for more repetition.
Games to be played once familiar with the vocabulary: Simon says (pupil only copies the action if
you say Simon says); lip reading (the teacher ‘mouths’ the command and children work out which
one it could be; ‘pass the command’ – children take turns to give a command, naming another child
,who then gives the command to another child etc.
Greetings:
French
bonjour (Hello) salut(Hi) au revoir (Goodbye) bon nuit (Good night) bon soir (Good evening)
a bientôt (See you soon) Ça va ? (How are you?) ça va bien (Good) Comme ci comme ça (Ok)
ça va mal (Not well) merci (Thank you ) s’il vous plait (Please)
Spanish
buenos días (Hello) hola (Hi) adiós (Goodbye) buenos noches (Good evening)
hasta luego (See you soon) ¿Qué tal? (How are you?) bien (Good) regular (Ok)
mal / no muy bien (Not well) gracias (Thank you) por favor (Please)
Italian
buongiorno (Hello) ciao (Hi) arrivederci (Goodbye) buonasera (Good afternoon/evening)
buonanotte (Good night) a presto (See you soon) Come stai? (How are you?)
bene/sto bene (Good) non molto bene (Not well) cosi cosi (Ok) grazie (Thank you)
per favore (Please)
German
guten Tag (Hello) hallo (Hi) auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye) tschüss (See you later)
Wie geht’s? (How are you?) gut (Good) es geht (Ok) nicht gut (Not well) danke (Thank you)
bitte (Please)
Greetings: Use flashcards with pictures for greetings. Repeat with gesture. Point out cultural
differences e.g. Germans shake hands and Italian, French and Spanish kiss cheeks. Start with a few
words/phrases and build up. Say the new language in silly voices to help them remember as you
repeat.
Activities: Start with hello and build vocabulary up. Children could say hello, goodbye etc to another
child and pass it on around the classroom. Encourage children to say the register with hello/hi.
Introduce how are you with actions for the responses. Reinforce by putting to a tune or rap.
Children to perform new language in a role play and present to class. Encourage children to use
language at appropriate times in all lessons.
My name is … :
French
Comment tu t’appelles ? (What is your name ?) Je m’appelle… (My name is ..)
C’est qui ? (Who is it ?) C’est… (It is ...) Et toi ? (And you ?)
Spanish
¿Cómo te llamas? (What is your name ?) Me llamo… (My name is…) ¿Quién es? (Who is it?)
Éste/Ésta es ... (It is ... M/F) ¿Y tú? (And you ?)
Italian
Come ti chiami? (What is your name?) Mi chiamo / Lo sono … (My name is …) Chi è? (Who is it?)
E … (It is …)
E tu? (And you?)
German
Wie heißt du? (What is your name?) Ich heiße ... (My name is …) Wer ist das? (Who is that?)
Das ist ... (That is …) Und du? (And you?)
My name is: Teacher could introduce him/herself using ‘I am called’ or ‘I am’, repeating several
times. Then hold up pictures of famous people and repeat activity. Encourage children to introduce
themselves. Move to a dialogue asking them the question.
Other activities: Give cards of famous people to children and encourage them to give the name of
that person. Get the children to move around the room asking names. Try using pictures of famous
couples children have to move around the room to find their partner.
Go around the class (all standing). First child gives their name and asks someone else then sits down
and so on. Try timing them to give competitive edge.
Create role play with previous activity vocabulary.
Numbers:
French
un
deux
quatorze
trios quatre
cinq
quinze
dix-sept
seize
six
sept
huit
dix-huit
neuf
dix
onze douze
treize
dix-neuf vingt
Spanish
uno dos
catorce
tres
cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve
quince
dieciséis
diecisiete
dieciocho
diez once
diecinueve
doce trece
veinte
Italian
uno due
tredici
tre quattro cinque
quattordici
quindici
sei
sedici
sette otto
nove dieci
diciassette
undici
diciotto
dodici
diciannove
venti
German
eins
zwei
dreizehn
drei
vierzehn
vier
fünf
fünfzehn
sechs
sieben
sechzehn
acht
siebzehn
neun
achtzehn
zehn
elf
neunzehn
zwölf
zwanzig
Numbers 1-20: Introduce the numbers one by one, repeat in different tones or words to make it
more interesting. Use actions to aid memory. Children repeat the number until confident. Display
the words on the whiteboard.
Activities: Guess the number – give clues higher or lower.
Play bingo using whiteboards/matching pairs with the numbers and words/play snap with packs of
numbers.
Look at spellings, letter strings and the link between spelling and pronunciation.
Guessing game – hide cards behind your back and the pupils need to guess which one you have.
Colours:
French
bleu (blue)
blanc (white) rouge (red) noir (black)
vert (green)
jaune (yellow)
rose (pink)
marron (brown)
Spanish
Azul (blue)
blanco (White)
verde (green)
rojo (red)
negro (black)
amarillo (Yellow)
rosa (pink)
marron (brown)
Italian
blu (blue)
bianco (white)
verde (green)
rosso (red)
nero (black)
giallo (yellow)
rosa (pink)
marrone (brown)
German
blau (blue)
grün (green)
weiβ (white)
rot (red)
schwarz (black)
gelb (yellow)
rosa (pink)
braun (brown)
Colours: Repetition of colours (use silly voices/whisper voices) with flashcards . Show spellings of
words – look at spellings and how to pronounce. Children try to lip read what the teacher is doing.
Activities: play fruit salad (arrange pupils on chairs in a circle – one pupils stand in the centre. Each
pupil has a colour, teacher chooses a word. Those with that word changes place whilst the pupil in
the centre attempts to ‘steal a place’.
Play wackattack – colour flashcards on the board, two pupils stand in front, teacher says one of
them. Winner is first to touch flashcard.
Play wipeout – hold up flashcard, whoever says it correctly stands in front with card hiding it from
view. Keep going through two piles of flashcards until there is a row of pupils at front of class with
hidden cards. Split rest of class into teams to try and name as many people plus the correct items of