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German A- Level?

Hi, all!

I am thinking about taking German A- Level, as German is my favorite subject (I know, crazy....) I've passed my GCSE speaking and writing with A's, but we were allowed to remember the passage and have a dictionary for the written work.
At the moment, my worry is the spontaneous speaking exam - only 5 minuets to prepare on a given topic... The essay writing, with no material...

What is your opinion about German A- Level and what do the exams consist of?

Do you think taking a language at A- Level is worth it?

Danke! =D
Original post by Aimez
Hi, all!

I am thinking about taking German A- Level, as German is my favorite subject (I know, crazy....) I've passed my GCSE speaking and writing with A's, but we were allowed to remember the passage and have a dictionary for the written work.
At the moment, my worry is the spontaneous speaking exam - only 5 minuets to prepare on a given topic... The essay writing, with no material...

What is your opinion about German A- Level and what do the exams consist of?

Do you think taking a language at A- Level is worth it?

Danke! =D


Depends on the board. I did AQA AS level.

It's not as hard as it seems. We were allowed to choose one of the topics which would come up and had a very good idea of other topics that came up in the speaking so we would write and answer questions based on that (and memorised them). It linked in very nicely with the writing as I remember, in my writing exam, I borrowed phrases from my speaking and that worked very well in the end.

It is an extremely fun subject to take but does require quite a bit of hard work. But, if you love it already, go for it!
I'm taking AQA AS Level German now. I echo what cookiemonster15 said. Speaking exams are more like conversations than painstakingly memorised speeches, and you can't use dictionaries in your assessments!

One thing I do like about the course, though, is that while the listening tests are harder, you get to listen to the questions on a given MP3 player whenever and as much as you want, while with the GCSE exam I'd get frustrated if I can't make out what they say even when they repeat it once. The big speakers were really muffled in the exam hall, but with your A Level one you can listen through headphones. :smile:

Oh, and the topics are a lot more interesting and specific too. In AS Level I'm doing television, advertising, Internet, fashion, music, the cinema, sport, and more stuff.
Yes I do think it's worth it if it's your favourite subject. Back when I was choosing my A levels, German was my favourite subject so I'm happy I continued with what I wanted.

The speaking isn't nearly as horrid as people say.

1) Your teacher will (or should) help you so much in the preparation stage.
2) They'll be the ones talking to you in the speaking, so you shouldn't feel nearly as nervous.
3) They won't try to trip you up or keep persisting and being horrible for the above reason ^

Go for it if you like the language
A bit of advice in hindsight:

Imagine you're preparing for the speaking exam, and you're covering future plans for example, if you can, answer these questions in English:
who, what, where, when, why and how

And then get the necessary vocabulary from a dictionary (where you can nicely scribble out words you've covered.)

Better to know the vocab (inc. the genders and the plurals!) than rota repeating entire paragraphs.

Though by all means after this, feel free to rota repeat some answers, which are likely to come up, to start you off.

(This is hindsight, and you'll appreciate me for saying it if you take it. :wink:)

(Edit: I say this because in the speaking exam, when asked about why I want to become xy and z, I was stumped because I hadn't thought about the reasons why I wanted to become it, and the reasons I had were a tad too complicated in terms of vocabulary [and what I prepared for.])

But go for it! Good subject, you'll be quite niche as well as no one is doing it in my area nowadays, for example. They even cancelled the course for the year below me in my college. :frown:

Grammar is cool, if you want further advice from hindsight just reply to this or PM (in the future.)
(And if you want any tips about grammar just ask, as, yet again, I've done it and found some really easy ways to tackle them.)
(edited 8 years ago)
I am halfway through AS German at the moment and am finding it very difficult. I got an A* at IGCSE and really enjoyed it, even after taking a more advanced GCSE in it.
My advice to you is consider how strong the teaching is at your school. The reason I am finding it so hard is because the teaching at my school for German is not good at all.
Also consider what other subjects you will be taking with it and workload- I am also doing A Level English Lit, History and Maths so that makes its even harder to focus on German when I have other demanding subjects.
But don't let me put you off! Just something to think about!
Reply 6
Original post by sunflowerz
I am halfway through AS German at the moment and am finding it very difficult. I got an A* at IGCSE and really enjoyed it, even after taking a more advanced GCSE in it.
My advice to you is consider how strong the teaching is at your school. The reason I am finding it so hard is because the teaching at my school for German is not good at all.
Also consider what other subjects you will be taking with it and workload- I am also doing A Level English Lit, History and Maths so that makes its even harder to focus on German when I have other demanding subjects.
But don't let me put you off! Just something to think about!


