L’atelier des mots

These French resources are designed to support MFL learners who struggle to retain vocabulary when words are taught as isolated items to memorise. For many dyslexic learners in particular, French can feel opaque: spelling that does not match pronunciation, unfamiliar word forms, and subtle shifts in meaning can make vocabulary hard to secure.

The materials in The Wordcrafter’s Bench – French take a different approach. Rather than focusing on memorisation, they foreground how French words are built — showing how meaning is carried through roots, forms, and word families, and how these connect across time and usage. By making structure visible, the resources help learners see patterns, recognise related words, and approach new vocabulary with greater confidence.

This approach is grounded in evidence-based literacy practice, but it is also rooted in lived experience. The resources were originally developed for my own dyslexic son, to support his experience of learning French in school. They were refined through real use: observing what reduced cognitive load, what supported understanding, and what helped vocabulary become more secure over time.

The materials are carefully structured, and designed to be revisited in short sessions. They are not a replacement for classroom teaching, but a supportive companion to it — helping learners make sense of French vocabulary, recognise connections between words, and build confidence through understanding rather than rote memorisation.