Jump to content

How much background knowledge is needed for language B, HL?


Guest

Recommended Posts

How much background knowledge is needed to ace an IB language B course, more specifically German B HL? For now, my knowledge of German is consistent with A2 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). If anyone has any advice on how to prepare for it, I'd be more than grateful.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Language B may not be as challenging as Language A, but it does require having a strong background in the sense that you need to be able to converse and know your vocabulary or at least be prepared to learn a lot and under worst circumstances, cram.

http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/michaelh/H._Michael/IB_Course_Guides_files/French%20B.pdf - check out the criteria. If you feel that you can do it, go ahead. :)

Remember: HL requires reading two works of literature.

Edited by RainAL
Link to post
Share on other sites

My French seems to be A2 after 2 years of French ab initio in IB. So I think A2 is good enough for language B SL at most. Because you have to be able to read original books in that language and write long essays... I wouldn't go for German B HL if I were you.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks. I will try to do HL and if I find it too hard, I'll drop it (I am allowed to do so during the first month). However, I really do want to try HL and I would appreciate if you could offer me some advice as to how to prepare, what to study... Thanks in advance :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello, I'm doing German B HL and I find it a bit challenging, but still very pleasurable. When I started IB my German was something like B1, maybe a little lower, but over one year I learned a lot, so everything is possible :) I would advise you to practice writing when you have time. For me it was very useful to write a lot of essays and give them to the teacher to correct the mistakes. And I always try to use as many as possible new vocabulary and idioms in my essay. Then you learn new vocabulary and have them already in context. It should be also helpful to prepare yourself a list of phrases that can be used in different types of essays (for example: Ich vertrete den Standpunkt..., Das Hauptargument dafuer ist..., man kann daraus die Schlussfolgerung ziehen...) Good luck and don't worry if you will struggle at the beginning. Aller Anfang ist schwer :) .

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...