A-Level languages from scratch

A book (or three), and I talk to people on the internet. You don't need much. The one thing I'm missing, of course, is listening practice... but that's relatively easy to pick up at the end.

I notice you're studying Maths at Cambridge - did you ever consider studying a language?

Yes, up until I was 17. I still do. I've applied to do the German diploma alongside my degree next year.

What made you do Maths instead? I have something of the same - I love Maths and Science and for a long time it has been what I want to do at university, but I also really love languages. Out of interest, what were your A-levels?

OP if you are genuinely trilingual I reckon you would definately be able to do it. People who are bilingual or more have a real affinity for learning languages, and can easily add to their list of languages.

Good luck !

Maths, further maths, French, German. Did chemistry and Latin to AS.

I did maths because I knew I could always teach myself a language if I wanted to. I've done it with several languages in the past - I'm doing it with Turkish right now. Couldn't do that with maths if I tried; I simply wouldn't have had the motivation to sit down and do the first year course in a year. (Having been at Cambridge for a year, I think I can safely say I now would happily teach myself the second year, but that's not really relevant any more. I've been teaching myself languages all my life; maths was just something I got spoonfed and absorbed, and going from that to actually having to work a lot for it was a culture shock, but one I think I've adapted to quite well.)

Which languages are you fluent in, again? I caught Spanish and English but don't think you mentioned the final one.

Norwegian.

You stated you wanted to do an "alevel" in it, but how about you learn it for fun in your own time, and if it goes well do a gcse?
Languages are hard at alevel, but teaching for fun can be fun!

Spanish, English and Norwegian? How the hell did you manage that?

When I get round to learning Norwegian at some point in my life, I'll give you a prod.

Spanish, English and Norwegian? How the hell did you manage that?

When I get round to learning Norwegian at some point in my life, I'll give you a prod.

You should definitely learn Norwegian though, it's an insane language. I'm quite proud of knowing the Viking language

I know, it's great, and it's definitely high up on my "languages to learn" list. When I get comfortable with Türkçe, I'll give it a go.

I would definitely work hard. I find my other A-levels very easy (Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Spanish) and I doubt I'll need to spend a lot of time on them. (Before anyone starts saying how much of a jump it is from GCSE to AS-level, I'm saying that I find the AS-levels easy. I basically finished Maths and I read through the Biology textbook, did a past paper three days later and got an A.)

I think if I were to study a new language, it would be (in order of preference) Latin, Russian, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek. All these languages fascinate me immensely.

good on you then! Obviously the decision is completely up to you. Best of luck!!!