Dolanguages by Steve Glover

Image: dolanguages.com

Steve Glover has been producing super web resources for language teachers for many years. In the relatively early days of the internet he produced the interactive Really Useful French Teaching Site, unusually good for its time, before going on to write online resources for Digitalbrain.

In more recent times Steve has focused on writing A-level and GCSE resources.I blogged nearly three years ago about Steve's A-level site called ALF (A-Level French). Since then he has been working on more resources for GCSE and A-level, covering French, German and Spanish.

His most recent project is Dolanguages, a really useful source for A-level French, German and Spanish film and literature. Teachers preparing for the new courses starting in September 2016 would do well to bookmark this site whether they be experienced practitioners or new to teaching film and literature.

The site is still in development, though existing resources are already available from his other sites ALF, ALGIE and SAL. The main new elements here are the detailed matching of resources with the exam board lists, the expanded range of materials and the fact that you will be able to source all your needs in one place. Whichever board you opt for you will find what you need.

Dolanguages is very clearly laid out and easy to navigate. Steve links to the draft A-level specifications which list the films and texts on offer from the four main exam boards. He links to the draft specifications for your convenience and has even done a mapping document allowing you to compare boards on one sheet.

Teachers already familiar with ALF, ALGIE and SAL will know what works are already covered. Expect more resources to follow as the sites develop and when Steve is certain what texts and films are on the exam board prescribed lists.

For each of the literature titles on offer there is a full page-by-page vocabulary list, detailed summary of text with verbs to complete,  gapped summaries, questions on each chapter or scene, powerpoints and character study guides.

For films you can expect to see gapped summaries, questions for every section, character profiles, translation, contextualised grammar exercises, essay planning activities and model essays.

There is a useful brief summary of every film if you need a brief overview to help you with your choice of work.

Resources can be printed off, or used digitally, including the possibility of sharing them on a school intranet. You can access materials directly online or Steve will send you a CD. He is happy to provide samples and provides a variety of ways you can contact him.

Any resource a department buys is a one-off purchase, with no annual subscription. Each resource currently costs between £15 and £25, which represents very good value given how long it takes to prepare a book or film. It is unlikely a bought resource would cover every need for a term's work, but it would certainly play a significant role.

I would thoroughly recommend Dolanguages to help you with your preparations for the new specifications which should soon be published in their final versions. Teachers from other countries may also find the resources valuable.