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The AQA AS Level Spanish revision thread

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Reply 40
Original post by Buongiorno
Is there anyone taking this exam this year? (14th May) :smile:


Yeah I'm doing a retake. How are you revising for it? I never know where to start.
Original post by 2aw
Yeah I'm doing a retake. How are you revising for it? I never know where to start.


What I am doing right now is making sheets summarising vocabulary from all the topics, also going through past papers and noting down unfamiliar vocabulary and trying to learn it all. I am intending to look at all the past writing questions and think about possible content, in case a similar question comes up in the exam. Make sure you get some additional listening practice in order to get your ear accustomed to the language, there are plenty of resources out there. :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)
Does anyone know when the oral exam is? I'm probably scared more for the written exam than for the oral (other way round for GCSE) xD
Original post by Apocalyptic Fish
Does anyone know when the oral exam is? I'm probably scared more for the written exam than for the oral (other way round for GCSE) xD


Your school decides when to do it. :smile:
And same, actually!
Reply 44
Original post by Bella_Cullen
For learning vocab I really recommend "Palabra por Palabra" by Phil Turk (you can get it quite cheaply on a site like Amazon). It's a fantastic book and my copy is well-worn with use - I use it nearly every day. It contains vocab on all of the AQA topics and also has helpful essay-writing phrases, e.g. a mi modo de ver, vuelvo a mi primera observacion...etc. The AQA textbooks are helpful as well but I've found "Palabra por Palabra" extremely useful. And reading around the topics (in Spanish) as much as possible is important too, for example, articles on websites for Spanish fashion magazines help with vocab. for the Fashion topic. :smile:


How do you go about memorising the lists of vocab that are in Palabra por Palabra? I actually have this book and use it very little and often forget I even have it lol, which is great. …. Not.

Original post by Bella_Cullen
Regarding structure, it is very important to make an essay plan (AQA provides an essay planning sheet in your exam paper) so that you don't write a muddled essay. Structure - it depends what type of essay you are writing, e.g. a balanced argument weighing up the pros and cons of an issue, but you should always start an essay with an Introduction (introducing your topic and what you are going to write about) and finish with a Conclusion ('rounding off' your essay and neatly summing up your views and the main points of the essay). Also, use paragraphs as they help make your essay more structured. You can use phrases such as "primero, segundo, tercero" etc. to introduce points and phrases like "concluir" (to conclude), when you are writing the final paragraph of your essay.

Buena suerte!


Do you write the essay plan in Spanish or in English??? Does it matter???

If anyone else could help me I'm studying through distance learning so I don't know this stuff - during the exam are you in full control of the listening material? Can you play it back again as much as you like and pause it in the middle/rewind/replay etc? As this is what I'm having to do when I do the practice listening exams anyway because I'm so terrible at it.

I did a past paper and got a D which was really bad. I can't believe how rubbish I am at this but then I guess distance learning is really hard and I'm already going to university and starting from whatever level of Spanish so I guess it doesn't matter so much but still, I'm so worried! Mostly about the oral. Not just worried about that, more like terrified.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 45
Original post by akemikat

Do you write the essay plan in Spanish or in English??? Does it matter???

If anyone else could help me I'm studying through distance learning so I don't know this stuff - during the exam are you in full control of the listening material? Can you play it back again as much as you like and pause it in the middle/rewind/replay etc? As this is what I'm having to do when I do the practice listening exams anyway because I'm so terrible at it.

I did a past paper and got a D which was really bad. I can't believe how rubbish I am at this but then I guess distance learning is really hard and I'm already going to university and starting from whatever level of Spanish so I guess it doesn't matter so much but still, I'm so worried! Mostly about the oral. Not just worried about that, more like terrified.


I'm doing AQA French and Spanish. The essay pan doesn't get marked so it's really up to you what language you write it in. However, I recommend writing in Spanish so that you've already thought of what to write in the essay. In the past I've tried plans in English, and when it came to writing the essay I realised I didn't know how to say some of my points in my plan in Spanish.

