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A Level Chinese/Japanese?!

Well, I have a total obsession with all things Chinese, Japanese and Korean and I desperately want to study at least one of these languages at A-level at college. But before I actually pick it I need to know a few things:

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Should I study it if I am a non-native speaker?

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I haven't had any experience at studying it at GCSE (because my school didn't offer it as a subject :s-smilie: ), should I still take it?

•

Is it too hard?

•

Are there any non-native speakers who took this at A-level? And jumped straight to A-level without studying it at GCSE?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

LadyJoka

Original post by hellyeahoppar

•

Should I study it if I am a non-native speaker?

•

I haven't had any experience at studying it at GCSE (because my school didn't offer it as a subject :s-smilie: ), should I still take it?

•

Is it too hard?

•

Are there any non-native speakers who took this at A-level? And jumped straight to A-level without studying it at GCSE?

I'm taking japanese AS and im not a native speaker nor have I studied the language before AS.

It will actually be more respected as a subject if you are not a native speaker, and its not too hard.
It won't actually matter that you haven't studied the language before but you may want to put some extra effort in before starting so you have some idea of GCSE knowledge before starting AS.
Learning a completely new language is never easy, but with effort it is definitely manageable.

If you want to know anything else, just quote or PM me :biggrin:

Reply 2

Forza-Milan2011

This girl from my school says that A2 Edexcel Chinese is only for Chinese people ? is it true??

only AS its for Foreign people

Reply 3

LadyJoka

Original post by Forza-Milan2011

This girl from my school says that A2 Edexcel Chinese is only for Chinese people ? is it true??

only AS its for Foreign people

No, they are open to anyone who has the option to take them, it is just a language that more people take it they are Chinese, similar to Japanese A-Level.

Although if you take it and you intend to apply to university, especially UCL, you should try to add in your personal statement somewhere that it is not your native language

Hope this helps :biggrin:

Reply 4

SleepingLion3

Original post by hellyeahoppar

•

Should I study it if I am a non-native speaker?

•

I haven't had any experience at studying it at GCSE (because my school didn't offer it as a subject :s-smilie: ), should I still take it?

•

Is it too hard?

•

Are there any non-native speakers who took this at A-level? And jumped straight to A-level without studying it at GCSE?

Hi!

I studied Mandarin Chinese from Year 7 to GCSE and then did the AS as well. I'm a non-native.

I would totally recommend doing it, even if it is only up to GCSE. It's a really fun language to learn, and the culture is so interesting.

I'd say the hardest part for me was vocab. Learning characters and remembering them is pretty tough. But I guess it depends on your memory!

GCSE is pretty easy - it's worth doing but AS is much much harder...you have to put a lot more time into learning it and be very dedicated, and despite not doing that I really enjoyed it.
Even though I gave up after doing the AS last June, after doing a year without it, I really miss learning it. And so this summer, I've decided to take it up again in my spare time. :smile:

I'd also say that Mandarin Chinese is such a useful language, especially in regards to the progress China is making in global economics, etc. And also it's the world's most spoken language!

Reply 5

bethayton

Hey,

I've studied Japanese for the past 7 years and in fact, right now I am supposed to be revising for my A2 exam on Friday...
In short, in the situation you're in, I really would strongly not advise you to start AS Japanese - at least not in September. Honestly, AS Japanese is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life - the amount of kanji and vocab you have to learn, the way it is just so completely unrelated to any other language (I study French too), the way you have absolutely no support because nobody else does it... it's not worth it!

In Year 12 I definitely was close to breaking point more times than I'd have liked, and it was no doubt 100% down to Japanese. I must admit as well as being the hardest thing I've ever done it was also the most rewarding (I got an A in the end :colondollar:

) but I really would NOT recommend starting off at A Level before doing GCSE. Please!!!

And just so you know, my exam on Friday consists of a reading task, a translation from English into Japanese, and TWO essays. It's 3 hours long. It's 100% of the A2 grade. Wah.

Perhaps think about it again at uni where they will be better equipped to guide you through the amount you will have to learn, but really, if you want any chance of having a life over the next two years, don't go for Japanese. Lol!

If you've got any other questions feel free to ask :-) I'm now an expert on AS Level Japanese ha ha.

Reply 6

Forza-Milan2011

Guys as Edexcel languages rules applies for all of them, do you if for the writing sections if you have the opportunity you can write on or similar to the topic you talked about in your A2 oral ?

Thanks