[ilovelily2006]

(Original post by raaaiku)
Is that the old N3 or the new one (now there's 5)? Either way you should be fine for AS, A2 is a little harder as theres set texts and you basically prepare an essay in advance and regurgitate it for the essay question in the paper! (so without a teacher it would be hard to get a perfect essay, but you could always check it over with a native)

It's the new one. Are you Japanese? I think your name sounds like Japanese I've had a look through A-level Japanese past papers and they are quite difficult. And my trouble is I prefer speaking to writing since i'm not really good at kanjiOMG Choosing subjects for A-level is so complicated.

[ilovelily2006]

(Original post by Ronove)
When studying at a school/college it is possible to sweet-talk a teacher/the exams officer into putting you in for the exam through them. Certainly this is absolutely possible for GCSE English/Maths if you had a reason for doing them and other people at the school/college were doing them already (you'd just need to be added on to the list of people attending the exam/submitting coursework). However, you don't need English since you've done IELTS, and I'm guessing you were examined in Maths at age 15/16 in Vietnam so you don't need GCSE Maths either. Universities are generally happy to accept foreign qualifications as long as they're roughly equivalent in level to the UK examinations. Basically, I wouldn't have thought you needed GCSE Maths or English.

I self-taught Spanish A-level while in Year 13 and convinced my school to sort out the exams for me. I had to be sent to a fancy private school about an hour away to do the speaking exams since you can't get an examiner to come to a school for just one student, but they sorted all that out for me. I didn't even have to pay the entry fees for the exam units but even if your school ask you to, they're only something like £15 per A-level unit and perhaps £10 per hour if the exam is at a time when no other exams are happening and you have an invigilator (random person who sits in the room and makes sure you're not cheating) all to yourself.

So you didn't take Spanish AS exam? I think we need our school's permission to take a subject as a private candidate right? Can you tell me a little bit about private candidate? I mean how do we submit coursework? Every time we have a test for a unit, we have to go to testing centre?

[Ronove]

(Original post by ilovelily2006)
So you didn't take Spanish AS exam? I think we need our school's permission to take a subject as a private candidate right? Can you tell me a little bit about private candidate? I mean how do we submit coursework? Every time we have a test for a unit, we have to go to testing centre?

I took the AS and A2 exams at the same time.
If you do your exams through the school you're not a private candidate, so I wasn't a private candidate. The school just put on some extra exams for me. I was still officially taking my exams through school.

If you do exams as a private candidate you'll have to find a centre (school/college/private testing centre) that holds the Japanese exams. That might be very difficult depending on where you're living as it's not a commonly taken exam. You'll have to pay for each unit you do, with the cost per unit varying from the ~£15 per unit it officially costs to £100+ per unit that many places demand from private candidates, just because they can.

Edit: If it's a subject that requires coursework you will also need to do things slightly differently. There are organisations that offer A-levels via distance learning. Some coursework subjects can be done through these (eg A-level Biology) because they use work submission and phone contact to verify your coursework. If you don't need anything else they provide for the cost, though, this is a very expensive route. And it's pretty much the only route for a coursework subject. Thankfully languages aren't usually coursework subjects. There's just the issue of finding somewhere that holds the speaking exams.

[Mequa]

I don't have formal academic qualifications in a foreign language, however I did teach myself Spanish to a basic-to-intermediate level (now a basic level as I'm pretty rusty).

A decade ago, however, I took it upon myself to learn Aruban Papiamento. Now that is a "less common" language indeed.

[medbh4805]

I did A level Irish, I'm not a native speaker. I got an A*

[atheistwithfaith]

(Original post by ilovelily2006)
Oh you are my first friend . I'm from Vietnam. I am planning to take Maths, Further Maths, Economics, and another language ^^. I love English, but my Japanese is so so ( I have just taken the N3 test, wonder if you know it or not haha). Everything about the UK and A-level seems very new to me. From what you said, I need to have GCSE French in order to start A-level French? And this is the first time I've heard of "private candidate" *Google quickly* Thanks a lot for your advice. Are you studying A-level too?

If you are at the new N3 level then your Japanese is probably almost at A-level standard in some areas!

[medbh4805]

(Original post by thatitootoo)
This! BTW, do you think modern and biblical Hebrew are somewhat mutually intelligible?? or are they like english and old english? lol

As I understand it they're pretty much the same language, except modern Hebrew has a much bigger vocab, and the way people learn it is different, e.g. if you do modern Hebrew A level your exams will be a similar format to French etc, but Biblical hebrew is more like Latin or Greek (i.e. reading, writing, literature). Also Modern Hebrew tends to be printed without vowel marks and has its own handwriting system. Also, if you study Biblical Hebrew only by reading/writing then you're obviously not going to be able to have a conversation with an Israeli (any modern Hebrew speakers feel free to correct any of this)

[Mequa]

(Original post by medbh4805)
As I understand it they're pretty much the same language, except modern Hebrew has a much bigger vocab, and the way people learn it is different, e.g. if you do modern Hebrew A level your exams will be a similar format to French etc, but Biblical hebrew is more like Latin or Greek (i.e. reading, writing, literature). Also Modern Hebrew tends to be printed without vowel marks and has its own handwriting system. Also, if you study Biblical Hebrew only by reading/writing then you're obviously not going to be able to have a conversation with an Israeli (any modern Hebrew speakers feel free to correct any of this)

From what I heard the modern pronounciation of Hebrew differs considerably from how it was pronounced in ancient times. Being a revived language it took a lot of pronunciation from European languages.
Of course Biblical Hebrew is focused on reading, so this is less important.

