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A-level Preparation During Coronavirus
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Hello, I hope that anyone reading this is having a nice day and are keeping safe.
As we are in lockdown, I want to start studying for my A-levels as I start in September. The subjects that I have chosen to study are English Literature, German and History. For these subjects, I don't know where to start. Should I look through the specification? Buy textbooks? Make my own resources?
If anyone has done/ is doing any of these subjects can you please give me some advice on where to start.
Thank you
As we are in lockdown, I want to start studying for my A-levels as I start in September. The subjects that I have chosen to study are English Literature, German and History. For these subjects, I don't know where to start. Should I look through the specification? Buy textbooks? Make my own resources?
If anyone has done/ is doing any of these subjects can you please give me some advice on where to start.
Thank you
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#2
start reading some shakespeare or charles dickens so you become familiar with their writings styles. they normally crop up each year in english lit a level, so it would be good if you could get used to them and have a head start.
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(Original post by jd1202)
start reading some shakespeare or charles dickens so you become familiar with their writings styles. they normally crop up each year in english lit a level, so it would be good if you could get used to them and have a head start.
start reading some shakespeare or charles dickens so you become familiar with their writings styles. they normally crop up each year in english lit a level, so it would be good if you could get used to them and have a head start.
The books/ plays are:
Othello
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Handmaid's Tale
Dracula
The Little Stranger
Keats
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#4
(Original post by vivalou)
Hello, I hope that anyone reading this is having a nice day and are keeping safe.
As we are in lockdown, I want to start studying for my A-levels as I start in September. The subjects that I have chosen to study are English Literature, German and History. For these subjects, I don't know where to start. Should I look through the specification? Buy textbooks? Make my own resources?
If anyone has done/ is doing any of these subjects can you please give me some advice on where to start.
Thank you
Hello, I hope that anyone reading this is having a nice day and are keeping safe.
As we are in lockdown, I want to start studying for my A-levels as I start in September. The subjects that I have chosen to study are English Literature, German and History. For these subjects, I don't know where to start. Should I look through the specification? Buy textbooks? Make my own resources?
If anyone has done/ is doing any of these subjects can you please give me some advice on where to start.
Thank you
-Buy textbooks, especially for History (I have heard the content is a significant step up from GCSE).
-I wouldn't advise making your own resources apart from notes as I find it time consuming and a waste of actual revision time, but I don't take subjects like yours so in your case it might be worth making flashcards - in fact I would advise making them from the books.
-You should 100% look through the specification, this is the first thing that I did, it's quite stunning how many people don't think to do this. Looking for essay subjects will definitely help you.
-I don't need to be a language student to tell you to practice your German, nor will I patronize you by explaining why this is a good idea. Maybe watch some German movies during lockdown, or read newspaper articles in German online? If you know anyone who is German who you are close to, talk to them in German.
-For literature, read your set texts - I read each of mine 3 or 4 times and that was only for GCSE.
Good luck
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(Original post by Zoqua)
Haven't done any of your subjects (Y12 studying Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Physics), however I started studying mine earlier as well last year (although quite different circumstances), and I am now predicted 4 A*s so I would recommend it. What I did:
-Buy textbooks, especially for History (I have heard the content is a significant step up from GCSE).
-I wouldn't advise making your own resources apart from notes as I find it time consuming and a waste of actual revision time, but I don't take subjects like yours so in your case it might be worth making flashcards - in fact I would advise making them from the books.
-You should 100% look through the specification, this is the first thing that I did, it's quite stunning how many people don't think to do this. Looking for essay subjects will definitely help you.
-I don't need to be a language student to tell you to practice your German, nor will I patronize you by explaining why this is a good idea. Maybe watch some German movies during lockdown, or read newspaper articles in German online? If you know anyone who is German who you are close to, talk to them in German.
-For literature, read your set texts - I read each of mine 3 or 4 times and that was only for GCSE.
Good luck
Haven't done any of your subjects (Y12 studying Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Physics), however I started studying mine earlier as well last year (although quite different circumstances), and I am now predicted 4 A*s so I would recommend it. What I did:
-Buy textbooks, especially for History (I have heard the content is a significant step up from GCSE).
