Is it worth wasting my time on GCSE Spanish?

As I go to a language college. We're supposed to take 1 language at GCSE.

I do Spanish, but I'm extremely bad at it.
When I work my hardest, I still end up failing and coming out with a D grade, a C grade at most.

For example, during the October half term, I had a speaking controlled assessment, and I had to memorise my paragraphs, which were good. However, the memorizing was so hard, that it took me days to memorize paragraphs, including 3 days to memorize my 2nd paragraph, and I ended up sacrificing my Science revision time for the Spanish, doing no revision for Science until the night before.
I did the speaking, I ended up with a D/C.
I got a C in Chemistry and C in Biology (1 mark of B).

Those 25 hours of revision for Spanish, I still came out with a mediocre grade, whilst only 3 hours of Science revision the night before and I came out with a C, which I believe I could of at least scraped a B, had Spanish not been so time-consuming.

I feel like I'm wasting my time on Spanish, which is meaningless to me, and I believe I could use the time for other subjects, which I'm struggling with such as Chemistry or History.

What were you doing to try to remember the paragraphs? Just reading them?

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hi, one of the factors you might wanna consider is what course you'll be taking in university. does it require a grade in spanish? also what are the consequences of getting a bad grade in spanish? as in will your college ask u to take extra lesson etc. because some colleges have this sort of system.

Reading each sentence over and over, numerous times.
See if I can say it without looking, If I can move on, to next sentence.
Then see if I can remember the first sentence whilst I've also memorized the 2nd sentence.
Write the memorized paragraph.
Then I recorded my self saying it, and listened to it over and over.

My paragraphs were so long that once I memorized all of them, I had forgotten the first two, as it had been a while, due to the amount of content. It was so stressful, even looking back two weeks later, it makes me annoyed.
The fact they were also detailed took more time to memorize.
My teacher said they were high grade paragraphs, but I messed up in speaking due to memorizing.

Reading each sentence over and over, numerous times.
See if I can say it without looking, If I can move on, to next sentence.
Then see if I can remember the first sentence whilst I've also memorized the 2nd sentence.
Write the memorized paragraph.
Then I recorded my self saying it, and listened to it over and over.

My paragraphs were so long that once I memorized all of them, I had forgotten the first two, as it had been a while, due to the amount of content. It was so stressful, even looking back two weeks later, it makes me annoyed.
The fact they were also detailed took more time to memorize.
My teacher said they were high grade paragraphs, but I messed up in speaking due to memorizing.

I would either improve your exam technique for Spanish by making your paragraphs more concise (just as good but shorter), ask for help from a teacher/parents/friends so that you can memorize them more easily.

Or if having Spanish is going to make no difference to your career or doing Spanish is going to sacrifice your other grades I would ask if you can drop it. Your college will want you to get the best grades possible.

Maybe that's where you were going wrong. Some people just can't learn at all by simply reading and repeating. I have a very good memory but I need to write things out again to retain the information - maybe you should try this!

I tried a variety of different techniques. I read and repeated and I also wrote again and again.
I also listened.

I think my paragraphs were so long, that there was too much I didn't need.
I'll try to make it much shorter next time.

The thing is, it's not just speakings I'm bad at.
Even during the reading and listening. I always get answers wrong. I lack knowledge and vocabulary.

It's just not my thing, tbh.

I really do think it is worth sticking with it. I was in your situation when I was doing my GCSEs (Now in Year 12) with French. I hated it and I did really badly in it, and my teacher wanted me drop it at one point. Then I got a French tutor in the summer between Year 10 and 11, and during the school day I would go and sit with the schools French exchange student and he would go over all the lesson stuff with me, help me with my controlled assessments. I only got a C in the end, but I needed that C for the university course I want to do.

With your memorizing, I think you need to try out a different way. Not everyone can memorize by just reading. I used to write out my paragraphs over and over again, and then after about 6 paragraphs they would be into my head, then I would just practice them from there. Try simplifying your paragraphs, make sure you know what you are actually talking about in English so it will be a lot easier to memorize. Also, if you are allowed a prompt sheet in the assessment then make good use of it.

Hmm, I think I should just make my paragraphs very basic, so they're easier to remember.

But that doesn't solve my problem.
I'm still rubbish at the reading and listening. Mainly the readings. I'm not really good at vocabulary, so I find it hard, and always get the answers wrong.
I don't really know how to revise for those.

As I go to a language college. We're supposed to take 1 language at GCSE.

I do Spanish, but I'm extremely bad at it.
When I work my hardest, I still end up failing and coming out with a D grade, a C grade at most.

For example, during the October half term, I had a speaking controlled assessment, and I had to memorise my paragraphs, which were good. However, the memorizing was so hard, that it took me days to memorize paragraphs, including 3 days to memorize my 2nd paragraph, and I ended up sacrificing my Science revision time for the Spanish, doing no revision for Science until the night before.
I did the speaking, I ended up with a D/C.
I got a C in Chemistry and C in Biology (1 mark of B).

Those 25 hours of revision for Spanish, I still came out with a mediocre grade, whilst only 3 hours of Science revision the night before and I came out with a C, which I believe I could of at least scraped a B, had Spanish not been so time-consuming.

I feel like I'm wasting my time on Spanish, which is meaningless to me, and I believe I could use the time for other subjects, which I'm struggling with such as Chemistry or History.

I think University is too early to worry about now. I'm concerned about college and A-Levels at the moment.
None of which my options require a language grade C or above. Mainly Maths, English and some Science at Grade B or Higher.

The only consequence of me not doing well is receiving one less GCSE at A* to C.
I don't think universities or colleges will care about it, as it is not a core subject in all schools, so not everyone can do it or get a C or above in it.

If I were you, I would definitely stick with it. Even if you aren't looking to take a language based education path in the future, languages are the number one top way of increasing your employability. To look at the bigger picture, when you come to be applying for jobs in the future, if an employer needs to choose between two people with the same qualifications, one of whom also has basic Spanish skills and has passed Spanish GCSE, they are DEFINITELY going to prioritise them. The world is becoming increasingly globalised and most companies now function on an international level - language skills are absolutely going to put you higher than other applicants.

This isn't to say that if you haven't studied a language you'll be a failure - not at all! Just that if you stick with Spanish you may be glad you did in the long run. My advice would be to keep putting in the hours, ask your teachers for some extra support and see how you can decrease the complexity of your writing in order to make sure you get the accuracy marks. Remember that the controlled assessments count for 60% of the grade. The final exams are still important and these are much less focused on memorising large chunks of text. To revise for them it would be useful to find the key vocabulary lists for your exam board. For vocab like 'mirror' or 'table' or whatever you could stick post-it notes with the words on around your house. Just try and make Spanish words a part of your life - try switching them into sentences - even if you only do it to confuse people! I don't know what exam board you are on, but with controlled assessments for AQA courses, 300 words including three different tenses is all that is needed for an A* grade. It may be that you're over-complicating your writing and making it more difficult for yourself! Other advice I can give you is to record yourself saying your paragraphs on your phone. Then, you can listen to them before you go to sleep, on the bus, while you eat lunch - whenever. Maybe you're an aural learner, in which case this should help it sink in. Eventually you'll be able to mouth along with the recording. Good luck.