Hi, I´m studying to take the Japanese GCSE for next year. I´ve been studying the language since I was in Year 8, so I think I should be okay grammar-wise, but the thing is that my teacher has never entered a student for a Japanese GCSE, being young and a bit inexperienced, so that leaves me not really knowing how the exam works. I´ve done past papers, so the listening and reading units are fine, but I don´t really understand the speaking unit. Are we supposed to practice the questions with our teacher? I found an edexcel webpage where there are loads of possible questions that my teacher can ask me, but are we supposed to actually prepare them beforehand?
Finally, if there's someone who is (or has been) in my position, could you please tell me what textbook you used in order to study for the exams? I´m fairly sure there isn´t a Japanese GCSE textbook, which would be ideal, but that leaves me with just past papers that I can use to study, which isn´t much, as there really aren´t many past papers out there...
Thank you very much for your help. Also, if someone is taking Japanese A-level, could you please give your opinion on it, and if it´s useful? I would be interested to know it!