-I wouldn't advise making your own resources apart from notes as I find it time consuming and a waste of actual revision time, but I don't take subjects like yours so in your case it might be worth making flashcards - in fact I would advise making them from the books.
-You should 100% look through the specification, this is the first thing that I did, it's quite stunning how many people don't think to do this. Looking for essay subjects will definitely help you.
-I don't need to be a language student to tell you to practice your German, nor will I patronize you by explaining why this is a good idea. Maybe watch some German movies during lockdown, or read newspaper articles in German online? If you know anyone who is German who you are close to, talk to them in German.
-For literature, read your set texts - I read each of mine 3 or 4 times and that was only for GCSE.
Good luck
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#6
I did history at AS level. Tbh i wouldn’t say that you really need to start doing work now but i guess you’re gonna have a lot of free time so i get why you would want to.
Maybe just look at the specification and get some background knowledge/ an idea of what goes on within the course ( i’m assuming you know what topics you’re doing). I don’t think there’s any point in making full on notes rn or actually trying to learn the course in detail but each to their own i guess. Also, yeah you could buy the textbooks but does your school not loan them to you for free?? I wouldn’t say it’s worth buying them now if you can get them from school for free but again it’s up to you.
I did no work over the summer of y11 to prepare btw apart from the v v small amount that school set.
Maybe just look at the specification and get some background knowledge/ an idea of what goes on within the course ( i’m assuming you know what topics you’re doing). I don’t think there’s any point in making full on notes rn or actually trying to learn the course in detail but each to their own i guess. Also, yeah you could buy the textbooks but does your school not loan them to you for free?? I wouldn’t say it’s worth buying them now if you can get them from school for free but again it’s up to you.
I did no work over the summer of y11 to prepare btw apart from the v v small amount that school set.
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(Original post by e2002!)
I did history at AS level. Tbh i wouldn’t say that you really need to start doing work now but i guess you’re gonna have a lot of free time so i get why you would want to.
Maybe just look at the specification and get some background knowledge/ an idea of what goes on within the course ( i’m assuming you know what topics you’re doing). I don’t think there’s any point in making full on notes rn or actually trying to learn the course in detail but each to their own i guess. Also, yeah you could buy the textbooks but does your school not loan them to you for free?? I wouldn’t say it’s worth buying them now if you can get them from school for free but again it’s up to you.
I did no work over the summer of y11 to prepare btw apart from the v v small amount that school set.
I did history at AS level. Tbh i wouldn’t say that you really need to start doing work now but i guess you’re gonna have a lot of free time so i get why you would want to.
Maybe just look at the specification and get some background knowledge/ an idea of what goes on within the course ( i’m assuming you know what topics you’re doing). I don’t think there’s any point in making full on notes rn or actually trying to learn the course in detail but each to their own i guess. Also, yeah you could buy the textbooks but does your school not loan them to you for free?? I wouldn’t say it’s worth buying them now if you can get them from school for free but again it’s up to you.
I did no work over the summer of y11 to prepare btw apart from the v v small amount that school set.
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#8
Yes definitely look through the specification and get to know the topics (maybe read around them) and exam structure. I really dont recommend you buy textbooks since some sixth form/ college will have these resources in school or given to you - for my sixth form, I was given my physics (CGP + AQA endorsed) and maths (both pure and stats + mechanics) textbooks; for history, I had textbooks in my school that I could photocopy. Tbh I recommend you get historian books so you can get more detail and historiography but you might want to save your money for textbooks later on. You can make your resources but keep it light like resources for german vocab from the specification list.
For German, make sure your GCSE knowledge is the best you can. I would suggest strengthening your tenses and grammar as much as you can. Maybe look at the vocab list in the specification and try to learn it. For English literature, I suggest reading the books you'll read and try to research about the context of it so you will understand it better when you go into yr 12. I do History and I suggest you watch some documentaries or videos (even on youtube) to get some context of the topics you'll be learning. I do History: tudors and Germany so if you have any specific questions feel free to ask
For German, make sure your GCSE knowledge is the best you can. I would suggest strengthening your tenses and grammar as much as you can. Maybe look at the vocab list in the specification and try to learn it. For English literature, I suggest reading the books you'll read and try to research about the context of it so you will understand it better when you go into yr 12. I do History and I suggest you watch some documentaries or videos (even on youtube) to get some context of the topics you'll be learning. I do History: tudors and Germany so if you have any specific questions feel free to ask
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#9
(Original post by vivalou)
Thank you for your reply. I don't believe that the school loans out the textbooks but I don't know for sure as its a different school for where I went for secondary. The topics the school does is reformation in the church and the crusades.
