AS German - rubbish teachers

Please prepare for a rant.

I've just had one week worth of AS German and it's really not what I had expected. There were four German teachers at our school; the one I had for 5 years and loved had left over the summer, and the only other decent one decided not to teach Year 12s this year. So I am stuck with the 2 crap teachers. Last week I had 4 lessons of German and have learnt not a single thing; I'm not finding any sort of 'jump' between GCSE and AS - at the moment, all we seem to be doing is foundation level GCSE!

On top of that, the class is really split in terms of ability, and the majority have no idea about the cases, basic grammar rules etc. Every time something slightly more 'demanding' comes up, the teacher has to take time to explain the simplest things to them which is frankly a waste of time and SO frustrating if you already know the stuff.

I love German; I would love to be able to speak it one day and I do know that I have an aptitude for languages. But I am really disillusioned at the moment; since I know that A level languages are challenging, I am terrified that I will not be able to get through it with such rubbish teachers. I feel panicky when I see people saying how much the jump is between GCSE & AS languages; how much vocab they have to learn each night etc - I haven't got any of that and it's making me feel as though I'm really behind. :frown:

Perhaps I should give it more time to see how I settle in, but if I want to change subjects I really do need to decide quite soon, and I don't want to find out in 3 months time that I want to quit without an alternative.

Do you have any advice? Do I still have the 'GCSE mentality' - where you expect to get spoonfed everything by your teachers, and I should now be trying to learn independently? I did try - I've done a lot of grammar by self-study, but it is hard to just learn vocab etc without having lessons on it and going over it in classes, not to mention all the cultural things and statistics required at A level. Have any of you other linguists here coped with rubbish teachers? Do you have any tips I could use for self-study etc?

Thanks.

Reply 1

leannemarie

11

Excalibur

Please prepare for a rant.

I've just had one week worth of AS German and it's really not what I had expected. There were four German teachers at our school; the one I had for 5 years and loved had left over the summer, and the only other decent one decided not to teach Year 12s this year. So I am stuck with the 2 crap teachers. Last week I had 4 lessons of German and have learnt not a single thing; I'm not finding any sort of 'jump' between GCSE and AS - at the moment, all we seem to be doing is foundation level GCSE!

On top of that, the class is really split in terms of ability, and the majority have no idea about the cases, basic grammar rules etc. Every time something slightly more 'demanding' comes up, the teacher has to take time to explain the simplest things to them which is frankly a waste of time and SO frustrating if you already know the stuff.

I love German; I would love to be able to speak it one day and I do know that I have an aptitude for languages. But I am really disillusioned at the moment; since I know that A level languages are challenging, I am terrified that I will not be able to get through it with such rubbish teachers. I feel panicky when I see people saying how much the jump is between GCSE & AS languages; how much vocab they have to learn each night etc - I haven't got any of that and it's making me feel as though I'm really behind. :frown:

Perhaps I should give it more time to see how I settle in, but if I want to change subjects I really do need to decide quite soon, and I don't want to find out in 3 months time that I want to quit without an alternative.

Do you have any advice? Do I still have the 'GCSE mentality' - where you expect to get spoonfed everything by your teachers, and I should now be trying to learn independently? I did try - I've done a lot of grammar by self-study, but it is hard to just learn vocab etc without having lessons on it and going over it in classes, not to mention all the cultural things and statistics required at A level. Have any of you other linguists here coped with rubbish teachers? Do you have any tips I could use for self-study etc?

Thanks.

Yes I had a rubbish spanish teacher who was totally disencouraging and demotivating.

The first few weeks will be slow because people will have got rusty over the summer and your teacher will be trying to recap GCSE stuff before moving on to harder stuff. I had the same problem as you only in French & Spanish (that there was a huge mix of ability) so I spoke to one of my teachers about it and she gave me extra work and said I didn't need to come to lessons if I didn't want to etc. So perhaps you could try mentioning it to them or to a personal tutor to get their opinion, I would leave it a little longer first though.

I didn't think that there was a jump between GCSE & AS languages so perhaps you have been scared into thinking that they are impossible. They aren't! I didn't sit down a learn a lot of vocab each evening, I managed to pick it up be listening in class or writing down vocab from articles I'd been reading online and then encorporating good words into my essays etc. Using a word is the best way to get it into your active vocabulary (when you can use it) rather than your passive vocab (where you just recognise it.)

