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can i get an A in my german a level?

hello,
so i'm at the end of yr12 and my current grade is a B (most accurately maybe a C+ or B-) but I realistically need an A if I even want a chance at getting into my course at university. When i started my German course, i knew noone at my college and the other 3 people in my class were 2 native germans and someone who is just insanely cracked at German above a normal level (also his dad is german) which kind of left me naturally at the bottom of the class, so i struggled. Unfortunately, instead of dealing with this challenge by working hard to keep up with my fellow peers, I felt so out of my depth that I just did nothing for German for a couple of months (sept-march) as a way of avoiding my problem. By the beginning of Easter break I realised that I needed to do better than a D (which was my previous grade in my jan mock - i was going through something so i did no revision at all, i litr cried in the exam), so I locked in, I practiced grammar mostly and near the end of the holiday i memorised vocab, I did some questions but not a lot - i probably should have done at a past paper but i was terrified of getting a bad grade and i coudlnt risk demoralising myself because i know i needed to have hope. I was in nz for the entire easter break so i didnt do as mcuh revsion as i wanted for all of my subjects and i returned from this holiday the day before my german exam, so i was incredibly tired, stressed, with little to zero experience of what a real German paper is like and how long i should be spending on each question. I was more prepared than January, but still i struggled. I spent way too long on the listening and didnt even finish the exam - i left out literary extract and the last 3 questions on a reading q. When I got my exam back i was about 4% off a B and i remember being very happy about it, I wasnt bothered that my grade was not a B i was just very happy that I showed improvement because this showed that I can do better and my work payed off. Also, i knew that my grade would've been a B if i just managed my time right, so I was happy to know that I basically went from a D-->B. A couple weeks after this, i realised i wanted to be a dentist so then i realised i need an A in German, when previously the highest i was aiming for was a B. School went on as normal and i told myself I'd work on german outside of school but as per usual I get swamped underneath by 2 science a levels and get stuck back into the trap of "german isnt that hard i'll be fine". It's now the beginning of summer and I have until October to get my grade to an A, considering that getting an A at AS level is much easier than A level i realise i only really have the summer to bump my grade up so i'm in a good position for yr13. Also, I've looked at marks I need on the exams in order to get an A, and the fact its 70+ makes me feel horrible, as i'm barely scraping 50% on my exams. I have literally every resource you can think of, skills based homework book, past papers, 2 grammar books, an end of topic test i'm yet to do, quizlet, grammar websites etc but I procrastinate using them so much because I struggle so much that any shortcoming is insanely demoralising. Since tuesday, it's thursday night rn, I have done german translation questions every day and i've started to revise for the test i need to complete.
The thing about my class, and why i'm writing here, is that everyone else is on such a compltely different level to me that I dont feel like i have anyone to relate to or to support me at all (other than my very lovely teacher), and i wanted to find a forum that i can find people who are maybe at my grade, or were on my grade or anyone who also wants to get there grade up. Other than that I suppose im also here for encouragement, hence the title, can i do it?
(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 1

Original post
by Vacationbibleskl
hello,
so i'm at the end of yr12 and my current grade is a B (most accurately maybe a C+ or B-) but I realistically need an A if I even want a chance at getting into my course at university. When i started my German course, i knew noone at my college and the other 3 people in my class were 2 native germans and someone who is just insanely cracked at German above a normal level (also his dad is german) which kind of left me naturally at the bottom of the class, so i struggled. Unfortunately, instead of dealing with this challenge by working hard to keep up with my fellow peers, I felt so out of my depth that I just did nothing for German for a couple of months (sept-march) as a way of avoiding my problem. By the beginning of Easter break I realised that I needed to do better than a D (which was my previous grade in my jan mock - i was going through something so i did no revision at all, i litr cried in the exam), so I locked in, I practiced grammar mostly and near the end of the holiday i memorised vocab, I did some questions but not a lot - i probably should have done at a past paper but i was terrified of getting a bad grade and i coudlnt risk demoralising myself because i know i needed to have hope. I was in nz for the entire easter break so i didnt do as mcuh revsion as i wanted for all of my subjects and i returned from this holiday the day before my german exam, so i was incredibly tired, stressed, with little to zero experience of what a real German paper is like and how long i should be spending on each question. I was more prepared than January, but still i struggled. I spent way too long on the listening and didnt even finish the exam - i left out literary extract and the last 3 questions on a reading q. When I got my exam back i was about 4% off a B and i remember being very happy about it, I wasnt bothered that my grade was not a B i was just very happy that I showed improvement because this showed that I can do better and my work payed off. Also, i knew that my grade would've been a B if i just managed my time right, so I was happy to know that I basically went from a D-->B. A couple weeks after this, i realised i wanted to be a dentist so then i realised i need an A in German, when previously the highest i was aiming for was a B. School went on as normal and i told myself I'd work on german outside of school but as per usual I get swamped underneath by 2 science a levels and get stuck back into the trap of "german isnt that hard i'll be fine". It's now the beginning of summer and I have until October to get my grade to an A, considering that getting an A at AS level is much easier than A level i realise i only really have the summer to bump my grade up so i'm in a good position for yr13. Also, I've looked at marks I need on the exams in order to get an A, and the fact its 70+ makes me feel horrible, as i'm barely scraping 50% on my exams. I have literally every resource you can think of, skills based homework book, past papers, 2 grammar books, an end of topic test i'm yet to do, quizlet, grammar websites etc but I procrastinate using them so much because I struggle so much that any shortcoming is insanely demoralising. Since tuesday, it's thursday night rn, I have done german translation questions every day and i've started to revise for the test i need to complete.
The thing about my class, and why i'm writing here, is that everyone else is on such a compltely different level to me that I dont feel like i have anyone to relate to or to support me at all (other than my very lovely teacher), and i wanted to find a forum that i can find people who are maybe at my grade, or were on my grade or anyone who also wants to get there grade up. Other than that I suppose im also here for encouragement, hence the title, can i do it?
I am starting A-Level Spanish and A-Level French this September. I would have also taken A-Level German, but I only need 3 A-Levels for university. I would recommend practicing past papers and knowing the textbooks inside out. Also, buy the Hodder Education revision guides.

Reply 2

Original post
by Vacationbibleskl
hello,
so i'm at the end of yr12 and my current grade is a B (most accurately maybe a C+ or B-) but I realistically need an A if I even want a chance at getting into my course at university. When i started my German course, i knew noone at my college and the other 3 people in my class were 2 native germans and someone who is just insanely cracked at German above a normal level (also his dad is german) which kind of left me naturally at the bottom of the class, so i struggled. Unfortunately, instead of dealing with this challenge by working hard to keep up with my fellow peers, I felt so out of my depth that I just did nothing for German for a couple of months (sept-march) as a way of avoiding my problem. By the beginning of Easter break I realised that I needed to do better than a D (which was my previous grade in my jan mock - i was going through something so i did no revision at all, i litr cried in the exam), so I locked in, I practiced grammar mostly and near the end of the holiday i memorised vocab, I did some questions but not a lot - i probably should have done at a past paper but i was terrified of getting a bad grade and i coudlnt risk demoralising myself because i know i needed to have hope. I was in nz for the entire easter break so i didnt do as mcuh revsion as i wanted for all of my subjects and i returned from this holiday the day before my german exam, so i was incredibly tired, stressed, with little to zero experience of what a real German paper is like and how long i should be spending on each question. I was more prepared than January, but still i struggled. I spent way too long on the listening and didnt even finish the exam - i left out literary extract and the last 3 questions on a reading q. When I got my exam back i was about 4% off a B and i remember being very happy about it, I wasnt bothered that my grade was not a B i was just very happy that I showed improvement because this showed that I can do better and my work payed off. Also, i knew that my grade would've been a B if i just managed my time right, so I was happy to know that I basically went from a D-->B. A couple weeks after this, i realised i wanted to be a dentist so then i realised i need an A in German, when previously the highest i was aiming for was a B. School went on as normal and i told myself I'd work on german outside of school but as per usual I get swamped underneath by 2 science a levels and get stuck back into the trap of "german isnt that hard i'll be fine". It's now the beginning of summer and I have until October to get my grade to an A, considering that getting an A at AS level is much easier than A level i realise i only really have the summer to bump my grade up so i'm in a good position for yr13. Also, I've looked at marks I need on the exams in order to get an A, and the fact its 70+ makes me feel horrible, as i'm barely scraping 50% on my exams. I have literally every resource you can think of, skills based homework book, past papers, 2 grammar books, an end of topic test i'm yet to do, quizlet, grammar websites etc but I procrastinate using them so much because I struggle so much that any shortcoming is insanely demoralising. Since tuesday, it's thursday night rn, I have done german translation questions every day and i've started to revise for the test i need to complete.
The thing about my class, and why i'm writing here, is that everyone else is on such a compltely different level to me that I dont feel like i have anyone to relate to or to support me at all (other than my very lovely teacher), and i wanted to find a forum that i can find people who are maybe at my grade, or were on my grade or anyone who also wants to get there grade up. Other than that I suppose im also here for encouragement, hence the title, can i do it?

Hi,

I was in a similar situation at the start of the year, having moved to a new sixth form with an incredibly talented German A-Level class that I felt WAY out of my depth in. A lot of my German lessons end in tears - I completely understand the feeling of inadequacy that comes with comparing yourself to the rest of the class ☹️

The main thing that helped me was reminding myself that, at the end of the day, it's MY A-Level. The examiner marking my final paper does not know me, and they don't know about the abilities of my classmates - the embarrassment I feel when comparing myself to the rest of my classmates (and the subsequent disappointment that I imagine my teachers feeling towards me) literally does not exist to them. I am not working to meet the level that my classmates are at, but instead working to reach my own goals. My teacher doesn't expect me to have the same level of fluency as my German-speaking classmate, and therefore she isn't going to be disappointed when I'm not as good. Reframing it like that really helped me to put my own abilities into perspective instead of worrying about how they looked in comparison to other people I know :smile:

In terms of pushing my actual grade up, my main focus was targeting my revision to make sure it was hitting where I needed it to hit. Admittedly, I wasn't the best at this (my understanding of German grammar is NOT good, and I avoided revising it because I don't like it 😭) but I'm slowly getting better at recognising what I actually need to go over. Past papers and essay plans are going to take priority for me over the summer, alongside improving the complexity of my writing + learning some more set phrases to make my essays flow better. I'll continue building up my notes for my film and my book; these are mainly concise character profiles with useful adjectives/phrases and key scenes that I keep in one big Google Doc. They don't have to be completely written in German - having an understanding of the plot in English is important too! Doing individual reading/listening questions with a time limit has also helped me - it doesn't bring the stress of working on a whole past paper under timed conditions (although that is sometimes necessary) but it still allows me to work on spending the right amount of time on each question. Don't let grade boundaries get you down! They look like a lot, but marks really do add up and taking little steps towards progress can really make more of a dent than it initially appears.

I hope this helps a little, or makes you feel a bit less alone 🙂

Reply 3

Original post
by Vacationbibleskl
hello,
so i'm at the end of yr12 and my current grade is a B (most accurately maybe a C+ or B-) but I realistically need an A if I even want a chance at getting into my course at university. When i started my German course, i knew noone at my college and the other 3 people in my class were 2 native germans and someone who is just insanely cracked at German above a normal level (also his dad is german) which kind of left me naturally at the bottom of the class, so i struggled. Unfortunately, instead of dealing with this challenge by working hard to keep up with my fellow peers, I felt so out of my depth that I just did nothing for German for a couple of months (sept-march) as a way of avoiding my problem. By the beginning of Easter break I realised that I needed to do better than a D (which was my previous grade in my jan mock - i was going through something so i did no revision at all, i litr cried in the exam), so I locked in, I practiced grammar mostly and near the end of the holiday i memorised vocab, I did some questions but not a lot - i probably should have done at a past paper but i was terrified of getting a bad grade and i coudlnt risk demoralising myself because i know i needed to have hope. I was in nz for the entire easter break so i didnt do as mcuh revsion as i wanted for all of my subjects and i returned from this holiday the day before my german exam, so i was incredibly tired, stressed, with little to zero experience of what a real German paper is like and how long i should be spending on each question. I was more prepared than January, but still i struggled. I spent way too long on the listening and didnt even finish the exam - i left out literary extract and the last 3 questions on a reading q. When I got my exam back i was about 4% off a B and i remember being very happy about it, I wasnt bothered that my grade was not a B i was just very happy that I showed improvement because this showed that I can do better and my work payed off. Also, i knew that my grade would've been a B if i just managed my time right, so I was happy to know that I basically went from a D-->B. A couple weeks after this, i realised i wanted to be a dentist so then i realised i need an A in German, when previously the highest i was aiming for was a B. School went on as normal and i told myself I'd work on german outside of school but as per usual I get swamped underneath by 2 science a levels and get stuck back into the trap of "german isnt that hard i'll be fine". It's now the beginning of summer and I have until October to get my grade to an A, considering that getting an A at AS level is much easier than A level i realise i only really have the summer to bump my grade up so i'm in a good position for yr13. Also, I've looked at marks I need on the exams in order to get an A, and the fact its 70+ makes me feel horrible, as i'm barely scraping 50% on my exams. I have literally every resource you can think of, skills based homework book, past papers, 2 grammar books, an end of topic test i'm yet to do, quizlet, grammar websites etc but I procrastinate using them so much because I struggle so much that any shortcoming is insanely demoralising. Since tuesday, it's thursday night rn, I have done german translation questions every day and i've started to revise for the test i need to complete.
The thing about my class, and why i'm writing here, is that everyone else is on such a compltely different level to me that I dont feel like i have anyone to relate to or to support me at all (other than my very lovely teacher), and i wanted to find a forum that i can find people who are maybe at my grade, or were on my grade or anyone who also wants to get there grade up. Other than that I suppose im also here for encouragement, hence the title, can i do it?

I was in the same position as u at a B at the end of y12. I j done my a level German and I’m not confident I’ll get an A however I think I got a B. Unis are more lenient on subjects like German due to difficulty and prestige. Don’t worry you’ll be fine

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