15 replies to this topic

[milk]

what are the differences in HL and SL spanish B? sorry if this has been asked before. i'm in spanish B SL1 and i have an A... so i was thinking i should do HL next year. i am not a native speaker.

also, did they change the individual oral for B languages? i thought you picked a topic and presented it and then your teacher asked you questions about it, but my teacher said that they give you a picture and you have to describe it and then your teacher asks you about it... which is it?

sorry if i seem kinda stupid in IB stuff haha... i start the whole program next year but they let you take your foreign language early if you have all the prerequisites at my school.

Edited by lou d., Nov 12, 2011 - 20:06.

[Vol de Mort]

HL is harder grammar and writing wise. The orals are the same but you are marked harsher. And Paper 2 is 400 words at HL but 250 words at SL.

I wouldn't take HL if you aren't fluent, however.

And sorry but I dont know about the oral change. I did it before I was affected, but we didnt have to describe a picture. For 2011/2012 candidates we just had to pick a topic to present on and we were asked questions and we also had a second group oral.

It is possible that you need to describe a picture since you are a 2013 candidate (right?)

[Sandwich]

Parahydroxyamphetamine, on Nov 12, 2011 - 20:24, said:

I wouldn't take HL if you aren't fluent, however.

Whaaaat? Anybody who speaks a language fluently shouldn't be taking that language at B in the first place! Spanish HL for a non-fluent speaker is not a challenge at all, provided you know a decent amount of Spanish... which to be honest you need to know for SL anyway.

Taking a B language that you're fluent in = cheating the system.

[Vol de Mort]

Well that's strange because there is a plethora of people who take  B HL at my school who are fluent. And, those people, as everyone knows are cheating the system. They take the B HL because they need the 3rd HL - so all the non-fluent people at my school take B SL while the fluent people take B HL. I guess it works out for them because B HL is much easier than A1 HL or A2 HL.  So I just always ' thought' that only fluent people would take B HL.

So, I guess Lou D you could take B HL. But if I were to take B HL at my school, it would just be filled with a class of fluent people doing no work and being unproductive and when it would come to the group oral, I would have a severe disadvantage.

[glorii]

I started this year doing Spanish B HL. But WOW, if the IB says HL = 4-5 years of learning the language, then I don't think that is correct. I have had Spanish for 5 years now, I am really working hard to improve my Spanish and I really want to get a good grade in it...However, we had practice orals and article-writing, where I got like 50 % on each. I was so disappointed. In my oral activity, I spoke fluently Spanish without using any notes and I did not have any grammatical errors. I still just got 50 % because in the IB criteria it says that I need to show authentic language. Which is impossible for me! The IB does not want B HL to be for native-speakers, but unfortunately, that is what it has become!!!! And especially after removing the A2 language... Even more people take it while being native-speakers! It is SO unfair, and it makes me so frustrated! I have to change to Spanish B SL, simply because I cannot compete with all those native-speakers out there. I don't stand a chance...And especially living in Norway I get no influence of the language whatsoever.

So to answer your question... I thought I was good enough to do it at HL, but I don't think you stand a chance against all those native-speakers. At least I don't...In the end, your grade is based on how the rest of the world does. And for the orals, your teacher is correct! You get a picture, 20 minutes to prepare, and then you are going to talk about it.

[milk]

bleh the picture thing sounds so dumb to me. i was excited to do the topic presentation

there are actually very few native spanish speakers at my school that take IB (that i know of)... many are just in the ESL classes. i don't know. i'll have to talk to my teacher once 2012-2013 class registrations start. and by the way, i'm a 2014 candidate. thanks, though!

[glorii]

I agree! I was looking forward to do a presentation... Now we get a picture. Well, even if there aren't many at your school, there are many native speakers doing B in the rest of the world.. And that will affect you greatly! Remember that the new curriculum has changed for me and you, language B HL is a lot harder than it just to be Good luck with your decision!

[milk]

okay, that makes sense. mainly the reason i wanted to do higher level spanish is because i want to take the classes that i may possibly major in at HL

Edited by the window, Nov 13, 2011 - 16:08.

