"Languages are an easy A level."

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I've never heard anyone say that they are an easy option. Most people I know are fairly impressed when you say you can speak two foreign languages. The only people who think languages are easy or worthless are those who've never studied them beyond Year 9, those who have no concept of the wider world around them, or those who can't do them.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 21

RLM

the HARDEST A levels are Languages and Sciences (chemistry) - Fact

Reply 22

defuzion

if it isnt your first language its hrad

Reply 23

alexmagpie

I find French A-Level MUCH harder than my other sciences.
They're a dying breed, unfortunately.

I'm applying for psychology at university (so yeah, I'm constantly attacked for taking soft subjects!) and an admissions guy at Warwick told me that applicants with a language A-Level are highly sought after, but there just aren't enough of them.

Reply 24

DrDixie

I did Biology, Chemistry, Maths and German. German was easily the hardest.

Reply 25

TheMeister

Get one of them to read contemporary Chilean analysis of Argentina's La Guerra Sucia from the '80s and then ask them how to conjugate the verbs differently. Then they'll see.

... also just like to say that I've never heard anyone say this before

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 26

JGR

I would say that they aren't easy, and while they could easily be made more difficult, there's not much point considering the typical language levels of people entering them.
However, I know quite a lot of people who took an A-level (or equivalent) in a language that they could already speak near-fluently, which seems like a bit of a waste of time to me.
(I went to a British school in Paris for my GCSEs and A-levels. Though I've seen this elsewhere as well)

Reply 27

Pi!

Spanish is my hardest A-level.

Reply 28

aeterno

Languages are much harder especially in terms of revision. You need to constantly 'revise' throughout the year whereas with sciences, you can not turn up to lessons, swallow the textbook and ace the exam.

Oh and before anyone gives me the whole 'you wouldn't know unless you studied both' crap - I did study both.

Reply 29

shadow99

I think languages are damn difficult A' levels. Native speakers might have an easy time.

Reply 30

Planar

That's just nonsense. Languages aren't easy.

Reply 31

BeritV

They definitely are not easy. I am doing French and I find it extremely difficult.
There is also this big disadvantage of no last minute revision possible to do at all. You just have to work ALL the time! It is very difficult.

Reply 32

nikita_atikin

I do a mix of sciences and languages and what I'm going to say is, languages are by no means more difficult than maths/sciences. Having said that though, I would not say they are the easiest either. You do have to work your butt off for them at some point. languages are as difficult as maths and sciences. They aren't suicidal like physics but not really relaxed and casual either.

Reply 33

asparkyn

They definitely aren't easy, and I don't know who those idiots A, B and C are, but I've never encountered anyone saying anything like that. Most I know are actually rather impressed, or rather, awestruck, when you tell them you like foreign languages.

That said, how does one tell if one is good at languages?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 34

ryannn

French is by far my hardest subject, but it doesn't matter, I enjoy it and that's all that really matters.

Considering that I'm the ONLY A2 language student (apart from a girl who does Latin?) at my sixth form, it shows that many people find it too difficult and as a result don't take it any further than GCSE. That said, for AS, I found physics the hardest and pratically gave up, and got a D at the end. It depends what kind of student you are, really.

Reply 35

MadameBonheur

I was ~~arguing~~ having a heated discussion about this with a particularly intelligent friend the other day. He does all Maths-y subjects and reckoned that language subjects were much easier "because you only need to learn words and you just spend your lessons talking". :lolwut:

Then I showed him my current French workbook - the essay I had to write on one of the cultural topics (which you need to watch, understand, and analyse numerous French films for), the vocab I had to learn (not just for the imminent vocab test, but I had to retain it until June), the grammar I have to go over again, and the article I had to read and be able to speak confidently about for the next lesson. He can just read and regurgitate the textbook for his subjects, whereas languages take loads of time and dedication to actually achieve well in.

I won. :biggrin:

Disclaimer: I am biased, and not saying that other A-levels aren't tough, because they are. I just believe that languages need that little bit more time and effort. :o:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 36

Faith01

German this year is actually a lot harder than the other A-Levels I do. You have do be really commited and do work every day, so it does take a lot of your time, it's a shame I find it really hard to manage :o: