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How interesting are languages at A level?
I'm gonna begin AS level Spanish next year, and I'm pretty psyched! Anyone who's done any language at A level:
Was it fun/interesting? Was it also the hardest of your options?
Was it fun/interesting? Was it also the hardest of your options?
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alexandragazi
I'm gonna begin AS level Spanish next year, and I'm pretty psyched! Anyone who's done any language at A level:
Was it fun/interesting? Was it also the hardest of your options?
Was it fun/interesting? Was it also the hardest of your options?
Im just about to do my A2 spanish exam on friday and im dreading it!Its defo interesting, but very hard work compared to GCSE and defo the hardest of my options! But if your good at it then go for it, its a good a level to have
I've started AS french already. I've found it really fun, and interesting, because you get to do more of what you want, as opposed to boring topics like holidays and local area. Okay, there still are topics, but you can spend a lot more time doing other things.
Also, in general, pretty much everyone in the class understands basic things, so you don't have to repeatedly revise how to form the present tense.
I haven't started my other ASs yet, so I can't say whether it's the hardest, but so far I haven't found it difficult at all. I think I'll find German harder, though.
Also, in general, pretty much everyone in the class understands basic things, so you don't have to repeatedly revise how to form the present tense.
I haven't started my other ASs yet, so I can't say whether it's the hardest, but so far I haven't found it difficult at all. I think I'll find German harder, though.
I've found AS French fantastic. It's far more interesting than GCSE (Which quite frankly was horrendous) and in general you actually learn the language, rather than learn to read a few words off a piece of paper. I've gone from being basically incompetent in French to having a relatively good grasp of the language in the space of 8 months, so honestly, if you can give it a go you really should, because even just doing an AS in a language boosts your ability tremendously. 
Although a quick word of advice is to make sure you can get your tenses sorted. Once you can do that it should all start flowing really well, but unless you know how to form your tenses quickly and easily it'll pose a real problem when speaking French
Although a quick word of advice is to make sure you can get your tenses sorted. Once you can do that it should all start flowing really well, but unless you know how to form your tenses quickly and easily it'll pose a real problem when speaking French
About as interesting as watching paint dry whilst writing I AM AN IDIOT FOR TAKING A LANGUAGE A LEVEL about four thousand times over with a blunt pencil.
In my opinion.
In my opinion.
I've just done my AS but I'm giving it up next year.
IMO it was fairly interesting, but A LOT of work (though I don't know if that's just my teacher) and in all honesty I don't know what grade to expect in August :/
Basically, if you're good at it and find it interesting, go for it. Either way you need to be willing to work because it is hard and at first quite a step up from GCSE in terms of tenses and grammar etc.
IMO it was fairly interesting, but A LOT of work (though I don't know if that's just my teacher) and in all honesty I don't know what grade to expect in August :/
Basically, if you're good at it and find it interesting, go for it. Either way you need to be willing to work because it is hard and at first quite a step up from GCSE in terms of tenses and grammar etc.
If you like GCSE languages you'll love A Level. Basically sod all that dull "Last year I went to Spain with my family. We played football and ate ice cream and it was fun". You talk about yourself a lot less and start talking about general topic in a worldwide perspective. Like werd123 said now you start to LEARN the language and not just memorise some words on a bit of paper. I bloody love it.
I love doing French and German!
It's a lot more free than GCSE, there isn't a set list of vocab you have to learn.
A2 is better than AS though, because of the films/literature.
It's a lot more free than GCSE, there isn't a set list of vocab you have to learn.
A2 is better than AS though, because of the films/literature.
werd123
I've found AS French fantastic. It's far more interesting than GCSE (Which quite frankly was horrendous) and in general you actually learn the language, rather than learn to read a few words off a piece of paper. I've gone from being basically incompetent in French to having a relatively good grasp of the language in the space of 8 months, so honestly, if you can give it a go you really should, because even just doing an AS in a language boosts your ability tremendously.
Although a quick word of advice is to make sure you can get your tenses sorted. Once you can do that it should all start flowing really well, but unless you know how to form your tenses quickly and easily it'll pose a real problem when speaking French
Although a quick word of advice is to make sure you can get your tenses sorted. Once you can do that it should all start flowing really well, but unless you know how to form your tenses quickly and easily it'll pose a real problem when speaking French
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I've found AS (French, not Spanish btw) languages to be much better than GCSE. No more "I have a mum, dad, two sisters, one brother, and a cat" malarky. Get your tenses sorted over the summer, though. Our college told us to do it, and the ones who actually put a little bit of effort in over last summer have generally done better this year than those who didn't.
