Self Teach A Level Language Subject?

Original post by chupa1992

Has anybody had any previous experience teaching themselves an A level in Italian/French/German/Spanish?

I'm 24 years old. I've been learning Italian for a year and wanted to really knuckle down and take it seriously. I figured I could either take a GCSE to start then A level after that. I'd also love to study French or German (or both). I have no GCSE's in any language other than English.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :smile:

It will be particularly challenging for languages, mainly due to the lack of conversation practice. There are loads of websites and resources online for common languages about grammar, sentence structures, vocab, etc. but I would really recommend getting a language buddy for conversation practice. If you have any friends who speak the language that's ideal, if not there are websites online (e.g. italki) which will match you up with a language exchange partner or private tutor :smile:

Reply 3

You may also find that an A level isn't the best qualification to go for for languages btw - you would probably be better off aiming for one of the official certificates in the language (i.e. their equivalent of IELTS) since this is more internationally recognised and useful in terms of working/ studying abroad in the future :smile:

Reply 4

OP

Original post by dragonkeeper999

You may also find that an A level isn't the best qualification to go for for languages btw - you would probably be better off aiming for one of the official certificates in the language (i.e. their equivalent of IELTS) since this is more internationally recognised and useful in terms of working/ studying abroad in the future :smile:

Really? I have to admit I didn't even think of that!!
I'm going to be cheeky and ask if you could tell me a bit more? :smile:

Reply 5

OP

Original post by kkboyk

Get the recommended books by your exam board you're signing up to. Self teaching a language at A-level will be difficult due to a lack of guidance (and also the fact that there isn't much help on the specification to tell you what to cover exactly), so I'd recommend choosing a popular exam board who offer lots of resource (e.g. AQA Spanish).

Another thing I did whilst self teaching A-level languages was to use Youtube tutorials (there are sooo many). Really helped with pronunciations :tongue:

I figured that might the case haha!
I checked Edexcel but then I got so confused with where I would actually go to sit the exam. Nothing's ever easy eh :smile:

Just out of curiosity, what language did you get an A level in?

Reply 6

kkboyk

21

Original post by chupa1992

I figured that might the case haha!
I checked Edexcel but then I got so confused with where I would actually go to sit the exam. Nothing's ever easy eh :smile:

Just out of curiosity, what language did you get an A level in?

Portuguese and Spanish.

Reply 7

Original post by chupa1992

Really? I have to admit I didn't even think of that!!
I'm going to be cheeky and ask if you could tell me a bit more? :smile:

I have to admit I don't know all that much about the official exams for European languages - I'm sure if you google "official Spanish exam" you'll be able to find out what the official language exam is called and where you can take it.

The issue with A levels is that you need to find a suitable exam centre to take the exams (expensive and may involve trekking across the country...) and that outside the UK no-one knows what language level it means. Also, if you want to enrol on a study program taught in a foreign language or work abroad there, you'll usually need the officially recognised certificate in the language, whereas the A level is only recognised in the UK. Since (I'm guessing...) you're not doing the A level in order to gain UCAS points to go to uni, but instead more for personal satisfaction/ career benefits, the official language exam is much more useful :smile:

Hope that helps! If you've got any questions do let me know (particularly if you feel like learning Chinese...) :smile:

Reply 8

OP

Original post by kkboyk

Portuguese and Spanish.

Awesome!

Reply 9

OP

Original post by dragonkeeper999

I have to admit I don't know all that much about the official exams for European languages - I'm sure if you google "official Spanish exam" you'll be able to find out what the official language exam is called and where you can take it.

The issue with A levels is that you need to find a suitable exam centre to take the exams (expensive and may involve trekking across the country...) and that outside the UK no-one knows what language level it means. Also, if you want to enrol on a study program taught in a foreign language or work abroad there, you'll usually need the officially recognised certificate in the language, whereas the A level is only recognised in the UK. Since (I'm guessing...) you're not doing the A level in order to gain UCAS points to go to uni, but instead more for personal satisfaction/ career benefits, the official language exam is much more useful :smile:

Hope that helps! If you've got any questions do let me know (particularly if you feel like learning Chinese...) :smile:

ThankyouThankyouThankyou!! This really does help!

Reply 10