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ab initio or HL ? HELP


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Hi, im about to start the IB in sept and was wandering which course would be more suitable to me but also less stress and demand and work! I have studied french for 5 years and achieved a grade A at GCSE so was thinking at taking it at HL but i was wandering if spanish ab initio would be easier as the languages are very similar.. HELLPP

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Well I got an A in GCSE French, and I did SL French B and found it hard, and came out with a 6. I'd do SL French if I were you, as it's more challenging than Spanish ab initio but not as hard as HL French.

Hi, im about to start the IB in sept and was wandering which course would be more suitable to me but also less stress and demand and work! I have studied french for 5 years and achieved a grade A at GCSE so was thinking at taking it at HL but i was wandering if spanish ab initio would be easier as the languages are very similar.. HELLPP

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One of my friends is taking Spanish Ab Initio and he's doing really well. I'm taking Italian Ab Initio and it's absolute hell. In my opinion, as long as you have a tutor available for your Spanish Ab Initio, go for it! Note, it sounds easy- but it's actually a lot of work. HL language B is pretty hard, most of my friends take Mandarin B SL because B HL is way too hard. If you've studied French for 5 years, I'd say go for Spanish Ab Initio!

Good luck!

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Hi, im about to start the IB in sept and was wandering which course would be more suitable to me but also less stress and demand and work! I have studied french for 5 years and achieved a grade A at GCSE so was thinking at taking it at HL but i was wandering if spanish ab initio would be easier as the languages are very similar.. HELLPP

go for SL french, it's not difficult..

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In contrast to unicornication, I did Italian ab initio and found it really easy… so just pointing out that people's abilities at learning languages can differ greatly.

I think cjy's suggestion of doing French SL is a good one - it's an in-between option between too-easy ab initio and possibly-too-different HL.

However, I don't know anything about you, so you should also consider: Do you enjoy learning French? Do you find French easy or really difficult? Would you be prepared to work hard in French if you were to do HL?

As in, if you're one of those people who are naturally gifted at learning languages - as in, it's pretty easy to learn vocab, grammar and sentences, then perhaps HL wouldn't be too challenging for you. Also consider your potential future teachers if that's possible - do you have good French teachers? I find that the teachers I have make a big difference in whether I enjoy the subject or not. :)

Oh also, you said you studied French for 5 years, and since I'm not in the UK I don't know exactly what level your fluency is. 5 years may already be up to the level of HL.. you must already know a lot of vocab and grammar, so you should definitely speak to you potential IB French teacher if that's possible, to find out whether the language you have already mastered could be up to HL standard or not.

& one last point.. ab initio is mainly designed for people who have never learnt about the language before. You having studied for 5 years already.. I would be pretty confident that you'd be able to sit for the final exam right now and pass easily, and not need to even attend any of the classes during your two IB years. I don't know if something like that would appeal to you, but personally it wouldn't for me - there wouldn't be any point to it at all and absolutely no challenge. :)

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Spanish is not to different to French. If I were you, I would go for Spanish Ab Initio because you will most likely pick it up quicker since you have the 5 years of French in ur pocket. Also, it would mean it you potentially have less subjects to worry about as Spanish will be easier.

However, it is possible to confuse you if the two languages have any key differences but I have no clue I it does or not. SL French means u need to be quick at reading difficult language and be able to write high standard writing of a few hundred words. You should also be good at speaking. Obviously this will develop over the 2 years but if you feel like you want to actually further your knowledge of French, and if you think you will use it in the future, then go for SL.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you! I would not choose HL but it depends on your abilities. I am sure they will let you start off in HL then move down to SL if you find it difficult, or conversely many school like mine start with SL and then let you choose to go into HL in the second year.

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In contrast to unicornication, I did Italian ab initio and found it really easy… so just pointing out that people's abilities at learning languages can differ greatly.

I think cjy's suggestion of doing French SL is a good one - it's an in-between option between too-easy ab initio and possibly-too-different HL.

However, I don't know anything about you, so you should also consider: Do you enjoy learning French? Do you find French easy or really difficult? Would you be prepared to work hard in French if you were to do HL?

As in, if you're one of those people who are naturally gifted at learning languages - as in, it's pretty easy to learn vocab, grammar and sentences, then perhaps HL wouldn't be too challenging for you. Also consider your potential future teachers if that's possible - do you have good French teachers? I find that the teachers I have make a big difference in whether I enjoy the subject or not. :)

Oh also, you said you studied French for 5 years, and since I'm not in the UK I don't know exactly what level your fluency is. 5 years may already be up to the level of HL.. you must already know a lot of vocab and grammar, so you should definitely speak to you potential IB French teacher if that's possible, to find out whether the language you have already mastered could be up to HL standard or not.

& one last point.. ab initio is mainly designed for people who have never learnt about the language before. You having studied for 5 years already.. I would be pretty confident that you'd be able to sit for the final exam right now and pass easily, and not need to even attend any of the classes during your two IB years. I don't know if something like that would appeal to you, but personally it wouldn't for me - there wouldn't be any point to it at all and absolutely no challenge. :)

Language teaching in the UK is absolutely atrocious. You can't have a decent conversation in French by the end of the GCSE years. SL would be the OPs best bet.

