IB Spanish AB Initio Year 2 or HL Spanish

[_joseph]

So because of scheduling conflicts I cannot take SL Spanish. My only options are either AB Initio Year 2 or see if they'll let me take HL Spanish. I've only completed Spanish 2, but in preparation for SL Spanish, which I was originally supposed to take, my teacher spent extra time with me teaching me all the important conjugations that the kids in Spanish 3 learned (Future, Present Perfect, Pluscuamperfecto, Conditional, Subjunctive Present Tense, and Subjunctive Preterite.) Should I just go ahead and take Year 2 or should I see if they'll allow me to take HL? (I already have 4 HLs, but I'm willing to drop one of them for Spanish.)

[khimberleigh]

Those are pretty much all the conjugations you need to know for ab initio. Seeing as you have already had a bit of experience with Spanish, ab initio should be very easy and quite possibly an easy 7 which would allow you to put more work into your other subjects. I'd recommend only doing a HL language B if you are fluent in that language and have lived in a Spanish speaking country or spent a lot of time with fluent speakers (ie parents/grandparents). You need to be able to analyse literature in that language and understand some complicated pieces of writing. My advice is do ab initio however, make sure you check with your coordinator first as to whether you're allowed to do ab initio since according to the IB it's really only meant to be for people who have never done Spanish.

[helpwithib]

Those are pretty much all the conjugations you need to know for ab initio. Seeing as you have already had a bit of experience with Spanish, ab initio should be very easy and quite possibly an easy 7 which would allow you to put more work into your other subjects. I'd recommend only doing a HL language B if you are fluent in that language and have lived in a Spanish speaking country or spent a lot of time with fluent speakers (ie parents/grandparents). You need to be able to analyse literature in that language and understand some complicated pieces of writing. My advice is do ab initio however, make sure you check with your coordinator first as to whether you're allowed to do ab initio since according to the IB it's really only meant to be for people who have never done Spanish.

@khimberleigh so this is my schedule:

HL English

HL Physics

HL Math

HL Spanish

SL Visual Arts

HL History

I am a non-native speaker. I've taken 4 years of Spanish already since 7th grade. Do you think HL Spanish would be too much of a course load to the load I already have? My other option is SL ab initio German. Do you think that would be a smarter choice? I also have the option of taking the HL Spanish course, but take the SL Spanish B test since that class is not offered. Is that a waste of time or a good idea?

Edited August 26, 2014 by helpwithib

[khimberleigh]

5 HLs is a lot of work especially with the subjects you are doing, you only need to do 3 HLs. I'd recommend dropping two of your subjects to SL, but it's your decision so you can give it a shot and drop down if the work load is too much.

If you enjoy Spanish I think that taking the HL class but SL assessments is a good idea. I did SL maths but my classed used a HL textbook so some of the questions were a bit harder which meant when we did SL questions they seemed a lot easier, hopefully the same sort of thing will happen in your situation. However, and be 100% honest with yourself, if you don't really enjoy Spanish that much and are just doing it because you have done it for 4 years already then maybe consider German.