Self teaching A Level Spanish

Hi,
I start my A Levels in September and I will be taking A-Level French, Maths, Englist Lit & History. However I have always wanted to learn Spanish, and eventually study it alongside French at university. How hard would it be to entirely self-teach A-Level Spanish, considering I am at almost completely beginners level, and have not studied it for GCSE? I would also be aiming for A/A*. Thanks

Reply 1

Mariee16

Incredibly hard! I'm not saying it's impossible but with no prior knowledge I do not think you could get an A/A*

Reply 2

rakib567

Original post by spurs9393

You could take spanish at a level at your college and self teach maths which is much easier to learn indipendently. A level is self-taught even if you have teachers.

Reply 3

spurs9393

Original post by rakib567

You could take spanish at a level at your college and self teach maths which is much easier to learn indipendently. A level is self-taught even if you have teachers.

Unfortunately I am applying to another college (not my current school) who only allow you to take the A-Level if you have an A in Spanish at GCSE

Reply 4

rakib567

Original post by spurs9393

Unfortunately I am applying to another college (not my current school) who only allow you to take the A-Level if you have an A in Spanish at GCSE

Ok i see, If i was you i would carry on with just 4 alevels. Considering that the government are making exam paper much harder it is not worth the risk of doing 5 a levels for now. after you finish your 4 AS levels to the highest grade possible, drop one and do 3 alevels and then pick up AS spanish.

Reply 5

spurs9393

Original post by rakib567

Would it be possible to do French & Spanish as a degree if I only had A-Level French?

Reply 6

greentron6

Original post by spurs9393

Unfortunately I am applying to another college (not my current school) who only allow you to take the A-Level if you have an A in Spanish at GCSE

Extremely difficult, you want to be studying Spanish at ADVANCED LEVEL (which includes writing, listening, speaking and reading) with no experience at GCSE? Sounds silly, doesn't it? However, if you really want to learn Spanish, self teach yourself in your spare time without the need of an extra A LEVEL. :biggrin:

Reply 7

spurs9393

Original post by taylortron99

I have been self-teaching, I just want to make it official by doing an A-Level, as I want to study French & Spanish at university

Reply 8

rakib567

Original post by spurs9393

Would it be possible to do French & Spanish as a degree if I only had A-Level French?

i recommend asking this question to universities. However looking at the bristol program for french and spanish they specify just an A level in french. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2015/french/ba-french-spanish/
make sure to email universities offing these programs to make sure that you make the right decision.

Reply 9

AdamCee

Original post by spurs9393

Would it be possible to do French & Spanish as a degree if I only had A-Level French?

Yes.

Check out some uni websites, however a lot let you start a language from scratch, as long as you have an A level in one of them.

Reply 10

greentron6

Original post by spurs9393

I have been self-teaching, I just want to make it official by doing an A-Level, as I want to study French & Spanish at university

Well, I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do.

Reply 11

imlisa1996

Original post by spurs9393

im doing spanish at a level after the gcse, will probably get an a*. but just be prepared to find it really challenging if you haven't done the gcse. it involves writing an essay and speaking for 15 minutes in the exam. good luck though! :biggrin:

Reply 12

spurs9393

Original post by imlisa1996

Have you got any tips as to how to do it? Eg what books to get etc?

Reply 13

spurs9393

Bump

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 14

imlisa1996

Original post by spurs9393

Have you got any tips as to how to do it? Eg what books to get etc?

best advice would be to find a native speaker and practise as much as possible. try to immerse yourself in the language, start reading in spanish and especially watch movies and listen to songs. maybe you wont find AS too difficult, but A2 is definitely much harder, good luck!!! i recommend maria llena eres de gracia!!!such as good movie :biggrin:

Reply 15

spurs9393

Original post by imlisa1996

Muchas gracias!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 16

scott18044

Original post by spurs9393

Would it be possible to do French & Spanish as a degree if I only had A-Level French?

Most universities will let you start ab-initio Spanish - the only language that you generally can't start from scratch at university is French actually, so don't worry too much about having an A-Level in it before uni. As a first year linguist at uni, I would say that generally most of my friends are doing one language post A-Level and one ab-initio, so it's far from uncommon to take that approach.

If you want to start working towards an A-Level anyway: immersion is really important. Spanish radio (news stations opposed to those that repeatedly play pop music are better)/ films, perhaps use something like duolingo too (not always the best, but it will probably offer useful practice nonetheless). Also, books like "palabra por palabra" will build up vocab, specifically more A-Level vocab. It will most likely be incredibly difficult, but if that's what you want to do, there's my advice. ¡Buena suerte!