Should I self-teach an A Level?
At my school because of the timetable I can I only have lessons in one language at A Level, but I'd like to take both Spanish and French. I did GCSE Spanish but I've never studied French before, but I am currently self teaching it for fun anyway because I really want to learn French. I pick up languages quite easily, so I was thinking that I could do A Level Spanish and ask to be entered for the French exams too.
As both languages are sat with the same exam board, I know what I'd have to teach myself an I'd be learning how to structure essays for the exams in Spanish so I could also use that information for French. I could translate my notes from Spanish into French and memorise them in my own time. Also even though I wouldn't have lessons in French the language staff at my school are very supportive and would happily help me with things if I needed help with, say, the grammar and would definitely do the speaking assessment with me. (The same teachers who teach Spanish also teach French)
So is this a good idea?
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As both languages are sat with the same exam board, I know what I'd have to teach myself an I'd be learning how to structure essays for the exams in Spanish so I could also use that information for French. I could translate my notes from Spanish into French and memorise them in my own time. Also even though I wouldn't have lessons in French the language staff at my school are very supportive and would happily help me with things if I needed help with, say, the grammar and would definitely do the speaking assessment with me. (The same teachers who teach Spanish also teach French)
So is this a good idea?
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Give it a go, try very hard - it'll be tough. If you're doing well, and you and your teachers think you can get a good grade, enter for the exams. You don't have to enter immediately, so you should have a chance to test yourself first.
Edit: Only enter for the exams if you're doing well - a bad grade won't look good, even though you're self teaching. A good grade would look brilliant, especially if you want to do languages at uni.
Edit: Only enter for the exams if you're doing well - a bad grade won't look good, even though you're self teaching. A good grade would look brilliant, especially if you want to do languages at uni.
(edited 10 years ago)
You might want to just double check first that the syllabuses are in fact the same. Other than that, if you are good at picking up languages, that sounds like a great idea, although I wouldn't enter that French exam unless I was absolutely certain I'd get a good grade. Either way, even if you don't do the French exam, saying you taught yourself a language looks so good on your personal statement (whether you do languages at uni or not).
One small precautionary thing I would add is that A levels do take up a lot of time, so it may not be as easy as it sounds to teach yourself an A level. I think some exam boards have coursework for languages as well, which creeps up quickly, especially if you've never studied that language before.
One small precautionary thing I would add is that A levels do take up a lot of time, so it may not be as easy as it sounds to teach yourself an A level. I think some exam boards have coursework for languages as well, which creeps up quickly, especially if you've never studied that language before.
Original post by R.P.Everything.
You might want to just double check first that the syllabuses are in fact the same. Other than that, if you are good at picking up languages, that sounds like a great idea, although I wouldn't enter that French exam unless I was absolutely certain I'd get a good grade. Either way, even if you don't do the French exam, saying you taught yourself a language looks so good on your personal statement (whether you do languages at uni or not).
One small precautionary thing I would add is that A levels do take up a lot of time, so it may not be as easy as it sounds to teach yourself an A level. I think some exam boards have coursework for languages as well, which creeps up quickly, especially if you've never studied that language before.
One small precautionary thing I would add is that A levels do take up a lot of time, so it may not be as easy as it sounds to teach yourself an A level. I think some exam boards have coursework for languages as well, which creeps up quickly, especially if you've never studied that language before.
The exam board I'm on (AQA) does an exam (listening, reading and writing) am then the only other thing I have to do is a speaking test with a teacher which can be done at any time
so no coursework!Thanks for the warning about that though!
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That's going to be sooooo hard especially having not done even GCSE French. AS is a lot of work with a basic grounding in the language, let alone without. Good luck!
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What about doing GCSE French instead? Doing an AS language from scratch (effectively) would probably be very difficult.
Can certainly you.
If you think you can cope, go for it! Be warned sometimes colleges/sixth forms has can be really stingy and not let you. 
Be warned sometimes colleges/sixth forms has can be really stingy and not let you. Original post by qwertyking
What about doing GCSE French instead? Doing an AS language from scratch (effectively) would probably be very difficult.
The point of me taking the A Level is because lots of university courses I looked at want an A Level in French, so I don't have time to do the GCSE and the full A Level while I'm at 6th form, an if I take a gap year to do the French then it'll be more difficult to apply to uni as I'll have had a year long break between A Levels and applying.
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Original post by Paralove
That's going to be sooooo hard especially having not done even GCSE French. AS is a lot of work with a basic grounding in the language, let alone without. Good luck!
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I've started teaching myself basic-GCSE French and I've gotten myself up to roughly (based on grades on past papers) a GCSE reading grade B within a week so I should be able to pick up basics quickly, it's mainly the self-teaching A Level content I'd be concerned about
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Original post by BaudelaireLucky
I've started teaching myself basic-GCSE French and I've gotten myself up to roughly (based on grades on past papers) a GCSE reading grade B within a week so I should be able to pick up basics quickly, it's mainly the self-teaching A Level content I'd be concerned about
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Reading is okay but what about your speaking and listening? And also writing! The standard between GCSE and AS is massive for languages.
