GCSE Arabic June 2016

Just realised there is no GCSE arabic forum so here is one to discuss the exams this year.

Any1 have any predictions or thoughts on this year's paper?
How did speaking go?

Reply 1

HopelessMedic

19

Was starting to think nobody else was taking it :smile:

Speaking went pretty well I think, and I've done all the past papers so should be alright for monday. I'm more worried about the writing tbh, but we've till got a few days in between to practise that.
How did your speaking go, and how are you revising atm?

Reply 2

username2371841

20

ahah, throwback to when i did my gcse arabic in year 9

-basically the reading and listening are always always easy although i was so scared back then so i spent a lot of time doing past papers so i'd advise that so you become familiar with the layout of the exam
-the writing, that was my weakest skill. but remember you are allowed a dictionary (unless rules have changed) so use that
-for writing, get your parents or teacher to give you topics to write about and do them under timed conditions and get them to mark it
-also i think online you can find a list of arabic vocab for your exam board

Reply 3

username2572773

OP

13

Original post by HopelessMedic

Was starting to think nobody else was taking it :smile:

Speaking went pretty well I think, and I've done all the past papers so should be alright for monday. I'm more worried about the writing tbh, but we've till got a few days in between to practise that.
How did your speaking go, and how are you revising atm?

Speaking went ok - i just hope my answers were in enough depth.

For reading and listening I'm just doing the past papers - there isn't really much else to do.

For writing - I'm slightly worried that the tasks this year may be quite difficult . Im just writing as many essays as I can under times conditions and asking my teacher to mark them...

Reply 4

AGBF

13

Original post by sfaraj

ahah, throwback to when i did my gcse arabic in year 9

-basically the reading and listening are always always easy although i was so scared back then so i spent a lot of time doing past papers so i'd advise that so you become familiar with the layout of the exam
-the writing, that was my weakest skill. but remember you are allowed a dictionary (unless rules have changed) so use that
-for writing, get your parents or teacher to give you topics to write about and do them under timed conditions and get them to mark it
-also i think online you can find a list of arabic vocab for your exam board

Does the school provide a dictionary

Reply 5

username2572773

OP

13

Original post by AGBF

Does the school provide a dictionary

yes they do for us...

Reply 6

username2371841

20

Original post by AGBF

Does the school provide a dictionary

no, in my school arabic was an additional subject you had to pay to do (like £45 or something) so i brought my own i recommend to oxford arabic dictionary

Reply 7

sciolyboy123

7

wait.... we're allowed a dictionary??

Reply 8

username2572773

OP

13

Original post by sciolyboy123

wait.... we're allowed a dictionary??

for writing

Reply 9

sciolyboy123

7

Are u sure?? My teacher hasn't told me anything of the sort...

Reply 10

Gadier

4

I remember doing it back in 2013 ;D, as you know there's 4 exams and they're all piss easy if you can read/write/speak Arabic

Speaking: as long as you spoke fluently then you should be fine
Listening: easiest of the 4 so not much to say here
Writing: what matters most here is your spelling, you lose a mark for every spelling mistake so make sure you don't get confused between ض and ظ like i did
Reading: in this exam you'd answer in English right? so just practice reading any arabic text quickly whilst simultaneously understanding what you're reading

Reply 11

username2572773

OP

13

Original post by sciolyboy123

Are u sure?? My teacher hasn't told me anything of the sort...

I've attached a copy of the front of last year's writing.

Note where it says you can use a bilingual dictionary

Screen Shot 2016-06-19 at 1.46.42 PM.png104.4KB

Reply 12

Sajjad_K9

5

Original post by sciolyboy123

Are u sure?? My teacher hasn't told me anything of the sort...

Look for a bilingual dictionary in your local library ASAP!! Perhaps try searching for it on the net (online library catalogue if you have one).

Reply 13

sciolyboy123

7

Original post by djdubzzy

I've attached a copy of the front of last year's writing.

Note where it says you can use a bilingual dictionary

Oh wow. I really hope that's the case.

Reply 14

Claudi0

10

Im here to help. Arabic is one of my first languages and so this should be an easy breeze for me. I studied outside and so I may have lost some of my skills in arabic, and so im taking second language.To be honest, for listening and reading, you need to interpret everything the speaker says, it will be repeated several times so dont you worry. If what he said makes no sense to you, try to put the word in context and try to make sense of it then. If the speaker surpases you, move on and come back to the question next.For writing, just keep writing and practicing, thats what I've done. We only took the 2nd level course for 2 months as we were doing the O Level which I got an A* in :smile:

So ever since then Ive done one or two essays per week. Over the next couple of days, I advise you guys to just take some questions and write essays. Remember to practice writing an Article, and a standard essay or an email / diary / letter.You should be set :biggrin:

Reply 15

RandomStudent66

5

When listening was good but reading was hellish.

Reply 16

nadiakms

14

reading was better than listening imo probs still failed but listening q4,6 and 9 made me want to jump out the window. Istg I couldn't understand who was talking in the "father, healthy" question omds confusing everyone finished 20 minutes early in both papers somehow even for the listening . We did our exams in the morning 😭😭

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