Advanced Higher French 2011-12

Alain bought her a mobile for her birthday I think!


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I actually laughed out loud at this bit hahaha. A PHONE?! IN MY POCKET!? It's really a good job I was the only one sitting this exam. Really great exam, so much better than I was expecting it to be!

Alain bought her a mobile for her birthday I think!


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Yeah, for the last question I wrote "A phone rings in her pocket and it transpires that Alain bought her a mobile as a birthday present!". In those words. With that punctuation.

I thought I should phrase it to show the examiner how amused I was.

There was another bit in part B that I found really funny, but I can't remember what it was now...It was near the start.

Hi guys, I sat my Higher French exam yesterday and I thought it went pretty well! I was just wondering what you could tell me about Advanced Higher French? I've already chosen my options for 6th year but I am seriously considering taking Advanced Higher French. How difficult is it? Is it a big jump from Higher?
I wouldn't say I was absolutely brilliant at French. I mainly get full marks in all the readings I have done, and around 9/15 for my Directed Writings and my Highest mark on my other essay has been an 8 before. My listening's however are awful. Never had more than 11/20. Do you think I would be able to cope with AH?
Also, I am crash higher-ing Spanish also for 6th year.... is it easier to pick it up after doing french?
I would really appreciate some feedback! Thankyou!

Hi there! Like from Intermediate 2 to Higher, there is a big jump even bigger from Higher to Advanced. Listening does get harder but with good practice you can do it! I'm doing Crash Higher Spanish this year and I have loved it! I have found it ok due to having done Higher French. Grammar is easier in Spanish but overall Higher French has helped with me doing Higher Spanish this year.

I would say that crashing higher languages are easy because you've gone through the structure already, but don't take my word for it as it may just be that I have an aptitude for languages.
If I'm being perfectly honest I think you may struggle to achieve a high grade at AH if you find Higher a bit difficult. There is - I think - a much bigger gap between the jump from SG/Int to Higher and the jump from Higher to AH. However, the course is a lot more interesting (well, some of it anyway) than the mundane topics covered in Higher/Int/SG. You get to study things like media, Europe, the environment and marriage. It really depends on your teacher according to what you'll study. How many periods a week would you get? I know I only got between 1-2 and 3 near the time if my speaking, so be prepared for a lot of independent work. I think if you're motivated and are passionate about languages then the course could be for you Snaps for picking up a third language too!


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Ooh Christie - I have a prospective baccalaureate candidate from my school who'd like to speak to you at Napier! She's called Jane xx


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Hi guys, I sat my Higher French exam yesterday and I thought it went pretty well! I was just wondering what you could tell me about Advanced Higher French? I've already chosen my options for 6th year but I am seriously considering taking Advanced Higher French. How difficult is it? Is it a big jump from Higher?
I wouldn't say I was absolutely brilliant at French. I mainly get full marks in all the readings I have done, and around 9/15 for my Directed Writings and my Highest mark on my other essay has been an 8 before. My listening's however are awful. Never had more than 11/20. Do you think I would be able to cope with AH?
Also, I am crash higher-ing Spanish also for 6th year.... is it easier to pick it up after doing french?
I would really appreciate some feedback! Thankyou!

Oooh, how exciting - I feel famous! Tell her I look forward to meeting her!



I'd have to agree with what the others have said - if you're struggling with some parts of French at the moment, I'd really think twice before taking Advanced Higher. I'm really sorry to burst your bubble - I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to hear - but I got an A1 at Higher, and almost full marks in every section of the exam, and I still found AH very difficult, the listening especially. Put it this way, I was virtually failing every listening paper throughout the year and ended up having a nervous breakdown on Wednesday night because I thought I would have no chance of passing the listening yesterday (turns out it was quite an easy one, so I will have passed it, but it's really unpredictable - one year it can be fiendishly difficult, the next year you might come out wondering how it was even AH level!) I don't want to put you off entirely, so I will say that it can be done if you're willing to put in a lot of effort, and French is a great language to have under your belt!

Spanish, on the other hand, I think you'll have no trouble with. I crashed Higher Spanish this year, and it really wasn't difficult - I did the Int. 2 course up until about January (to learn all the basic grammar and vocab) then switched over to Higher, and that really helped. I can only assume your teacher will want to do something similar with you - it's just the most logical way to pick up a new language. It is A LOT easier than French (the grammar and pronunciation, in particular, are much easier) so if you're coping reasonably well with Higher French, then Higher Spanish will be a walk in the park. I also found that doing Higher French before starting Spanish helped me a lot, because I was familiar with the exam format and I knew exactly what kind of details to include in essays etc.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for everything you have said! Yeah it is mainly just the Listening I struggle with... Don't apologise I would rather have people honest with me! I don't want to be sitting for a year really struggling with something that I already don't find the easiest subject in the world! I am sure you have done fine in your AH exam! I found my H French actually okay yesterday - the Listening I had difficulties with, naturally, but everything else went surprisingly well!
I definitely think I will stick to just doing Spanish then... I am really excited to learn something new, and hopefully with a good Higher French pass under my belt, hopefully I will be fine!
Thank you for your advice and I hope all your exams have gone fine!

