Language combinations at Yr 7

[HelpMeUnpickThis]

Hello we neee to decide between the combinations on the attached pic.

Any advice please?

Thank you

From future career/opportunity perspectives, personally, I (and my DC) would choose option C - Mandarin & Spanish without hesitation.

Not so many schools offer the option though.

Are all 4 available at GCSE?
Whilst Mandarin may be a desirable global language, a GCSE isn't going to get you very far, and the exam will be full of native speakers.

So, do you have an inkling as to the likelihood of languages being her thing? If so, C.
If languages are unlikely to be her thing, A or B - and make the choice on where you are most likely to go on holiday over the next 5 years.

Thank you. She is a STEM girl so languages are not a really her favourite so was thinking French and German then she can pick up Spanish if she wishes after a year or 2. She can’t pick up German later.

B

French and German. My friends who were more stem oriented preferred German as it is very logical, ordered and structured in grammar (to GCSE level) and spelling is very phonetic. Spanish and French are pretty similar to each other in some ways but both less structured than German, potential to get confused and easier to pick up Spanish later than German.

Mandarin probably needs the most visual learning and an ear for tones as well as accent to do well.

Mandarin & Spanish for me. DC school only has one European language. It's such a shake. Chinese is the same language family as Korean and Japanese (and Vietnamese too) so it's great introduction to languages in East Asian if they are interested in the culture.

Unless she loves languages and that's her thing - and it sounds like it isn't - don't go within a million miles of Mandarin. While I agree it's potentially the most useful language, it's also far and away the hardest of those 3 for someone whose native language is English, as the others are all from European language families. Also (speaking as someone who did Japanese at school), she will have e to spend time learning the writing / symbols which means you accurate vocabulary much more slowly.

@HelpMeUnpickThis

My first thought, as someone who read Modern Languages at University, was to suggest Option C, but now that I have read your later post, which says that the subjects she enjoys most are STEM subjects, I would say, in all honesty, Option A.

I think that she may well feel an affinity with German (my own preferred language).

I think that German might stand her in good stead later on as her career develops, too.

If she does take German, she might like to browse these downloadable magazines. They were published for teenagers learning the language. They've stopped publishing them now, but the old ones are still fun to read.

https://de.maryglasgowplus.com/magazines/Das-Rad-78125

There are some French ones too.

https://fr.maryglasgowplus.com/magazines

For language books, by the way, there's a great choice at Foyles; the specialist retailer Grant and Cutler became part of Foyles some time ago.

Their language teams are really helpful.

https://www.foyles.co.uk/highlights/foreign-languages

Mandarin is interesting but hard.

The script is not phonetic in any way shape or form and takes a bit if getting used to if you have only come across European languages before.

There is a lot of memorisation,

It is very interesting though and personally I don't regret the time I spent on it.

As if one could expect any significant progress with Mandarin at school This is only a secondary school language lesson. It takes years to learn Mandarin to the extent that one can communicate even at a lower intermediate level/B1. Even learning Spanish of French at school doesn't go beyond the intermediate level after a few years. There are what, 2 h of language at school per week? Some schools do it even in alternative weeks.
My approach is that 4 hours of one language for 4 years would be more beneficial than 2 h of two. And progress with Mandarin would be even slower.

I would take French and Spanish. For a native English speaker those two are easier than German and Mandarin, of course.
German has complicated Latin like grammar, conjugation and declension-4. Each noun has an assigned gender der die das. For a native English speaker, it is challenging to learn. I had German at school and Russian. Later I learnt French. German wasn't a challenge because my native language has even more complicated grammar lol but as I said French is far easier for a native English

Just wanted to say thank you all for your comments. Really appreciate the advice, links and the well reasoned perspectives.

Is she interested in any of the cultures?
What language did she do in primary?