I'm going to be applying for French and Spanish ab initio. I'm doing Spanish GCSE after school with the now Year 11 as I only had French as an option. I've yet to find a university that would let you do French from scratch, they all want A-Level standard. You really do need a proper French teacher and lessons to do well, imo.
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To be honest you might as well as it won't make a difference! Next year to curb grade inflation the grade boundaries will be set at 100,99,98,97,96,95 % for grades A,B,C,D,E,U!! That's right, there's even a grade boundary for a U now! Yay me
Original post by Paralove
Reading is okay but what about your speaking and listening? And also writing! The standard between GCSE and AS is massive for languages.
I'm going to be applying for French and Spanish ab initio. I'm doing Spanish GCSE after school with the now Year 11 as I only had French as an option. I've yet to find a university that would let you do French from scratch, they all want A-Level standard. You really do need a proper French teacher and lessons to do well, imo.
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I'm going to be applying for French and Spanish ab initio. I'm doing Spanish GCSE after school with the now Year 11 as I only had French as an option. I've yet to find a university that would let you do French from scratch, they all want A-Level standard. You really do need a proper French teacher and lessons to do well, imo.
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I am trying to improve my pronunciation and listening skills (already ok as I already listen to quite a bit of French music, but will get better)
For writing and speaking, I have a good memory so I can plan stuff out, check the accuracy and then memorise it and reproduce it in a short-ish amount of time, so as long as I prepare myself for various different possible questions beforehand, it should just be a memory task
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Original post by Michael Gove
To be honest you might as well as it won't make a difference! Next year to curb grade inflation the grade boundaries will be set at 100,99,98,97,96,95 % for grades A,B,C,D,E,U!! That's right, there's even a grade boundary for a U now! Yay me
A new troll is born.
Original post by Michael Gove
To be honest you might as well as it won't make a difference! Next year to curb grade inflation the grade boundaries will be set at 100,99,98,97,96,95 % for grades A,B,C,D,E,U!! That's right, there's even a grade boundary for a U now! Yay me
Omfg hi there Gove can u not
(this made me laugh)
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It's totally possible but will depend on your constraints. Will you need to ask staff to set aside time for you to do the speaking exam, for example?
If the only 'difficulty' is self-teaching then you can just give it a go until Christmas, ask to be involved in mock exams or similar, and then if you feel confident that you will achieve the grade you want, ask the school to enter you. Teaching yourself an A-level is totally do-able, but finding the time and resources is very important.
At the very least, have a go at learning some. Exam entries don't have to be in until a few months before the exam so you have time to test yourself.
Good luck if you go for it.
If the only 'difficulty' is self-teaching then you can just give it a go until Christmas, ask to be involved in mock exams or similar, and then if you feel confident that you will achieve the grade you want, ask the school to enter you. Teaching yourself an A-level is totally do-able, but finding the time and resources is very important.
At the very least, have a go at learning some. Exam entries don't have to be in until a few months before the exam so you have time to test yourself.
Good luck if you go for it.
Original post by BaudelaireLucky
Hello there child. May all your dreams be crushed
Original post by Michael Gove
Hello there child. May all your dreams be crushed
loooool we all hate you gove
Original post by nmanvi
loooool we all hate you gove
Don't hate cos you ain't!
Back in my day exams were harder, children were smarter and the laws on 'paediphilia' were so much more flexible...how I long for those days
Original post by BaudelaireLucky
I am trying to improve my pronunciation and listening skills (already ok as I already listen to quite a bit of French music, but will get better)
For writing and speaking, I have a good memory so I can plan stuff out, check the accuracy and then memorise it and reproduce it in a short-ish amount of time, so as long as I prepare myself for various different possible questions beforehand, it should just be a memory task
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For writing and speaking, I have a good memory so I can plan stuff out, check the accuracy and then memorise it and reproduce it in a short-ish amount of time, so as long as I prepare myself for various different possible questions beforehand, it should just be a memory task
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The jump from GCSE to AS is huge for languages - I (just) got an A* at GCSE but found AS French really hard so had to do SO much extra work to scrape an A. Speaking is the most difficult bit, since they expect you to be able to talk on the spot about pretty much anything - you definitely can't just memorise answers like you could for GCSE! For my exam board (edexcel?) we chose a broad topic area (I chose 'lifestyle, health and fitness' there were three other options, I think one was about education, another about society or something, and no idea about the last...) and then were asked all kind of random questions on the topic - e.g. 'what do you think the government should do to reduce underage smoking?'; 'How important is it for children to do sport in school'; 'Is obesity going to become a major health issue in the UK?'; 'What do you think of the French health system?' - they can literally ask you anything and don't always stick totally to the topic, they can ask other questions to follow up something you mentioned in a previous answer, my exam wandered into a conversation about government funding for universities!
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