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Two Languages At A-Level?

I’m a current year eleven student and i’m attempting to decide what A-Levels to take in year twelve Sixth form. Some of my interests include Art, Spanish, German and philosophy.

Would taking two languages at A-level be too ambitious and difficult?

I do enjoy both German and Spanish but have done my German GCSE already, in which I got an A* in ( I know this grade doesn’t compare to A level languages but I found the course relatively simple). My mum is a native German speaker and therefore taught me a good amount when I was younger; I can understand the language fluently, however only construct sentences at an amateur level.

As for Spanish, I know it only at GCSE standard and am aiming for/predicted a 6/7. (Old B/A) My question I guess is would taking two languages a) be beneficial to my career choices/ university options in the future which i am uncertain about currently & b) not be overly difficult? I understand that all A-levels are challenging but would this be too much? And do Universities even teach language degrees anymore ?

Thank you :smile:

Reply 1

AnIndividual

Original post by siennaheaton

Given that many language courses require you to have 2 languages, I can't imagine that taking two would be neither out of the ordinary, nor exceedingly difficult, especially if you have a real passion for the languages. I did 4 A-levels (French being one of them) and even then I found the workload pretty easy to cope with. Ironically, French was one of the subjects where I did the least work, as once your proficiency increases, there isn't really that much more stuff you can revise.

As for career choices, language degrees have some of the best starting salaries of any arts degree.

So, if you can do it, definitely go for it, and from what you've indicated, you're more than capable.

Reply 2

TeacupAndTragedy

It's possible.
There's a girl at my Sixth Form who is studying Maths, Further Maths, Spanish, and French. She isn't a native speaker or anything and, as far as I'm aware, doesn't know anybody who is.

Reply 3

eggyeol

Hi!

In currently doing Spanish and French at A level and hoping to carry on with languages at uni (so yes, they do still teach them 😀).

I think the fact that you're already strong at German would be very adventageous and could help you out a lot. I know you say you don't think your sentence structuring is great yet, but we 2 years to practice and the fact that you have a native speaker at home would help you out massively. Languages are a very facilitating subject that all universities look highly upon. In addition to this, the amount of people taking them at A level is decreasing every year, If you do decide to do two you'll have two rare yet very sought after qualifications.

Reply 4

Doones

Original post by siennaheaton

It's pretty uncommon to do 4 A-levels unless you are doing Maths & Further Maths.

And don't underestimate the amount of work you need to do, especially for Art. Also with linear A-levels you are being examined on 2 full years of work when you sit your exams in Y13.

Of your 4 subjects I'd recommend not taking Spanish to A-level. When you get to university most have very good language centres where you could pick up Spanish if you still wanted to.

Universities are looking for quality not quantity in your A-levels.

Edit: and yes, modern languages are still very much taught at degree level at university.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 5

Desideri

I took both French and German at a level. I got A* in French and B in German (was predicted an A but screwed up the exam :frown:

). The advantage of taking two languages, rather than two unconnected subjects, is that there's an overlap in content. I did the old spec, which was based around controversial topics, so we had to look up arguments for and against loads of things (abortion, Brexit, stem cell research, stay at home parents, etc) and I only had to do this research and think about my point of view once. Obviously I had to learn how to say it in two different languages, and look at the laws/opinions in more countries, but this definitely reduced my workload. I also really enjoyed the course and my languages improved a lot (I think I learnt more in 2 years of a level than the whole of secondary school!)

Some modern languages courses at uni ask for two languages at A-level. Others only ask for one. But among people planning on doing languages at uni, two languages at A-level certainly isn't uncommon.

Reply 6

Doones

Original post by KittyN

Some modern languages courses at uni ask for two languages at A-level. Others only ask for one.

Do you have an example of a university requiring 2 languages?

Reply 7

Desideri

Original post by Doonesbury

Do you have an example of a university requiring 2 languages?

Nottingham do if you want to take Modern Language Studies (3 languages) but they also had an option of two languages with more modules in history/culture which only required one language A-level, iirc. There were definitely a couple of other places which required 2 A-levels, but I can't remember where now as it was 2 years ago I was looking into unis.

Reply 8

Doones

Original post by KittyN

Interesting, but as you say, that's only if you want to study 3 languages. OP can study 2 languages at university with one language A-level.

Reply 9

RossGeller11

I did French and Spanish at A level and now do a French and Spanish degree at uni. I needed an A level in both languages to get in but some universities only need one language A level for entry. Of course having A levels in both languages is beneficial but not compulsory everywhere.