[Sofia Piff Mango Karlsson]

If you study one year in Spain, do you think you would be "fluent" enough to take HL Spanish? Everyone keeps talking about how hard it is..

[rFumachi]

It depends on your language abilities but I know a bunch of people who have come to study here for a couple of months and they left with a high level of Spanish.

[Sofia Piff Mango Karlsson]

glorii, on Nov 12, 2011 - 22:22, said:

So to answer your question... I thought I was good enough to do it at HL, but I don't think you stand a chance against all those native-speakers. At least I don't...In the end, your grade is based on how the rest of the world does. And for the orals, your teacher is correct! You get a picture, 20 minutes to prepare, and then you are going to talk about it.

What do you mean by "your grade is based on how the rest of the world does"? How does that work? Sorry if it's a dumb question, I'm kind of new to IB

[Emy Glau-ski]

Sofia Piff Mango Karlsson, on Jan 16, 2012 - 17:10, said:

glorii, on Nov 12, 2011 - 22:22, said:

So to answer your question... I thought I was good enough to do it at HL, but I don't think you stand a chance against all those native-speakers. At least I don't...In the end, your grade is based on how the rest of the world does. And for the orals, your teacher is correct! You get a picture, 20 minutes to prepare, and then you are going to talk about it.

What do you mean by "your grade is based on how the rest of the world does"? How does that work? Sorry if it's a dumb question, I'm kind of new to IB

The grade boundaries generally vary by one or two points per year depending on how well everyone did. Say the boundary for a 7 was 80% one year. If the following year the exam was generally very easy for everyone and everyone did extremely well, the grade boundary might rise to an 82% for a 7. Likewise if the exam was difficult for everyone the boundary might be lowered to 78% or so. However, don't count on the boundary going down to like a 70% or something. Just do as well as you can and I'm sure you'll do fine.

[milk]

i just found out my school only lets native-spanish speakers take HL spanish B.. darrrrrrrrrn

[Sofia Piff Mango Karlsson]

If I study one year in Spain, do you think I could do Spanish HL when I get home? Right now, Spanish is super-easy, but it's still HL...

[Emy Glau-ski]

the window, on Jan 17, 2012 - 04:08, said:

i just found out my school only lets native-spanish speakers take HL spanish B.. darrrrrrrrrn

Ask to take the AP Spanish Language Exam if it's offered through your school or see if you can make arrangements to take it at a nearby school that does offer it. The amount of vocab that you need to know is similar so if you're doing well in SL (or even HL for that matter) the vocab part shouldn't be too difficult. The structure of the exam's a bit weird, so you would have to practice beforehand. But if you can't take HL and want credit for when you go to university later this may be a good alternative.

Sofia Piff Mango Karlsson, on Jan 17, 2012 - 18:05, said:

If I study one year in Spain, do you think I could do Spanish HL when I get home? Right now, Spanish is super-easy, but it's still HL...

Definitely. You will be exposed to a year's worth of vocabulary and grammar in a Spanish-speaking environment. So unless you spend the year isolated in your own language bubble and have no Spanish interaction or wear ear plugs for the year you will learn a lot of vocabulary and things like that, so you shouldn't have a problem doing B HL in the future. I do know that the B syllabus has changed slightly so that the HL B language is a little tougher and you must now read some literature, but your exposure to Spanish in Spain would be a good prep for that.

[Sofia Piff Mango Karlsson]

Quote

Definitely. You will be exposed to a year's worth of vocabulary and grammar in a Spanish-speaking environment. So unless you spend the year isolated in your own language bubble and have no Spanish interaction or wear ear plugs for the year you will learn a lot of vocabulary and things like that, so you shouldn't have a problem doing B HL in the future. I do know that the B syllabus has changed slightly so that the HL B language is a little tougher and you must now read some literature, but your exposure to Spanish in Spain would be a good prep for that.

Thank you! Well, the reading shouldn't be awfully hard because I have read a few books (easy books, but still) already ^^ After a year, I probably should manage