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!

i think that's normal.. because in one of our IAs we have to do some analysis sort of thing between two texts.. a reflective statement or something like that..

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!

i think that's normal.. because in one of our IAs we have to do some analysis sort of thing between two texts.. a reflective statement or something like that..

Incorrect. Only at HL it does. At SL it's supposed to be between 3 articles and at HL between 2 literary texts.

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!

i think that's normal.. because in one of our IAs we have to do some analysis sort of thing between two texts.. a reflective statement or something like that..

Incorrect. Only at HL it does. At SL it's supposed to be between 3 articles and at HL between 2 literary texts.

cjy is right. At SL we get 3 articles that we have to read then write 250 or so words on it along with a rationale. At HL you actually study texts..

My hindi teacher too first had the misconception that at SL we needed to study books but I isn't true. If you search Language B syllabus on this website, then you will find some useful info.

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!

i think that's normal.. because in one of our IAs we have to do some analysis sort of thing between two texts.. a reflective statement or something like that..

Incorrect. Only at HL it does. At SL it's supposed to be between 3 articles and at HL between 2 literary texts.

cjy is right. At SL we get 3 articles that we have to read then write 250 or so words on it along with a rationale. At HL you actually study texts..

My hindi teacher too first had the misconception that at SL we needed to study books but I isn't true. If you search Language B syllabus on this website, then you will find some useful info.

Yeah, we're doing the articles. And we ALSO did a book. Le Petit Prince to be exact. Which, when you're trying to discuss symbolism, is not as easy as it sounds.

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!
i think that's normal.. because in one of our IAs we have to do some analysis sort of thing between two texts.. a reflective statement or something like that..
Incorrect. Only at HL it does. At SL it's supposed to be between 3 articles and at HL between 2 literary texts.
cjy is right. At SL we get 3 articles that we have to read then write 250 or so words on it along with a rationale. At HL you actually study texts..

My hindi teacher too first had the misconception that at SL we needed to study books but I isn't true. If you search Language B syllabus on this website, then you will find some useful info.

Yeah, we're doing the articles. And we ALSO did a book. Le Petit Prince to be exact. Which, when you're trying to discuss symbolism, is not as easy as it sounds.

Why bother?! If you're SL it's unnecessary extra work.

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God I actually hate SL French so much...maybe it's my teacher who has a bad habit of calling selective few and inexperience with IB, or maybe it's the fact that I have to bullsh*t (fluently) about generic crap that I don't care an ounce for, e.g. abortion, e.g. holiday

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I really think that if you feel like you have the skill from your 5 years, you should do SL French. I don't find it too difficult, and a conversation with the IB French teacher at your school will tell you whether or not you're up to par. You might even choose HL, depending on what your teacher says about your skill.

Studying at HL simply means that you will be marked with a harder criterion and that you will have to study 2 literature texts.. if you feel like you can analyse them and read or even understand French literature then I salute you!

Wait a minute... I'm in SL, and our teacher already made us read and analyze a book in French! No fair! If I'm doing HL work, I want HL credit! I had to write a 200 word essay analyzing an aspect of that book!
i think that's normal.. because in one of our IAs we have to do some analysis sort of thing between two texts.. a reflective statement or something like that..
Incorrect. Only at HL it does. At SL it's supposed to be between 3 articles and at HL between 2 literary texts.
cjy is right. At SL we get 3 articles that we have to read then write 250 or so words on it along with a rationale. At HL you actually study texts..

My hindi teacher too first had the misconception that at SL we needed to study books but I isn't true. If you search Language B syllabus on this website, then you will find some useful info.

Yeah, we're doing the articles. And we ALSO did a book. Le Petit Prince to be exact. Which, when you're trying to discuss symbolism, is not as easy as it sounds.

Why bother?! If you're SL it's unnecessary extra work.

No clue! He was just like, "Here, Le Petit Prince. Read x number of chapters per night and complete a series of short answer questions on that chapter, plus an essay question for each one." We did a couple of big essays on it, and one partner project (well... or a class project. There are only two of us in it, so it's not like we were wondering who our partner was going to be) on it as well, discussing symbols in the book and what they symbolized, and we got to informally present that to the French 3 class that we sit with.

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No clue! He was just like, "Here, Le Petit Prince. Read x number of chapters per night and complete a series of short answer questions on that chapter, plus an essay question for each one." We did a couple of big essays on it, and one partner project (well... or a class project. There are only two of us in it, so it's not like we were wondering who our partner was going to be) on it as well, discussing symbols in the book and what they symbolized, and we got to informally present that to the French 3 class that we sit with.

Well u better ask him about whether he is knowingly teaching HL or giving HL work accidentally. Then either do HL French, or tell him you only want to do SL.

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No clue! He was just like, "Here, Le Petit Prince. Read x number of chapters per night and complete a series of short answer questions on that chapter, plus an essay question for each one." We did a couple of big essays on it, and one partner project (well... or a class project. There are only two of us in it, so it's not like we were wondering who our partner was going to be) on it as well, discussing symbols in the book and what they symbolized, and we got to informally present that to the French 3 class that we sit with.

Well u better ask him about whether he is knowingly teaching HL or giving HL work accidentally. Then either do HL French, or tell him you only want to do SL.

I don't exactly know how I would go about doing such a thing. I mean, I don't want to be rude or anything...

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