Honest opinions on A Level Spanish

I literally want people’s honest opinion.. I want to change my subject to spanish, I got an 8 in gcse I’m just so so scared of failure

Lots of vocabulary to learn but there’s a lot of literature, film and culture. I personally love it.

Also, modern foreign languages are one of the hardest A-levels.

I loved it! It definitely is hard work but if you put the effort in then you'll be fine.

Just be aware though that languages aren't subjects that you can cram at the last minute. You really do have to be studying a bit each day to build your skills. Some people hate this but I found it made exam season a lot easier as I didn't have as much work to do as I had already been revising consistently throughout the 2 years.

Good luck with your decisions

Out of the three modern languages I did for A-level Spanish was definitely the easiest and didn’t have a very big gap from gcse to A-level in my opinion. Most people in my class also agreed that for them Spanish was the easiest one. However you do have a lot of content to cover

Honestly I loved Spanish at gcse but now I'm in year 13 and I still have no clue what I'm doing in A level Spanish. I think it depends on the teacher, but my teacher is really vague on what we need to know/what will come up in exams and just gives us loads of worksheets instead of actually teaching etc. (It doesn't help that there isn't even one native speaker in the entire mfl faculty). So my class has just had to fend for themselves. I still love Spanish as a subject but most days I dread the lessons. I think bad teachers have ruined the subject a bit for me which is a shame.
Wishing you the best for A level Spanish though!!!!

I sympathise with you. I had the same problem with Spanish in my final year of school. I had to do it at a different school because mine didn't offer it, but the teachers were pretty awful and we weren't taught anything. Self-teaching a language is tough because you can't gauge how well you're doing, if you're up to standard, or if you're even progressing.

Is there someone you could talk to at school to help with this?

I sympathise with you. I had the same problem with Spanish in my final year of school. I had to do it at a different school because mine didn't offer it, but the teachers were pretty awful and we weren't taught anything. Self-teaching a language is tough because you can't gauge how well you're doing, if you're up to standard, or if you're even progressing.

Is there someone you could talk to at school to help with this?

Honestly I loved Spanish at gcse but now I'm in year 13 and I still have no clue what I'm doing in A level Spanish. I think it depends on the teacher, but my teacher is really vague on what we need to know/what will come up in exams and just gives us loads of worksheets instead of actually teaching etc. (It doesn't help that there isn't even one native speaker in the entire mfl faculty). So my class has just had to fend for themselves. I still love Spanish as a subject but most days I dread the lessons. I think bad teachers have ruined the subject a bit for me which is a shame.
Wishing you the best for A level Spanish though!!!!

Hola a todos/todas,
yes, a teacher is extremely important. I am a native Spanish teacher who used to teach A-level Spanish in colleges and now, online and I'm aware of how important teaching the right stuff, the right way, the right cultural information or the right resources are. I feel sorry for you, guys, who have to learn about hard topics (immigration, divorce, heritage, politics etc, etc) not only in Spanish but also to learn how to discuss in Spanish and link it to the culture. Grammar concepts are hard to grasp too and .... yes, some British teachers don't have that level of knowledge. I've noticed that some of them only have degrees in Business Spanish . I hope nobody feels offended by this. However,..., throughout the years, I've noticed that you, guys, expect handouts, practice, ppts, everything...but work little or don't work as much as you should (again, please dont be offended). So, my advice is: work as much as you can and ask your teacher for extra work and lots of feedback. Also, tell your teachers you are struggling with X, Z or Y. Speak in Spanish as soon as you step in class, go for a coffee with your classmates. Teachers can't guess sometimes. Make your teachers aware of your struggles and I'm sure they won't let you down. We love our jobs and love to teach, help, support and see you making progress.