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GCSE Spanish advice

I'm doing GCSE Spanish, having done GCSE French in Year 9 (A*!) but am finding it hard to get an A* in Spanish. My MEG is A and teacher doesn't seem to want to try to get an A* with anybody in our group, her attitude is an A is amazing, so thats fine, A* is just too hard! However, having done french, and finding Spanish easier than french, I can't see why I can't get an A*.

So my question is, what can I improve to get an A*. In my last piece of coursework, I used the following tenses: present, past, future and that further future one, imperfect, conditional and a little bit of Perfect Conditional - I would have played..., and just scraped an A! What do I need to do to get an A*?

Any advice/tips will be very appreciated!
any ideas?
Reply 2
Congratulations on your achievement in French! I had the opposite type of teacher who consistently gave me low grades then I came out with A* too, though that was first language. A good way to improve is to consistently read newspapers/magazines, some easy novels? What are you interested in?

Post your essay and your question and we can see if or not your teacher is doing a good job. :smile::
Wow, that's a pretty impressive set of tenses. Well done.

I don't speak Spanish, (yet), so the only things I can suggest to make you look clever are trying to stick a little bit of the subjunctive mood or passive voice in. I know they get you extra marks for using them in French. They might be a bit advanced though.

Good luck!
Reply 4
I don't really know.
I went to a **** high school where barely anyone get A*, let alone in Spanish.
The teacher was teaching me Spanish in a level where no way in hell could I get an A* because she focused so much of her time on other pupils who get U and F.

Have you learn about subjunctive yet?
Maybe putting some in there? Because it's an AS level and it might surprise the teacher XD
Wanischa

Have you learn about subjunctive yet?
Maybe putting some in there? Because it's an AS level and it might surprise the teacher XD


Cool, thanks for that! What exactly is the subjunctive, like what would the translation be in English. Would 'si fuera' be subjunctive? Cos we've done a little about that like If I won the lottery, or If I had the time?

I will try to be bits of that into my next bit of coursework!
Reply 6
mespannerhanz
Cool, thanks for that! What exactly is the subjunctive, like what would the translation be in English. Would 'si fuera' be subjunctive? Cos we've done a little about that like If I won the lottery, or If I had the time?

I will try to be bits of that into my next bit of coursework!


Something like that. Something like wishing and possibility.
My favourite one would be Me gustaria que...(+subj).
Si yo fuera...
No creo que (+subj)
Deseo que (+subj)
etc etc.
Reply 7
A simple thing that always lets me down in writing papers is the content and not actually the tenses.

You need to state an opinion, justify it, then give examples.

No me gusta mucho mi colegio, porque los profesores no son muy bien. Por ejemplo, mi profesor de matematicas no puede contar!

Talk about other people, use reflexives etc etc...

Or your teacher is a fail teacher and is just marking you down 'cause they're jealous!

Well done on French btw! :smile:
Reply 8
Wanischa
Something like that. Something like wishing and possibility.
My favourite one would be Me gustaria que...(+subj).
Si yo fuera...
No creo que (+subj)
Deseo que (+subj)
etc etc.


Yes, though it's worth adding that with the ones including "que", the subjects of the two verbs involved have to be different. For example:

Deser que mi hermano haga sus deberes = I want my brother to do his homework

BUT NOT Deseo que (yo) haga mis deberes (I want to do my homework)

In the latter case, you just use two infinitives (deseo hacer).

To the OP: besides tenses, there are several other structures that will get you closer to the top grade. Take a look at the AQA specification and the list of higher-level structures on pages 38-39. There are things like relative pronouns, lo + adjective, el mío/la mía, direct/indirect object (e.g. "lo hago" ) and so on. Variety is the key, some examiners' reports I've seen advise students to "try varying your structures".

Another thing they like is the use of verbs in several different persons instead of just saying "I... I... I..." all the time.

A few bits of unusual vocab should also go down well, things like that make you stand out.
Reply 9
Aelred

Deser que mi hermano haga sus deberes = I want my brother to do his homework


Would that be deseo que mi hermano haga sus deberes = I wish that my brother would do his homework?
Reply 10
Wanischa
Would that be deseo que mi hermano haga sus deberes = I wish that my brother would do his homework?


Yes it would :yep:
KatieKate


No me gusta mi colegio mucho, porque los profesores no son muy bien. Por ejemplo, mi profesor de matematicas no puede contar!



How did you know I have a rubbish maths teacher as well?!!!

Ok, thanks for the tips, I will add some to my next coursework this week, - jobs, work experience and future plans!

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