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Portuguese or French a-level?

Hi, I would really like to do a language but I’m not sure which one.

I speak Portuguese and I have done French GCSE but I’m worried that French a-level might be too hard.

However, it would be useful as I would like to work in Europe.

My Portuguese is good but I struggle with writing, reading and grammar.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Reply 1

Original post by saraalegria
Hi, I would really like to do a language but I’m not sure which one.
I speak Portuguese and I have done French GCSE but I’m worried that French a-level might be too hard.
However, it would be useful as I would like to work in Europe.
My Portuguese is good but I struggle with writing, reading and grammar.
Any advice would be appreciated.

I do both French and Portuguese at uni and did French at A Level (along with Spanish) - I'd say if you speak Portuguese is this because you speak it at home? If you are a native speaker you will still need to put lots of work in reading the book, watching the film, learning the stats and updating your notes regularly with secondary reading for the speaking exam and also researching your IRP (independent research project for the speaking exam). Having said that, if your Portuguese is a lot stronger than your french, you will find the film/book easy to understand and also the listening and reading paper will be relatively easy too. And obviously your fluency/ pronunciation will be great for the speaking exam (however if you struggle with grammar like you said you don't want to risk losing marks in other papers). Maybe look at the topics and see what you prefer out the 2 - for example I loved French and Spanish A Level but I defo preferred the A Level topics for Spanish xx Also as someone who does 3 languages at uni I defo think Portuguese is quicker to pick up than French.

Reply 2

Original post by simrankc26
I do both French and Portuguese at uni and did French at A Level (along with Spanish) - I'd say if you speak Portuguese is this because you speak it at home? If you are a native speaker you will still need to put lots of work in reading the book, watching the film, learning the stats and updating your notes regularly with secondary reading for the speaking exam and also researching your IRP (independent research project for the speaking exam). Having said that, if your Portuguese is a lot stronger than your french, you will find the film/book easy to understand and also the listening and reading paper will be relatively easy too. And obviously your fluency/ pronunciation will be great for the speaking exam (however if you struggle with grammar like you said you don't want to risk losing marks in other papers). Maybe look at the topics and see what you prefer out the 2 - for example I loved French and Spanish A Level but I defo preferred the A Level topics for Spanish xx Also as someone who does 3 languages at uni I defo think Portuguese is quicker to pick up than French.


Okay, thank you so much for your help!!!

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