For the listening, you get control of the device usually. I did last year, and I've been told it's the same this year. I also find the listening hard, as I'm a visual person. Some people might disagree with me, but if I can't figure out a sentence on the listening, I find it helps to write down what I hear and try to make sense of it. Make sure you write it outside the exam paper margins though, or cross it out. And you definitely don't want to waste time by writing the entire transcript! Just the tricky sentences.

Good luck! And don't stress too much about the oral, it's only 30%!
Reply 46
Original post by Apocalyptic Fish
Does anyone know when the oral exam is? I'm probably scared more for the written exam than for the oral (other way round for GCSE) xD


I believe it's all done through your school :smile: Mine's on 30th April :O
Reply 47
I am also taking the Spanish AS level. There are so many topics to learn, and I am starting to get worried about my oral. I am doing my chosen topic on
'la familia y las relaciones' .

If anyone could give me some ideas on what to include it would be much appreciated, it is such a broad topic and I am in desperate need of some bullet points. thanks in advance :smile:
Original post by f1234
I am also taking the Spanish AS level. There are so many topics to learn, and I am starting to get worried about my oral. I am doing my chosen topic on
'la familia y las relaciones' .

If anyone could give me some ideas on what to include it would be much appreciated, it is such a broad topic and I am in desperate need of some bullet points. thanks in advance :smile:


You may wish to think about modern types of family (single parent, gay etc), issues between siblings, issues between parents and their teenage children, the birth rates in Spain/UK.
As far as I can remember, these are the topics we covered in my class.
Reply 49
Original post by Buongiorno
You may wish to think about modern types of family (single parent, gay etc), issues between siblings, issues between parents and their teenage children, the birth rates in Spain/UK.
As far as I can remember, these are the topics we covered in my class.


Thanks that is really helpful. I just needed some points to start thinking about and that's what I have now. :biggrin:
Reply 50
does anyone know what the questions were in the jan 2012 paper??? it would be really helpful. Muchas graciass.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 51
Original post by raxatax
does anyone know what the questions were in the jan 2012 paper??? it would be really helpful. Muchas graciass.


there was one on marriage, I think it was 'do you think marriage is still necessary today', and I know there was one about reality tv, something like 'what are you opinions on reality television', and I think the last one was on health but I can't remember what it was exactly! hope that helps:smile:
Reply 52
Brilliant, thank you very much :smile:

Original post by liviluck
there was one on marriage, I think it was 'do you think marriage is still necessary today', and I know there was one about reality tv, something like 'what are you opinions on reality television', and I think the last one was on health but I can't remember what it was exactly! hope that helps:smile:
Reply 53
Hey all, I'm doing A2 now, and last year for AS i did the minimum amount of work and I got a B, i was so surprised at the result. More scared this year though. Good luck everyone
Reply 54
Original post by raxatax
does anyone know what the questions were in the jan 2012 paper??? it would be really helpful. Muchas graciass.


Yeah there was one on Telebasura and what kind of image it presents of society today that kind of thing, hope this helps
Reply 55
Does anybody have the January 2012 mark scheme? Also does anybody know where i could listen to the june 2011 and jan 2012 listenings ? as they are not on the AQA website.
I have already done my mocks, i would just like to practise them again :smile:
Good luck everyone for tomorrow! Hopefully it's a nice paper. Don't really know how to revise at this point.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 57
Original post by Buongiorno
Good luck everyone for tomorrow! Hopefully it's a nice paper. Don't really know how to revise at this point.


Me neither, does anyone have any ideas or anything teachers have said for essay titles that might come up? :smile:
Original post by prada1234
Me neither, does anyone have any ideas or anything teachers have said for essay titles that might come up? :smile:


I noticed that they tend to ask about family.. it has come up in most past papers.
Original post by prada1234
Me neither, does anyone have any ideas or anything teachers have said for essay titles that might come up? :smile:


My teacher thinks the olympic games or social networks may appear seeing as they're fairly relevant at the moment, so I'm going to go over sport and media thoroughly :smile:

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