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Reply 20
there are loads of things you should consider- just cos its gona be a bit of hard work doesn't mean you should switch off to the idea- all Alevels are hard!!
anyway- paticularly with russian, you have a good chanc of doing really well, its not as common as french/german/spanish, chances are it'll be a small class, and universities love any level of a language like russian because russian linguists are in demand. lus it sounds impressive lol
yes, languages, unlike a subject like history, are about consolidating your knowledge and practising but you will be surprised by how quickly you pick it up even if it seems complicated, with russian if you've done gcse you'v covered most things with tenses and the alphabet haven't you??
then again its your future -only choose it if you are confident in your decision
Reply 21
Do you speak any other languages? It's much easier if you do, in my opinion. You've already got translation experience and are more likely to find suitable comparisons. Like in French, the word order is more or less the same as in Welsh, and the vous and tu thing as well. But then in English, there's the "on" for "one" and no Welsh equivelent.

I've only just thought about this - does anyone else agree that learning a language is easier if you're already fluent in two?
Reply 22
definatly, i started with french when i was little and although my written stuff ain't brilliant because im used to talking etc i've found it quit learning spanish and have done the gcse to a2 in 3 years fom scratch. it def helps , something to do with existing links in the brain perhaps???? :confused:
Reply 23
I would say that yes, learning a language can be difficult, unless you really enjoy it, in which case you dont think about the difficulty, only the enjoyment. I took A level french, and am planning on studying it at uni in september, at easter i went on the French exchange with my school, and I didn't speak english the whole time i was there, i wasn't spoken to i English either. I wouldn't say this means i am fluent, but like someone has said previously, I am quite confident that i could survive if u dumped me in the middle of France without a dictionary. I don't know about anyone else, but this makes me feel really proud :smile:
xxx
J'adore les langues!! I really love languages. I started my AS French having done no French whatsoever for an entire year and before that, only had a C at GCSE cause we had no teacher for year 11 (complicated)..... But I worked hard and caught up with everyone else and now I love it. First year is more difficult in my opinion cause its when you learn everything. The A2s is when everything started coming together.
Reply 25
Yeah, the AS year is definately the hardest, because apparently, the papers are set at the entire A-Level standard, only the topics are different.:smile:
Reply 26
if you're a natural at languages it's really not too hard?!
it's the literature that's nasty!
oh but some boards dont do Literature...I never have....Also, I dont think AS and A2 are the same level as someone suggested....I recently retook AS module 1 (listening & reading) and had A2 module 6 (listening and reading) there is a GRAND difference....but it just seems hard in AS cause your language skills would not have developed as much.
Reply 28
lucky for some! :wink:
Reply 29
We didn't do literature - we did a massive project instead. Well when I say massive I mean slightly longer than your average coursework, but I managed to stuff it all into one night and a bit. Go spellcheck!
I did Chinese As and A2 level this year. I think it is OK and A grade should be got....did anyone take Chinese language? For essay writing, I use Confucianism as my topic...Unfortunately, the majority of people take German or French.
Kennychan222
I did Chinese As and A2 level this year. I think it is OK and A grade should be got....did anyone take Chinese language? For essay writing, I use Confucianism as my topic...Unfortunately, the majority of people take German or French.


I never had the chance to do Chinese. Im thinking of picking it up at uni as a out-of-degree-course kinda thing. Obviously Im gonna struggle a hell of a lot.
Reply 32
Thanks for the information. Actually, I was asking this question out of pure curiosity: I'm not going to be offering any A levels at all, let alone one in Russian, which was just an arbitrary example of a language.
Reply 33
Exactly the same with me. French, beginning to feel a touch of fluency is slowly coming, with German, I find it much more difficult to read articles and speak confidently.

Its weird that everyone I talk to who does French and German, finds German most difficult. I personally think it could be the Chief Examiner, he looks a bit of nerd and probably want to be a clever dick when writing the papers.
Reply 34
I just finished my Russian A2 exams yesterday. AS Russian isn't too much of a challenge, but A2 is a big step up. The main thing is to do your vocab regularly, and you shouldn't have a problem. Unless you're starting as a beginner, in which case it will be TOUGH
Reply 35
I think german you can blag because they have loads of silly compound nouns so you can make stuff up and get away with it, but with gcse russian the russian words are nothing like the english words (mostly) and you have to make a real effort to learn vocab.
Reply 36
In French, if you don't know a word, usually all you have to do is say the English equivelent with a French accent. The other day in my exam, I needed a translation for "pathetic". So I put "pathetique". And it's right!
Reply 37
I did Russian A2 this year coz im fluent - the language papers like reading, writing and listening were easy, but i had to do a LOT of revision for literature, coz u had to remember a lot of quotes as you werent allowed to take the texts in with you :frown:

A level is harder than the GCSE, but then you only have to get about 90% of marks to get full ums, which is good..

Does ANYONE do Russian except me thou lol?

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