AS/A2 does require more self-study but you shouldn't feel as if you're teaching yourself everything. There's nothing to stop you learning vocab or grammar but if you wait to see if the work gets harder first then you might find that you cover it all in class. At AS I didn't need to know any cultural stuff or statistics but I was on Edexcel.

As regards to rubbish teachers, if you think that they're that bad, complain or something as nothing will change unless you tell someone. In my case nothing changed anyway but it was worth the effort. As a class we went from ABBCD (A - a native Italian & D - someone who did no work) to AAAAA (B - the native D - the slacker) this year - it was satisfying that the people who put the effort in got such good grades, and in some cases improved dramatically, when our teacher thought we were all stupid.

I would stick at it for a while, supplement your class work with reading stuff online etc to push yoursef and if nothing changes, speak to your teachers etc.

Reply 2

*~vicki~*

2

i had a similar problem to you in year 12, as i went to a consortium 6th form where four school combine, and as a result, we had a very mixed ability group, and yes it is frustrating having to go over the simplest things, and it was amazing at what some of the schools hadnt taught at gcse, but the group can only progress as quickly as the slowest person, which can be frustrating if you are in the higher end.

however in my case, a majority of the weaker students dropped out of german, which, although it may sound harsh, was a relief, as it meant that we could progress a bit faster, but i still felt that i had missed out a bit, so i took to reading through the textbook, and doing other things off of my own back, such as reading news from germany etc, just to keep up with the culture side of things. I didnt really do too much grammar, as we covered it so much in class for the benefit of the others.

vickix

Reply 3

tanusha-tomsk

18

Yay for loving German, and don't let poor teaching stop you! Go into the German Society and chat to Germans (the link to the soc is in the top right corner of my post, click on "My societies"), you'll love it, and watch out for Jammertal, she's really cool :cool:

. Go play pictionary at www.isketch.net and click on a German 'room' - try to guess German words before Germans! You'll get so high on these 2 activities that you'll forget the stupid GCSE topics :biggrin:

If you have a bit more time, try reading a German book - try Die Panne (I think you'll be just about ok with GCSE German), it's really funny - a guy's car breaks down in the middle of the road ("die Panne" = breakdown in this context, I think) and he goes into a pub or something. There are some mysterious men playing a game, and he joins them... And what happens then - you'll have to read it! So yeah, Love German, get as much German action as you can :biggrin:

and enjoy your time in sixth form :party:

Reply 4

kellywood_5

17

I had 1 brilliant and 2 OK teachers at A-level, so I can't really comment on that, but I definitely can on the topic of mixed ability. To give you an idea of what it was like, I got an A and a merit in the AEA, while the others in my class got DEU. If anything, that should prove that it is possible to do well even if (not meaning to sound arrogant or anything) you're working at a much higher level than everyone else. Most of the time, I didn't find it a problem. It was extremely frustrating having to go over the absolute basics like the present tense even in Year 13 (and astonishing that people still couldn't do it) and it was very awkward because whenever the teacher asked a question, it would be silent. They'd look at me expecting me to answer, but I didn't want to just jump in every time and not give anyone else a chance. But at the same time, they didn't answer because they couldn't, so I wasn't sure what to do. I got it through it though and so can you. For example, I read a newspaper online every so often, I did extra work from the textbook that we hadn't covered in class, I taught myself more complex grammar like the subjunctives and the past historic and I sat the extension paper. Those are all things you could try doing if you don't feel challeneged at the moment. It probably will get better though because the first few weeks are just a recap of GCSE after the summer and trying to establish what level everyone is at. Do you use a textbook for your course? We used 'Au Point' for French and all we did in lessons was work through that really, so it wouldn't be too hard to work independently. You could also buy a decent vocab book organised into sections based on topic and learn words and phrases from there. Complaining about your teachers to your form tutor or head of sixth form might be an idea if it doesn't get better though.

Reply 5

*~vicki~*

2

oh my god, i love that isketch game so much :smile:

i'm addicted now :smile:

Reply 6

tanusha-tomsk

18

^

I'm glad you do :biggrin:

Play in German though, nothing measures up to guessing the word and typing it up before the germans :p:

I guess I was really lucky, there were 3 of us in the class, the two other girls having got top A*'s at GCSE German. Still I felt like A-Level was way to easy (I've been learning German for 11 years now), I knew about 70% of the vocabulary we studied and practically all the grammar.