[effofex]

(Original post by thatitootoo)
If so..was this A-level in your mother tongue?
& What grade did you get??

I'm doing an A-level in Dutch which is my 2nd to native language...though I'm by no means fluent

Niet vloeiend in de Nederlandse taal?

[Rahmeh.]

I did Arabic GCSE in year 8 and doing A2 now. I am a native speaker so i have made that clear to universities as i would not like it to be a part of any offers (feels a little like cheating) although it is sooooo difficult and the grammar is crazy! It is beautiful though

[lmartynofficial]

(Original post by thatitootoo)
If so..was this A-level in your mother tongue?
& What grade did you get??

I'm doing an A-level in Dutch which is my 2nd to native language...though I'm by no means fluent

I'm doing my A2 Dutch This year (it is my native language). got an A last year (80/80)

[thatitootoo]

(Original post by effofex)
Niet vloeiend in de Nederlandse taal?

absoluut niet, nee!

[thatitootoo]

(Original post by lmartynofficial)
I'm doing my A2 Dutch This year (it is my native language). got an A last year (80/80)

80? huh I thought the AS was out of 160??
Full marks huh that's pretty good, even for a native speaker...as the 40 mark essay question at the end can pretty much be about anythinng
How long have you lived in the UK?

[thatitootoo]

(Original post by Rahmeh.)
I did Arabic GCSE in year 8 and doing A2 now. I am a native speaker so i have made that clear to universities as i would not like it to be a part of any offers (feels a little like cheating) although it is sooooo difficult and the grammar is crazy! It is beautiful though

li
Haha bless that's very honnest of you to make that fact clear to uni's like that.. Omg I can't imagine how hard the writing must be! My only understanding of Arabic are the numerals.. What Arabic dialect is your native? Is it particularly close to 'MSA' ??

[thatitootoo]

(Original post by medbh4805)
I did A level Irish, I'm not a native speaker. I got an A*

Well done on getting the A*!! Did you attend a school in NI or something? btw is A-level Irish the same format as French/German etc.. or is it completely different?

[thatitootoo]

(Original post by Mequa)
I don't have formal academic qualifications in a foreign language, however I did teach myself Spanish to a basic-to-intermediate level (now a basic level as I'm pretty rusty).

A decade ago, however, I took it upon myself to learn Aruban Papiamento. Now that is a "less common" language indeed.

Ahh I see... and ohh yess it is indeed! I believe even Dutch is more commonly spoken in Aruba!

[thatitootoo]

[QUOTE=Ronove;36738912]I took the AS and A2 exams at the same time.
If you do your exams through the school you're not a private candidate, so I wasn't a private candidate. The school just put on some extra exams for me. I was still officially taking my exams through school.

If you do exams as a private candidate you'll have to find a centre (school/college/private testing centre) that holds the Japanese exams. That might be very difficult depending on where you're living as it's not a commonly taken exam. You'll have to pay for each unit you do, with the cost per unit varying from the ~£15 per unit it officially costs to £100+ per unit that many places demand from private candidates, just because they can.

Edit: If it's a subject that requires coursework you will also need to do things slightly differently. There are organisations that offer A-levels via distance learning. Some coursework subjects can be done through these (eg A-level Biology) because they use work submission and phone contact to verify your coursework. If you don't need anything else they provide for the cost, though, this is a very expensive route. And it's pretty much the only route for a coursework subject. Thankfully languages aren't usually coursework subjects. There's just the issue of finding somewhere that holds the speaking exams.[/QUOTE

You didn't learn Spanish in year 12?? How did you get yourself to A-level standard from year 11? (asuming you took Spanish for GCSE?)

[medbh4805]

(Original post by thatitootoo)
Well done on getting the A*!! Did you attend a school in NI or something? btw is A-level Irish the same format as French/German etc.. or is it completely different?

Yeah I go to school in NI, though I largely did it at evening classes (lots of Irish language societies about). It's exactly the same format

[thatitootoo]

(Original post by ilovelily2006)
French pronunciation is so weirddddddddddd. I can't even pronouce the alphabet correctly. Now I can understand why my friends who learn French speak bad English. Their tounge just doesn't move! I am considering geography and French. I like geography too and Economics also has a close relationship with it. How many A-level are you studying? Are we allowed to study 5 A-level subjects or only 5 AS subjects and then drop to 3-4 subjects in A2 year?

yeah that's probably why And well it's all about how much work you think you can handle & How much your college believes in you! :P In september I'll start German, Geography & Business x 2 & Dutch (if I screw up this year)

I think taking Geography would make your life at college just a bit more bareable tbh! :P

[Folks]

I'm doing an A Level in Japanese and it's not my mother tongue.