Ab Initio French Ab Initio

[sapphireblue]

Hi! I am currently considering French ab initio and I just have a few questions for those who currently take it/have taken it.

Do you find that it is hard to master the grammatical concepts/vocab/and such?

Is it fairly difficult to get a 7 in this subject?

How do you find the IA's and examination papers?

Thanks so much in advance!

[Arrowhead]

It's difficult to master the grammar, vocabulary, and concepts of any new language. Yes, it was very challenging for me, but I still enjoyed the process of learning a new language from scratch at such an accelerated pace.

I don't think it's difficult to get a 7 especially if you have a good grasp of the basics by the end of two years. I managed in 7 in French Ab Initio after being predicted a 6 for the entirety of two years, it really comes down to how hard you work and the effort you're willing to put into it.

The exams are quite straightforward, pick up a guide book and you should find everything you need for them. The IA is an oral examination, a picture description and then a conversation with your French teacher about random subjects and ideas and things. If you get a good teacher, she will help steer you in the right direction, making sure you use all your tenses and touch upon the different criteria of vocabulary as well.

[sapphireblue]

Thanks so much! Do you think that it was worth it?

[Arrowhead]

Absolutely!

Let me illustrate how worth it: I started my Law degree at LSE this year. They have a very detailed and vibrant Languages Centre at LSE and all students are free to take a language course alongside their degree.

For French they had 10 courses divided in Standard and Fast track and 5 total levels of French: Level One Beginner, Level Two Intermediate, Level Three Advanced, Level Four Proficiency, and Level Five Mastery.

After completing and getting a 7 in French Ab Initio, I thought the logical next step would be to enter the Advanced course at Uni, probably Standard, but hopefully Fast track. I gave a written exam and then an oral interview with the teacher. After my testing, I went to the teacher, expecting her to put me in Advanced Fast track because I felt i did really well, she turns around and tells me, "I am putting you in Standard," my face falls, "Level Five Mastery," my jaw drops.

Level Five Mastery is a course at LSE for those French students who have studied the language at least for 4-5 years and need just a little polish, she thought I would get the most out of that class as I was lightyears ahead of my peers in Advanced and better than most of them in Proficiency.

All of that after working on my French endlessly in the IB and doing French Ab Initio, Tbh, after the Ab Initio course, for our mocks, our teacher purposefully gave us an SL French exam, most of us came within the range of 5-6. Do the course and really give it your all, you will learn so much!

[sapphireblue]

Wow, thank you so much for your detailed response! I had no idea that French ab initio could do so much! Did you feel you had to put a lot of extra time into French ab initio in comparison to your other subjects in order to do so well in it?

[Arrowhead]

Personally, I had to put in a lot more effort than most of my peers because I don't know any of the romance languages like some of the native Spanish and Portuguese speakers. So I was a little intimidated at first. Barring History HL, I spent the maximum amount of time and invested effort in French because it interested me and I was determined to succeed as I'd always dreamt of speaking fluent French, just something I've always had about going into a café and ordering a bottle of wine whilst looking at the busy Parisian streets in the afternoon and chit chatting in French the whole while through. I got to do that the summer after IB and it was...well, a dream come true.