I do AS French (well I guess it's A2 now 
) and I absolutely love it, although I would agree with sylarfangirl that A2 looks more interesting because we get to study literature 
I'd definitely recommend a language A level... and re the gap between GCSE/AS, personally I didn't notice it that much and am noticing it more with A2 :3 You get a much better working knowledge of the language... I could now confidently hold a conversation with a French native, whereas at GCSE I'd be able to tell them about the environment but not about anything relevant XD
) and I absolutely love it, although I would agree with sylarfangirl that A2 looks more interesting because we get to study literature I'd definitely recommend a language A level... and re the gap between GCSE/AS, personally I didn't notice it that much and am noticing it more with A2 :3 You get a much better working knowledge of the language... I could now confidently hold a conversation with a French native, whereas at GCSE I'd be able to tell them about the environment but not about anything relevant XD
Very interesting.
I'm just finishing my A2 in German, and I love it. I actually hated it at GCSE, but when I got to AS, my opinion completely changed.
It's a lot different at A Level - like a few others have said, you don't just learn set phrases, you actually study grammar and tenses a lot closer so you can construct your own phrases.
A2 is good too, because you do Cultural Topics. This year, I studied a book, but other schools study films and artists.
I'm just finishing my A2 in German, and I love it. I actually hated it at GCSE, but when I got to AS, my opinion completely changed.
It's a lot different at A Level - like a few others have said, you don't just learn set phrases, you actually study grammar and tenses a lot closer so you can construct your own phrases.
A2 is good too, because you do Cultural Topics. This year, I studied a book, but other schools study films and artists.
AS French is the only one of my subjects I actually like.
It's really easy to put the work in and try hard, because you know that you will come out with a skill that can be applied in real life situations, and not just be able to reel off facts and write essays. So go ahead and be psyched! MFLs are so fun
But don't worry about it being hard OP, I did my GCSE French in 2008, a year earlier than all my other subjects- meaning I went without French for a year, but I still picked up AS this year really easily...
It's really easy to put the work in and try hard, because you know that you will come out with a skill that can be applied in real life situations, and not just be able to reel off facts and write essays. So go ahead and be psyched! MFLs are so fun
But don't worry about it being hard OP, I did my GCSE French in 2008, a year earlier than all my other subjects- meaning I went without French for a year, but I still picked up AS this year really easily...
A Level German is too difficult to be interesting 
Especially when you have crap teachers.
Especially when you have crap teachers.
It's great fun We all pretend to hate it because we've covered aspects of philosophy, literature, Media Studies, politics (racism, immigration, the environment, science/space travel, wealth/poverty, crime...)
We think it should be worth at LEAST 6 A levels
We all pretend to hate it because we've covered aspects of philosophy, literature, Media Studies, politics (racism, immigration, the environment, science/space travel, wealth/poverty, crime...)We think it should be worth at LEAST 6 A levels
It's great learning a language. A skill you'll hopefully keep for life.
You'll enjoy it. You actually learn something - at GCSE we did nothing in French for a full 2 years, well asides from watching films (not French ones) that is. But I find it very interesting - grammar's even great too, one of my favourite parts.
You should definitely look forward to it. I plan to keep French up into the future
You'll enjoy it. You actually learn something - at GCSE we did nothing in French for a full 2 years, well asides from watching films (not French ones) that is. But I find it very interesting - grammar's even great too, one of my favourite parts.
You should definitely look forward to it. I plan to keep French up into the future
alexandragazi
I'm gonna begin AS level Spanish next year, and I'm pretty psyched! Anyone who's done any language at A level:
Was it fun/interesting? Was it also the hardest of your options?
Was it fun/interesting? Was it also the hardest of your options?
Edexcel AS Spanish is fairly restrictive and concentrates far too heavily on mobile phones/youth culture (
), but A2 is much better!
Excellent!!!
When I finished GCSE i liked languages...but now I am just about to sit both German and French A level and I looooove languages.
The topics are really interesting, I've studied everything from Nuclear energy to the problems and solutions for the Third World.
You have to work pretty hard though to get high grades, I should warn you. Particularly at vocab learning - Try this for vocab - and getting your head around the many new tenses they throw at you.
When I finished GCSE i liked languages...but now I am just about to sit both German and French A level and I looooove languages.
The topics are really interesting, I've studied everything from Nuclear energy to the problems and solutions for the Third World.
You have to work pretty hard though to get high grades, I should warn you. Particularly at vocab learning - Try this for vocab - and getting your head around the many new tenses they throw at you.
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