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GCSE German

So, I am in year 11 and I work hard, I want to achieve so I put a lot of effort in and that's reflected in my Grades. I'm predicted a grade 9 in Maths, Chemistry, Physics and am working at a Grade 8 in Tech RM, I am predicted grade 8 in English Lang, History, Biology and am predicted a Grade 7 in English Lit. I achieved a grade 8 in my RE GCSE which we take early and I am doing Futher Maths but don't know what I'm predicted. To but it simply I'm doing well. BUT then we get to German. I'm predicted a Grade 5 and that's been bumped up so I can still do Higher. I hate German, I just can't do it at all no matter what and the stress it's causing me having to do 2 hours a night in addition to all my other revision and coursework. I dread any German lessons. To give a TL/DR I'm dreadful at German, I hate it, I can't do it and it's causing me so much stress and anxiety when I'm mostly going to only get a Grade 3 in the end based of mock results. Is it worth talking to the school and then just stopping doing German? I will have the same amount of GCSEs as everyone else as I will have a GCSE in Further Maths. At A-Level I have applied to do Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths and I want to to into Chemistry as a job while chasing a career in politics on the side (I'm already a member of the Labour Party and am the CLP's Youth Officer). What should I do? Oh to add on I was aiming for Oxford University and I do have a lot of other things on the side such being a Cadet, and having my Silver DofE as my biggest two boosts. But in the end I'll be happy to go to the Uni of Sheffield or Uni of Manchester which are both good unis and offer the course I want to do.

Reply 1

Digitidal

Congratulations on a set of good expected results!

Regarding German, there's an unfortunate issue. While you could ask the school to drop it, I'd advise against it unless you speak another language. An MFL at GCSE is a very valuable asset; Could you try do an easier language like Spanish, and take it in Y12 instead?

What's your ethnic background, because there are many languages available and perhaps your family could teach you?

Reply 2

kannmnn

I wouldn’t advise dropping a foreign language at gcse.

You seem really clever, what part of german exactly do you struggle with?

I got an 8 at gcse last year, so maybe I could help with any specific things you find difficult

Reply 3

deltagolf

Hi, it’s nice to see you’re focused and know what you want to do. Like everyone else I’d suggest you don’t drop German because GCSE courses provide you with a basic understanding in the language which can come quite handy in the future (despite how fluent you become or how bad a grade you get). One thing you could do in your situation is possibly ask the teachers if you could do the lower tier exam as this would massively relieve a lot of stress from your shoulders in regards to the subject. Doing an MFL at lower tier means you won’t have to do a 150 word writing task and the speaking exam is a lot easier. Obviously if you think you can continue with the higher tier then do so. My best advice for a GCSE MFL is to try and crack down on grammar first and learn the grammar off by heart which means then you can focus on widening vocabulary or seeing how you can extend sentences and justify opinions, in my case I managed to nail the French grammar during Year 10 which meant I could focus on other skills during Year 11 (though I understand this may not be as applicable for you).
As well as this for your A-level choices you won’t need to get a good grade in German. If you meet the requirements for Maths and Science at GCSE (usually 6s in most colleges) and pass your English then you can get onto your desired courses. This means it shouldn’t matter to the college too much if your German grade isn’t as good as the rest of your GCSEs because after all we aren’t all perfect at everything. Also when looking beyond, at university most ask that you passed GCSE Maths and English and that you meet their entry requirement (which will best based on your A-levels) and when it comes to the world of work, most employees look to see that you passed GCSE Maths and English. So really it doesn’t matter too much if you even fail German. You could take from what I have written that it is okay to drop German and to that I would say leave that as your last case scenario because of the skills a GCSE language can leave you with but personally I think it would be best if you asked your school to make you do the lower tier exam.

Reply 4

joe3289

Original post by Digitidal

Very much English, part Welsh, and part Irish Traveller so background wise there isn't much help although my family are language maestros so they do help and try to teach. A lot of what I struggle of is just retention. I forget literally everything so while I'm a good speaker and can improvise I have no idea how to say what I want to say and even if I do I forget rules and forms. Really it's been all languages I've struggled on because I've done Spanish before and struggled.

Reply 5

joe3289

Original post by kannmnn

It's mainly retention I struggle with, like I understand the rules and different forms like the dative it's just remembering them.

Reply 6

joe3289

Original post by deltagolf

I think I won't ask yet as we have mocks next month and I've already been trying to work hard and improve my German so I will see how I perform in this mock and if I do get a high 5 then I will stick on higher and aim to get 6 in my GCSE and if not I'll ask to do foundation.

Reply 7

Anonymoussimply

Don’t drop it, hated it too. My teacher won’t let me do higher thought I’d fail but instead I got a 4 exactly. Doing higher may get you a 5 but it’s still hard and I know a lot of people who failed.