Hello! Thank you so much for your reply.
I got an A* in my recent mock for GCSE - so that's a positive start!

The teachers at my school are amazing. The languages department are literally so dedicated to what they do. The last speaking exam I did (luckily wasn't a real exam- for English) I didn't even get a mark because I have social anxiety like that and my teacher gave up on me. To give an indication on how much my German teacher has supported me - I passed a speaking exam in GERMAN - with a resounding A! WHOOP! I can't even begin to explain how excellent they are - with no exaggeration here. They are members of staff who know their place and stick to it. Always there to give up their time for their students. Upon that I think I will just go for it - and see how my GCSE grade turns out in August just for that extra confirmation.

I'm planning to take psychology, Sociology and literature along with German - but quite a lot of people had suggested to me that you should always take one soft subject? How are you coping with 4 pretty demanding routes?
Original post by Aimez
Hello! Thank you so much for your reply.
I got an A* in my recent mock for GCSE - so that's a positive start!

The teachers at my school are amazing. The languages department are literally so dedicated to what they do. The last speaking exam I did (luckily wasn't a real exam- for English) I didn't even get a mark because I have social anxiety like that and my teacher gave up on me. To give an indication on how much my German teacher has supported me - I passed a speaking exam in GERMAN - with a resounding A! WHOOP! I can't even begin to explain how excellent they are - with no exaggeration here. They are members of staff who know their place and stick to it. Always there to give up their time for their students. Upon that I think I will just go for it - and see how my GCSE grade turns out in August just for that extra confirmation.

I'm planning to take psychology, Sociology and literature along with German - but quite a lot of people had suggested to me that you should always take one soft subject? How are you coping with 4 pretty demanding routes?


Disagree. That's completely down to who you are and how much you think you can handle. Ask your teachers for advice. Personally I don't think taking a soft subject is a "necessity" by any means.
Reply 8
Original post by Student403
Disagree. That's completely down to who you are and how much you think you can handle. Ask your teachers for advice. Personally I don't think taking a soft subject is a "necessity" by any means.


My teacher said to me - and I quote - "I think you are entirely capable of doing German A- Level. We'd love to have you. You are one of the only few people we would recommend it to."

In my opinion I believe that the knowledge and support from your teachers are equally important. I may be willing to put 100% effort in but if you don't understand your teachers, or they are simply not dedicated enough (which is sometimes the case) that can be the difference between a C and an A or possibly an A* for all I know.. I know that from pure experience.
Original post by Aimez
My teacher said to me - and I quote - "I think you are entirely capable of doing German A- Level. We'd love to have you. You are one of the only few people we would recommend it to."

In my opinion I believe that the knowledge and support from your teachers are equally important. I may be willing to put 100% effort in but if you don't understand your teachers, or they are simply not dedicated enough (which is sometimes the case) that can be the difference between a C and an A or possibly an A* for all I know.. I know that from pure experience.


Yep. So if your teacher believes you can handle it, I don't think you should be forcing yourself to take a soft subject. Take whatever subjects you like
I did german at A-Level and achieved an A in the summer. It really was worth it for me personally as It has opened up many doors. If you enjoy it then I recommend doing it!


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Original post by Aimez
Hi, all!

I am thinking about taking German A- Level, as German is my favorite subject (I know, crazy....) I've passed my GCSE speaking and writing with A's, but we were allowed to remember the passage and have a dictionary for the written work.
At the moment, my worry is the spontaneous speaking exam - only 5 minuets to prepare on a given topic... The essay writing, with no material...

What is your opinion about German A- Level and what do the exams consist of?

Do you think taking a language at A- Level is worth it?

Danke! =D


I think the advice you've been given is pretty good so I don't have too much more to say.

I'm currently doing German A2 and I have to say I'm really glad I took it. Whilst it is hard work and it does get difficult (especially at A2) if you love the language and you're dedicated you'll be fine. It gets really interesting, at AS you do sport, media, fashion, music etc. At A2 you study a film/book (or whatever else your school chooses) so it gets a lot more interesting than the standard GCSE content.

In terms of the speaking at AS I remember being really worried about it but you get a lot of support and so much practice through the year it really isn't so bad (you'd be surprised how quickly 15 minutes passes!) The cards are a breeze and like someone above mentioned you get to prepare one topic and get enough practice on the rest to be able to speak about them confidently.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask :smile:

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