AEA was the most amazing bit of German I've done in the 2 years. I haven't done a single practice paper so I didn't know what to expect really - and I loved the complex German which I could understand *every*single*word*of*, so it was much fun. And if you get something in the AEA (like kellywood and myself) you can prove everyone that you're not just good at German / lucky in the exam, but that your German is up to a very high standard. Then if you continue with it after 6th form (even if it's a module at uni) you can ask to be in a top group :smile:

Reply 7

deutschsweetie

8

grr soz i need to rant... i got soo close to a B grade at AS and my oral was messed up by my french teacher who hated me last yr NOW THE OTHER ones turned on me! and wont predict me the A i need predicted to study french at uni!!

Reply 8

kellywood_5

17

prinzessin1988

grr soz i need to rant... i got soo close to a B grade at AS and my oral was messed up by my french teacher who hated me last yr NOW THE OTHER ones turned on me! and wont predict me the A i need predicted to study french at uni!!

I don't know about the others, but you only need a B for Royal Holloway, or at least you did last year. That sucks though :frown:

Reply 9

deutschsweetie

8

i know i told you that would happen didnt I Kelly., in reply the OP YES I HAVE COPED WITH NO TEACHING from half of french las t year.. Yes my French and German teacher called me at end of the lesson in German 2day and Sed.. Can I hav a word please Carole I was lyk OH NOOO!!!!!!!! :redface:

Now after having pushed me to get an A all year last year shes suddenly dropped all hopes of me getting an A!!!!! IM RELI FRUSTRATED .. im thinking of just givin everything up :frown:

Reply 10

Excalibur

OP

15

Thank you everyone for the encouraging words & advice. I think I'll stick at it for a while longer and see if the situation improves; perhaps I was too quick to jump to conclusions. It was comforting to know that other people have been in similar situations but still succeeded. :smile:

Reply 11

cabeza_loca

I can understand the frustration... I've been there, done that.

My GCSE spanish class was an absolute joke. My teacher was the most annoying person ever. He would either not turn up for the class, or if he did, he'd be extremely late and would spend the entire lesson being annoyed at us and, to quote a famous line

"My GCSE Spanish class ruins my life".

And, on one instance, when someone ACTUALLY decided to ask a question, his response was "ask Laura, she seems to be good at Spanish". i mean, who says that?

I love spanish sooo much and its so irritating. i decided to do it for a-level because the other spanish teacher (who is lovely and really good at teaching) was meant to be taking the class. unfortunately i ended up with HIM again

AHHHHHHH

Reply 12

nikki

9

We're going over GCSE stuff right now, presumably because everyone's forgotten it over the summer.

The people who struggle will most likely drop out, that's what happened in all my AS classes last year.

Also, nothing stops you from doing some work outside of class! The internet's full of stuff you can do. I also know much more about German geography and culture after a year from reading stuff online than my German class do after 4 or 5 years of doing it at school. According to one person in there, Germany now borders the Pacific Ocean. :confused:

Reply 13

Excalibur

OP

15

nikki

We're going over GCSE stuff right now, presumably because everyone's forgotten it over the summer.

The people who struggle will most likely drop out, that's what happened in all my AS classes last year.

Also, nothing stops you from doing some work outside of class! The internet's full of stuff you can do. I also know much more about German geography and culture after a year from reading stuff online than my German class do after 4 or 5 years of doing it at school. According to one person in there, Germany now borders the Pacific Ocean. :confused:

lol

Thankfully, the situation seems to be getting slightly better - 2 students have already dropped out, and the prospect of a German work experience trip in February sounds exciting :smile:

Do you think you'd be able to give me some of those websites etc that you used?

Reply 14

nikki

9

Excalibur

lol

Thankfully, the situation seems to be getting slightly better - 2 students have already dropped out, and the prospect of a German work experience trip in February sounds exciting :smile:

Do you think you'd be able to give me some of those websites etc that you used?

Uhh, specific sites? Hmm... There's a whole load of articles on Wikipedia (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and there's a bunch of things on About.com's German section too. Deutsche Welle has German news in English, including a bunch of podcasts with the text provided, like the slowly spoken news reports. There's also this Albis thingy that someone else linked to for cramming in vocab, a list of online TV stations and a list of online radio stations.

AS German - rubbish teachers

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