Hey, I'm doing Advanced Higher Spanish this year and Higher French too, so I thought I'd give you my perspective.

For me, it depends on how passionate you are. If I'm being honestly, I found the gap from Int 2 to Higher Spanish bigger than the gap from Higher to Advanced Higher. However, the reason for that was because I found my 'calling' for languages at Higher and I was really passionate about it and I did well. I only got a B at Int 2 as I found it difficult, but I loved Higher so much that I got an A. However, I was by no means an A1 student: I'd get full marks for the writing, the translation and my listening was average at a B and my reading would sometimes be a C. However, I still loved Spanish so I still pursued with my enthusiasm: I read Spanish newspaper articles in my spare time, listened to the radio day and night, songs and I learned complex Spanish phrases/conjugations. This allowed me, this year, to get at least Bs in my listening (20/30 in the prelim) and full marks for my essays 40/40. Even then, my difficulty with the reading remained and I got a mere 20/50 for the prelim; however, I worked on my reading furiously as I was determined and I genuinely really enjoyed Spanish, and I ended up getting 18/22 for a NAB (and no, the NABs really aren't easy at Advanced Higher ).

The same happened with French I suppose. I did standard grade French and I got a 2 as I struggled, I did Higher French last year and got a C. I wasn't happy so I resat it this year. The main motivation was, however, because although I hated French the year before, I loved Spanish and it made me realise that I wanted to pursue languages in general (and not just Spanish) and guess what, I ended up getting 84% for my prelim this year whereas last year for the prelim I only got 52%. Why? It was because I'm really passionate about it! I listened to the radio a lot (I genuinely enjoy it), I listened to songs having downloaded them, I read some newspapers/novels (de temps en temps ) and I researched complex grammar/vocab which I'd say was Advanced Higher standard if not higher. I'm genuinely really interested and that's why I'm doing so well in my languages!

However, you must have the capacity to improve if that makes sense. I love English Literature and I did Higher (getting a B though) and when I chose it for Advanced Higher I still loved it. But, when I received my B I was not at all confident and the difficulty of the course threw me off completely, and as a result I struggled to even pass throughout the year. Although, this time last year I was getting As for English (needless to say the B was a shock) through sheer hard work and dedication. And I lost my passion for it consequently. Things change all the time, I became more passionate about my French and Spanish instead. And to an extent I wish I hadn't as I regret dropping my standards in English; but I know that the reason was because although I WAS passionate, I just didn't put the work due my lack of confidence in my ability in English whereas for French and Spanish I WAS passionate and I put LOADS of work in as I got an A for Spanish the previous year (getting confidence). I guess that at the end of the day you have to overcome obstacles which will always be present, and you'll be able to achieve anything really, if you put the work in and you're passionate about it. I promise.

Hi, I'm not sure if your post was meant for me because you didn't quote it but I am just going to reply to it anyway because I'm not sure hahahaha!
The subjects studied definitely sound much better and more interesting, which is an advantage! I would get French 5 periods per week, with one double period. I would also be the only person taking it, so it would just be me and my teacher, haha! I hope I would be motivated enough to put in the hard work! Perhaps maybe I should just stick to Spanish. At least then I would still be doing a language but not at the difficult level of AH!

However, you must have the capacity to improve if that makes sense. I love English Literature and I did Higher (getting a B though) and when I chose it for Advanced Higher I still loved it. But, when I received my B I was not at all confident and the difficulty of the course threw me off completely, and as a result I struggled to even pass throughout the year. Although, this time last year I was getting As for English (needless to say the B was a shock) through sheer hard work and dedication. And I lost my passion for it consequently. Things change all the time, I became more passionate about my French and Spanish instead. And to an extent I wish I hadn't as I regret dropping my standards in English; but I know that the reason was because although I WAS passionate, I just didn't put the work due my lack of confidence in my ability in English whereas for French and Spanish I WAS passionate and I put LOADS of work in as I got an A for Spanish the previous year (getting confidence). I guess that at the end of the day you have to overcome obstacles which will always be present, and you'll be able to achieve anything really, if you put the work in and you're passionate about it. I promise.

My situation is exactly the same as yours with English. After expecting an A and receiving a B I was a little deflated. For me foreign languages were always more important but I think I let my enjoyment of English die a little this year. Then again, the class I loved. It was my only real class though! Hoping for at least a B this year so I can achieve a distinction for my Baccalaureate but I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE an A. Especially after last year


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