Anyone doing A-level Spanish?

Hey, so basically I'm just looking for some moral support and someone to talk about the course with? I'm the only person taking Spanish in my college, and my teacher has been away for personal issues for a few weeks, and basically I have no idea what I'm doing. I've done nothing for the Research project or the film study and I'm really good at procrastinating and skipping class. Surprisingly I actually would like to do well in this course so I'm hoping some of you lovely people might be able to help me get back on track?

Hey! I do Spanish too

Which exam board are you with?

That's honestly great Thanks for replying!I'm with AQA, which are you doing it with?

It's no problem

I'm with Eduqas (probably the least helpful exam board going ). Our specifications sound pretty similar though as I have to do the research project and all that stuff too. Which film are you studying?

Ok I've not heard of that sorry
I have to research a book and a film, the research project is like a presentation and a discussion on anything you want, and there's a reading/listening/writing exam and a speaking exam where you have to speak from a card prompt about some really deep societal issues. For the film I'll probably do Pan's Labyrinth because I feel that's the easiest choice, but I do honestly like that film as well. Which are you doing? Also what topic for the research?

It's okay no one has

Yeah our exams sound pretty much the same

Ah I wish I was doing Pan's Labyrinth it's a good film. However I'm doing Las Trece Rosas, then Como Agua Para Chocolate for the book and then about the Mexican Drug War for my research project. Do you have any idea on what you want to do yours about? I'm honestly dreading the oral exam I've just been pretending it doesn't exist for the past few months

Oh yeah same I’m so bad at it omg🙈 the stupid thing is for me it’s not even the fact it’s in Spanish which I struggle with so much as just not knowing what to say??😂

I don’t know that film but it probably is one of the options for AQA as well, they do seem pretty similar.
I’m supposedly doing something about the history of Colombia for the project which to me just seems an insanely massive subject to cover in 2 minutes so I’m considering doing it about Spanish art instead, since I at least have some idea where to start with that. It’s just hard because it’s the new course so there’re no examples or whatever to look at...

I know what you mean Some of the questions are so obscure as well and I'm just left sitting there like ?????

The history of Colombia sounds a bit broad I think I'd stick with Spanish art just to play it safe And yeah I think think this whole 2 minutes thing is mad. I've been spending ages trying to cut my presentation bit down but it's still well over 2 minutes.

Ngl my life would be 10x easier if they just released one exemplar presentation. My teacher was going on a rant about this a few days ago saying how unfair it is that we have nothing to go off. They even started emailing other exam boards to see if they'll release anything but all of them said there won't be any examples out until next year :/ Just got to pray for low grade boundaries since it seems like no one knows what they're doing haha

Yeah that is a positive... You actually have no idea how encouraging it is that you’re saying that though😂😂 cos I’m more or less teaching myself right now so it’s good to hear no one else knows either.
I just can’t figure out what the presentation is supposed to be? Do I just talk about it? Make a PowerPoint? Just cry?

Don't worry literally everyone in my Spanish doesn't know what's going on and there's about 30 of us

I'm like 95% sure that it's supposed to be kind of like an analysis? You don't have to make an powerpoint or anything but I don't think we're supposed to just write down facts or else it would be too descriptive.

Heya! I'm doing Spanish AQA a level too! What year are you in btw? If you're in year 13 then I would really focus on your IRP - maybe decide which topic you want to cover and narrow it down because I think both Spanish art and the history of Colombia are too broad. Then perhaps you can start doing mind maps of the separate subtopics you'll cover, for instance if you did it on Spanish surrealism you could have a subtopic on Dali and how his work contributed to the art movement. I would recommend doing some exercises from the kerboodle textbook, especially the more tricky ones like summaries and translations, alongside continuing to learn new vocabulary. I think it may be best to leave the book and the film to when your teacher returns because they can be quite tricky to analyse, especially if you don't know that much about themes, characters etc! I hope this helps. Feel free to message me or reply to me on this thread if you want any specific help! Always happy to help.

What book are you studying??

El coronel no tiene quien le escriba

oh i've not heard of that I'm doing pan's labyrinth though which i really like! The books are difficult though

Hi, I study A Level Spanish too (AQA). For my IRP I'm doing causes of the Cuban Revolution so I was thinking that if you wanted to do something about Colombian history you could focus on a specific part of Colombian history, such as their independence or as a colony (that might be too broad though). For the movie and stuff I've bought a revision guide, I think it's from hodder education or something. It's about £10 but it's got lots of good stuff in (I think) so I was happy to bankrupt myself buying them.
Good luck with your stuff (: