Extra GCSE or not?

11

I would like some advice on this topic:
I am interested in the possibility of taking an extra GCSE (Mandarin), but I was unsure about how taking an extra one out of School would work and if it is worth it, so if anyone can give me any suggestions I would be grateful...
For reference, I am Chinese, I can speak fluently (the same as someone who grows up in China) and read/write a bit, but I am worried if it will impact the GCSE...

Reply 1

enbbdoeus

9

Original post

by PRMX

I would like some advice on this topic:
I am interested in the possibility of taking an extra GCSE (Mandarin), but I was unsure about how taking an extra one out of School would work and if it is worth it, so if anyone can give me any suggestions I would be grateful...
For reference, I am Chinese, I can speak fluently (the same as someone who grows up in China) and read/write a bit, but I am worried if it will impact the GCSE...

If you can only read and write a bit I wouldn’t take it. Reading and writing are 50% of the gcse so if you arent confident on it then yeah

But to take it outside of school you just have to do work outside of school and most of the time show proof you are doing so but this depends on your school.

But personally I would only take an extra GCSE if i know I will get good in it, you do not want to be putting extra efforts into a GCSE which you are not strong in

Reply 2

Brownies1234

10

Original post

by PRMX

I would like some advice on this topic:
I am interested in the possibility of taking an extra GCSE (Mandarin), but I was unsure about how taking an extra one out of School would work and if it is worth it, so if anyone can give me any suggestions I would be grateful...
For reference, I am Chinese, I can speak fluently (the same as someone who grows up in China) and read/write a bit, but I am worried if it will impact the GCSE...

I would say that it depends on your personal time management and how fast of a learner you are. Some things to consider are:
1) Pricing - it costs money to take a GCSE out of school, so check the prices of the exam centres near you
2) Workload - Can you manage the current workload of the schools in GCSE plus the extra GCSE? If so, will you take the Chinese GCSE the same year as the rest of them (in which case it may be a LOT of work depending on how many other subjects you do), or earlier?
3) Structure of the GCSE - I would say to research into the exam boards offering Chinese GCSE, and the weighting of reading and writing on the GCSE, as you said you can only do a bit. You absolutely have time to improve if you are choosing GCSEs now, so this relates again to your time management to see if you are able to put in the time

If you know anyone who has taken this GCSE, it would be beneficial to consult with them too

Reply 3

PRMX

OP

11

If I could read and write enough to live in China without any translation sort of stuff do you think that I could take it? I have previously done some Chinese language schooling which probably covers some GCSE stuff (a bit means that I wouldn't be up to standard in a Chinese School at my level, in comparison to speaking where I could be on same level as a Chinese student the same age as me for example.)

Reply 4

Brownies1234

10

Original post

by PRMX

If I could read and write enough to live in China without any translation sort of stuff do you think that I could take it? I have previously done some Chinese language schooling which probably covers some GCSE stuff (a bit means that I wouldn't be up to standard in a Chinese School at my level, in comparison to speaking where I could be on same level as a Chinese student the same age as me for example.)

I would say look at past papers and do a rough attempt if you can - if you feel satisfied with the level that you're performing at, then you should consider it if you feel up to it!
Make sure you take into consideration what i put above though :smile:

)

Reply 5

lunaxp

7

Original post

by PRMX

I would like some advice on this topic:
I am interested in the possibility of taking an extra GCSE (Mandarin), but I was unsure about how taking an extra one out of School would work and if it is worth it, so if anyone can give me any suggestions I would be grateful...
For reference, I am Chinese, I can speak fluently (the same as someone who grows up in China) and read/write a bit, but I am worried if it will impact the GCSE...

If u take an extra gcse outside of school you will need to find an exam center(or potentially another school) which is willing to accept you as a private candidate.
If you speak the language fluently you can still list it as a skill on your CV when applying for a job/school,without a gcse (I'm Polish and I decided not to take it as an extra gcse but I still list it on my applications)

Reply 6

Mickey Mouse 1

14

If you think you can learn anything you might be struggling with, then definitely go for it! It’s an extra GCSE, and if you can read, write, and speak the language, you’re very likely to get a good grade. Personally, I did Mandarin, and I started from knowing nothing lol and did a couple of classes each week for 3 years, and from my experience, the level expected for a grade 9 in Mandarin isn’t as high as for Spanish or French.

Since you’re already fluent and can read/write a bit, I’d say definitely consider it! Just make sure you give yourself time to prepare a little bit so it doesn’t impact your other subjects :smile:

Reply 7

sakura_peach

10

Original post

by PRMX

I would like some advice on this topic:
I am interested in the possibility of taking an extra GCSE (Mandarin), but I was unsure about how taking an extra one out of School would work and if it is worth it, so if anyone can give me any suggestions I would be grateful...
For reference, I am Chinese, I can speak fluently (the same as someone who grows up in China) and read/write a bit, but I am worried if it will impact the GCSE...

Hi! I have a friend who is from Hong Kong who also did an extra Cantonese GCSE, so I asked her how it worked doing an extra one and if it was too much for her. I did AQA Mandarin GCSE myself, so I can also help if you need any advice on how the paper works or is structured! Since you are Native Chinese, you will probably know all of the words on the syllabus - which means listening will not be a problem for you (you would probably just have to do some past papers or read some examples to make sure you are familiar with the layout. However, in speaking/writing, my friend said she had a problem, because you can’t use any colloquial or slang words - you have to say what is in the vocabulary list (for example my friend said 巴士 instead of 公共汽车 in the practice exam, and she was told she needed to use words from the specification. If you make sure you use the words in the vocabulary list, you will be fine. Since you aren’t too confident in writing, I would also recommend memorising paragraphs for each writing topic and making sure you write formally and according to spec. For reading, if you know enough to get around in China, you will be fine. Remember, they rarely test you on words outside of the spec - they are also normally looking for one specific word/phrase so you don’t need to understand the whole paragraph. Just make sure you know the spec vocab list basically. Any more questions, please ask me! Good luck! 💕

(edited 7 months ago)

Extra GCSE or not?

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