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Starting Spanish


Sua Yoo

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Hello, I'm in MYP 4 and this is my first year in IB programme. I never learned French before and started learning French this year. But my teacher isn't good and the class is more appropriate for advanced students. I don't feel that I'm learning anything. Next year, I will move to another school. They provide both French and Spanish. My parents advised me to take Spanish next year because it is used in more countries and is easier to pronounce. (I find it very difficult to pronounce French properly) The school I'm going next year doesn't provide classes for students who begin Spanish in MYP 5. So, I have two choices. First, I can start learning Spanish in grade 11 as language ab initio. Second, I can learn Spanish at home this year and take the same class next year with students who started to learn Spanish this year. Then, I will take Spanish SL in diploma. I think that the best I can to is to study hard and take Spanish SL as diploma. But I heard that it's very hard to get a good grade because a lot of students are fluent in Spanish and I wouldn't have much time to study. I really want a good grade at diploma - a 6 or 7. What do you think I should do?

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On 29/11/2016 at 8:14 PM, Sua Yoo said:

Hello, I'm in MYP 4 and this is my first year in IB programme. I never learned French before and started learning French this year. But my teacher isn't good and the class is more appropriate for advanced students. I don't feel that I'm learning anything. Next year, I will move to another school. They provide both French and Spanish. My parents advised me to take Spanish next year because it is used in more countries and is easier to pronounce. (I find it very difficult to pronounce French properly) The school I'm going next year doesn't provide classes for students who begin Spanish in MYP 5. So, I have two choices. First, I can start learning Spanish in grade 11 as language ab initio. Second, I can learn Spanish at home this year and take the same class next year with students who started to learn Spanish this year. Then, I will take Spanish SL in diploma. I think that the best I can to is to study hard and take Spanish SL as diploma. But I heard that it's very hard to get a good grade because a lot of students are fluent in Spanish and I wouldn't have much time to study. I really want a good grade at diploma - a 6 or 7. What do you think I should do?

Working hard and spending time on the language because you want to learn it -- not because you want a good grade only.  You'll put the time in because you want to learn the language ... and the rest will follow. All this chasing after grades is a bit much, really. It makes no sense at all. 

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Sneaky idea: Learn Spanish at home AND take Spanish Ab Initio. I have a classmate taking Italian Ab Initio, despite having lived in Italy for more than two thirds of her life, as she had not "formally" taken Italian at school at any point in time. I can understand why people would frown upon someone only wanting to get a good grade in a language, and not properly learn it. However, I also know the frustration of a natural sciences-oriented person in the IB, who is forced to take two languages and a social science and is expected to do well in them as well as in sciences and math to get into a university course where they will never, ever, ever use any of the knowledge from the foreign languages and humanities. So, in my opinion, go for the option where you see the most points you can get and where you will have  the most fun the least stress doing your assignments and studying.

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