Thank you for your reply. I don't believe that the school loans out the textbooks but I don't know for sure as its a different school for where I went for secondary. The topics the school does is reformation in the church and the crusades.
We did tudors and russia (20th century stuff). Did actually end up enjoying history tbh even though i didn’t want to take it originally, good luck with it all!!
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#10
(Original post by vivalou)
Thank you for the response. I have purchased the book list that the sixth form I want to go to, so should I just read through these and analyse them?
The books/ plays are:
Othello
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Handmaid's Tale
Dracula
The Little Stranger
Keats
Thank you for the response. I have purchased the book list that the sixth form I want to go to, so should I just read through these and analyse them?
The books/ plays are:
Othello
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Handmaid's Tale
Dracula
The Little Stranger
Keats
0
reply
(Original post by PetitePanda)
Yes definitely look through the specification and get to know the topics (maybe read around them) and exam structure. I really dont recommend you buy textbooks since some sixth form/ college will have these resources in school or given to you - for my sixth form, I was given my physics (CGP + AQA endorsed) and maths (both pure and stats + mechanics) textbooks; for history, I had textbooks in my school that I could photocopy. Tbh I recommend you get historian books so you can get more detail and historiography but you might want to save your money for textbooks later on. You can make your resources but keep it light like resources for german vocab from the specification list.
For German, make sure your GCSE knowledge is the best you can. I would suggest strengthening your tenses and grammar as much as you can. Maybe look at the vocab list in the specification and try to learn it. For English literature, I suggest reading the books you'll read and try to research about the context of it so you will understand it better when you go into yr 12. I do History and I suggest you watch some documentaries or videos (even on youtube) to get some context of the topics you'll be learning. I do History: tudors and Germany so if you have any specific questions feel free to ask
Yes definitely look through the specification and get to know the topics (maybe read around them) and exam structure. I really dont recommend you buy textbooks since some sixth form/ college will have these resources in school or given to you - for my sixth form, I was given my physics (CGP + AQA endorsed) and maths (both pure and stats + mechanics) textbooks; for history, I had textbooks in my school that I could photocopy. Tbh I recommend you get historian books so you can get more detail and historiography but you might want to save your money for textbooks later on. You can make your resources but keep it light like resources for german vocab from the specification list.
For German, make sure your GCSE knowledge is the best you can. I would suggest strengthening your tenses and grammar as much as you can. Maybe look at the vocab list in the specification and try to learn it. For English literature, I suggest reading the books you'll read and try to research about the context of it so you will understand it better when you go into yr 12. I do History and I suggest you watch some documentaries or videos (even on youtube) to get some context of the topics you'll be learning. I do History: tudors and Germany so if you have any specific questions feel free to ask
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#12
(Original post by vivalou)
Thanks for both your responses. So for preparation, should I collect both wider context for both English and History? Do you suggest any specific YouTube channels or documentaries for History?
Thanks for both your responses. So for preparation, should I collect both wider context for both English and History? Do you suggest any specific YouTube channels or documentaries for History?
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#13
(Original post by vivalou)
Thank you for your reply. Should I buy all the textbooks I need in one go or buy for just the first year as they can be quite expensive?
Thank you for your reply. Should I buy all the textbooks I need in one go or buy for just the first year as they can be quite expensive?
(Original post by vivalou)
Thank you for your reply. I don't believe that the school loans out the textbooks but I don't know for sure as its a different school for where I went for secondary. The topics the school does is reformation in the church and the crusades.
Thank you for your reply. I don't believe that the school loans out the textbooks but I don't know for sure as its a different school for where I went for secondary. The topics the school does is reformation in the church and the crusades.
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