Two language GCSEs?

It’s not daunting if you are good at languages! In fact it might even be enjoyable and certainly opens doors if he continues with them!

I sat 4 la language exams. My first language Welsh, my second English fluent in both and then French and Spanish. I did fine and I'm sure your DC will too.

I did 3 languages, if you include Latin, both my dc are doing the same. If you like languages it's not a problem at all ...

DD1 did French and Spanish ab initio GCSEs under the old system.

It played to her strengths as she was good speaking and memorising (as needed for written and spoke CAs). Also it meant she only needed to learn 1 exam technique for 2 GCSEs, and the revision load was less for languages as they are more cumulative than say for History.

She did occasionally get confused and throw in the wrong language (not helped by having the same teacher for both subjects), but the benefits definitely outweighed the negatives for her.

She went on to attempt Spanish AS and is now working in a customer service job with a Spanish flag on it.

I did it. Gujarati, Spanish, and French. All quite similar in terms of language and as I was good at languages anyway it wasn’t so much of an effort to get all As

I did both french and German and for A in both, despite not being naturally inclined towards languages (has to do both at school as I was considered top set so no choice). Was fine. I dropped Latin though.

DD (Yr11) is doing 3 languages: French, Latin and Ancient Greek. The Greek is extra curricular and has been done in lunchtime and/or after school lessons.
She is sitting 10 GCSEs, which include triple science, and FM.

If your DS enjoys languages the extra curricular lessons won't be a problem.

God daughter did french, German and Latin. She only continued Latin to a level as she is going to do classics in September. Workload was fine but I think either french or German was compulsory. The only issue was when there were trips to the country - she could only choose one so she wasn’t missing lots of school time.
Her sister did Spanish, German and Latin and would have done french too if given the choice!

One of mine did three languages and three sciences. Language AAA, sciences BBB. Was just fine. Did lots of practice for the orals. Continued with neither at A level but it gave a good spread of GCSEs.

I did 3 languages and it was fine. Ds is doing 2 and it's fine. Once you get going on a language you don't tend to muddle it with another language in my experience.

@SisterVanHelsing I don't think it's so much that 2 languages are too difficult, it's more that lack of MFL teachers these days meaning that schools can't offer more than one.

The enthusiastic linguists back in my comprehensive in the 80s managed 2 fine.

If languages come naturally embrace it!

As I said earlier I did French and German at A level, (then a French and business degree) It still comes in useful many years later. My French is still fluent having worked there, German is very rusty but still there deep down.

I think two languages are perfectly doable, especially for anyone with an aptitude for them. Years ago I did two (French and German) O levels and that was quite standard. I don't unfortunately have an aptitude for languages.

My older daughter did two (French and Latin) and wanted to continue with Spanish too, but didn't have room in her timetable to do all three and Spanish eventually lost out to another subject.

The younger one only did French and had struggled previously with French and Spanish as she did mix them up. She also struggled with Latin. Being dyslexic probably didn't help. In retrospect it would probably have been easier if the two MFL had been more different, but we didn't think of that at the time (we chose Spanish as we thought it would be more useful than German).

DD Y11 here is doing 3 languages - french, spanish and mandarin. Was made easier on options as school allowed one science to be dropped to study remainder as singles. Definitely finds work load easier than essay based subjects, and manages well.

If your DS finds them enjoyable, is naturally able and ok with the extra lessons before/after school, then perfect solution.

DS1 did French and Spanish GCSE and they were his best results. He didn't get confused, and the workload was lower than many subjects! DS2 wishes now that he had done Spanish and French instead of Spanish and music.

I did French and German in sixth form and, again, managed fine. I found learning grammar for one subject helped the other. You got kind of immersed in it.

My dd did german and French GCSE last year. She did German as a full option and French one after school session a week and missed a PE lesson. She came out with 8 for German and 7 for French which is pretty good considering she did 11.5 GCSEs!
If your ds is good at languages and enjoys them, it's a good choice. Quite a few students dropped out of the extra French though when they realised it was quite fast paced to cover the syllabus with lots of homework!

Everyone in my year at school had to do French and German for at least gcse.
I don’t really use the German much now, but do use the French a lot still. Quite a few classmates went on to teach English abroad using their a levels and degrees and have travelled the world. I found it easy to differentiate french and German as they are so very different but I imagine some languages may be harder to mix due to their similarities

I did this and got A*s in both.

If he enjoys them and is good at them, there’s no reason to drop one.

I did French, Spanish & Italian GCSE & went in to do French & Spanish A level - I found languages easy compared to other subjects (got A for all)
Agree with previous poster about the science, my Dd is in year 10, only allowed 1 language but is stuck doing an awful lot of science (which she hates)

Both my dds did both French and German.
Not heavy workloads compared with some other subjects. I'd agree with BubblesBuddy that MFLs are recognised as being more academic than either media or catering and hospitality. I'm assuming your ds is academic if all the subject teachers want him to sign up for their subjects, and they are offering him the opportunity to do an extra GCSE in his 'spare time'

The vast majority of MFL courses are certainly not three languages. Again, this is a course offered and suits those who are already brought up with a MFL and have a native language. Most students do joint or single honours and these are the courses widely offered at universities. The year abroad works best with one of two. Three means a third semester (usually summer holidays) cramming it all in. Jack of all trades comes to mind.

To answer the question: if he can do two, he should. They are a distinct academic notch above media and catering. However if he wants to be a chef then clearly catering wins out. Media studies isn’t required at GCSE by anyone but he might like it so do well in it.

Should he find he is great at languages and goes on to A level and beyond he would find most universities keen to have him! Such is the lack of talent in this area of study, the door is fairly open if you have half decent A levels. Also, even adding a language to another subject can help with entry and even grades required. Language departments are threatened by a lack of students.

My sisters Did and one got straight A,s the other A,s and two B,s . (Before A+ came about.)

If he's naturally good at languages, then may be less workload than a language and a different subject - and if he's interested in hospitality that could end up being a very good combination I'd have thought?

I did French and German at GCSE many moons ago. So did my sister and then she went on to do both at A Level and started both at university before dropping German.

Definitely doable.