A new MFL from scratch to GCSE in two years?

[MassaAttack]

Ds has chosen Spanish which he's never done before (they do French and German at KS3). He's ok at French, but not top set.

I love him for his ambition, and I'm not obsessed with A*s, but is it actually possible to achieve a reasonable grade with no prior study?

Spanish is much easier than French or German, and he will be familiar with the grammatical concepts, tenses, genders. My DS is doing Russian ab initio in Year 10 - they are all predicted A/A*. I did Greek GCSE in the sixth form ( ie 2 years study form scratch) and got an A. if you already understand the structure of language easy to pick up an additional one. When I was teacher training I needed an additional language, had never done Spanish and picked up enough in a couple of months on my own in my spare time time to pass the Uni test, and was teaching it on my first placement a few weeks later.

Teen that's reassuring - ds is distinctly average when it comes to grades (he's awesome in other respects, of course).

Signora I've heard that Spanish is easier to learn than French or German. Might have to try it myself - although not in six weeks like Bird's daughter is asking

The real question is: can he learn things off by heart easily? 250 words approx? If yes, go for it.

Ooooohhhh I'm not sure, Chips.

The options form has been handed in now, so it's up to school now I guess. And my interfering parent email.

Chips has a good point. The way the CAs are done (60%) relies on writing in advance and learning off by heart. DD is good at learning by heart which is one of the reasons she ended up doing 2 MFLs.

I'm sure it's perfectly possible to get an A or A* in GCSE Spanish with two years' study.

Whether a DC has any kind of grasp of Spanish-the-language (as opposed to the entirely different beast that is Spanish-the-GCSE) is a different question entirely!

I'm not expecting fluency, Bonsoir. It wasn't until I worked drank with lots of French people that my French became any good.

I learnt most about language by working with colleagues from elsewhere in Europe and realising how relatively unimportant grammatical perfection is. You can know all your verb endings by heart and still struggle to hold a conversation - you need to get stuck in and not worry about sounding like a character from 'Allo 'Allo. Having said that, sounding like Officer Crabtree won't get you a GCSE

It is possible if he's determined. DD1 took it for A level from scratch, so GCSE definitely possible.

I did German O level in two years from scratch and ended up with a grade B.

My DCs' school offers an MFL ab initio in Year 10 and the teacher told us by Feb of year 10 you couldn't tell who the new starters were.

However - there are usually only 3-4 people doing it, they are always top set and very very keen. Given a pack to work through at the start of the summer hols (before year 10).

DD was going to pick up German (is not going to now but not cos of worries about it) - she is one of the best in her year at French so her teacher said it was great. What has your DS's teacher said about his plan?

In answer to your question, yes it totally is - DD's teacher said an A in German was within her reach - but I would ask DS's teacher what they think he will achieve. Is he doing French as well btw? I agree with others here, can he learn 250 words in a foreign language (four times over)?

Spanish IMHO is only easier if you already know French! But then he does so hey!!

I myself learned Spanish in 6th form and got an A (highest grade possible then) after 4 terms so it is quite feasible. (I was a language nut tho, had already done French, German, Latin and Greek O levels and was doing three of those for A level...)

It's been possible for years in Scotland to pick up a 2nd language as a 'crash Higher' in 5th year (lower 6th). This is generally taught 6 periods per week and gives the equivalent of an AS level after one year. Many pupils try it and manage it successfully and some go on the following year to take Advanced Higher (A level equiv).

DS did German in two. He was desperate to give up Latin and this was the best alternative. He was not a linguist so we organised for him to spend some time in Germany in the summer before he started. He ended up having a great time, picked up a nice accent and this meant he was mid way up the class from the start. It also added to his interest in the language as he could see the point.

I did Spanish AS level in 2 years and got a B. I think it's eminently possible.

It's comll standard in state schools to do this so no reason why not. My suggestion to talk to MFL teacher at school to check out his aptitude. If he's motivated it will help. IMO as parent if 3 kids all of whom did spanish - it seems quite easy if you have french in the background