How hard is it to do Dutch GCSE outside of school?

[steppemum]

dd is in year 9 and has to chose her options.
She really wants to do 5 things and only has options for 4. The 5 are: German, Geography, 3 sciences (that takes up an option slot as the standard is 2 sciences) Drama (to do the lighting/sound engineering side) and computing. She wants to go into some sort of engineering.

Dh is Dutch. It is important to say that dd is NOT bi-lingual, but she has an everyday understanding of Dutch, so over the meal table, when people say - pass the bread etc, she understands.

I really want her to do a language. She is good at German, but it would be her least favourite option, and the one she would drop in favour of the other 4. She is at a superselective grammar school, and clever, but not super clever, likely to get 7 and 8s I would guess. She has a good attitude and works well, but is quite busy out of school already.

So, one option that has occured to me, is that she could work with a tutor and do Dutch as a GCSE out of school, instead of a language in school. I have a Dutch friend who did this with her neices and nephews living in UK via Skype, and she said the level required was ridiculously easy for a bi-lingual family, but the family she worked with spoke more Dutch at home.
We could easily speak Dutch with her at home and work on it etc. The added bonus is that she learns more Dutch, which will allow her better communication with her cousins.

Is this a nuts idea? At the moment it is just an idea, so don't shoot, me, but please tell me how realistic it is and if it is a stupid plan.

The GCSE language thing - dh and I both feel that all kids should study at least one MFL up to GCSE level. He actually did English, German and French, and he is NOT a linguist. It was standard in Dutch schools

Yes, but being monolingual really isn't a problem for most anglophones whereas only speaking Dutch would be pretty limiting. And U.K. language GCSEs really aren't (imo) that good for enabling a functional use of the language.

I once went on a short business trip to Amsterdam with a Dutch colleague and most of the time her conversations with other Dutch people were in English!

Bear in mind that some of a her drama marks will be based on group work! Not always the best idea. Again she could do this as a hobby whereas computing and german are more likely to feed into an engineering career.

Again EBacc like SATS is more for the school than the child. She will never put on any application form or CV that she has EBacc.

In all honesty double science is fine for science levels - my dd did just th double science and is on track for 4 stem a levels at grade a. (She changed her mind completely at 15 hence only choosing double science)

annie Although what you have said is my understanding too, I think it does at least partly depend on the cohort. If everyone else has done triple, it may be harder having only done combined as the teacher will assume everyone knows the triple content. Whereas in a more mixed cohort more allowances may be made.

Learning MFLs is not just about being able to converse. Deep communication with people from other cultures doesn’t happen unless both parties speak one another’s language and understand their culture and its underlying assumptions. This is one of the reasons why the EU is less palatable to the less educated among the English than the more educated, who tend to have a better grasp of the cultural similarities and differences of our EU partner nations.

"Dutch is like an easy version of German" errr no it's not!

I am fluent in German, how I can tell if people are speaking Dutch is that it sounds as tho I should be able to understand it... Then I listen in and realise I can barely make out a, word! 😁😁

You're right, bonsoir, but I don't believe gcse MFL goes anywhere near the level where it aids that understanding.

Re the triple science... the OP describes her DD as 'clever but not super clever', in a superselective school. In that context, I think she'd be wise to optimise her chances in the subjects she'll be wanting to do at A level. The best engineering courses want high grades (including an A* or two) in physics, maths and ideally FM ( and/or chemistry for chem eng). With that in mind, sacrificing triple science for any of the other subjects doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

Dutch is like an easy version of German so I am sure she'd find both extremely straight forward.
???? really? Do you speak them both then? I speak Dutch and do not understand German, and I can assure you it is no easier to learn than French (although a LOT easier to learn than Russian)

Satsumaeater - the whole point is that while she CAN do German GCSE and Dutch elsewhere, she doesn't have enough GCSE options to do the German and the other things she wants, so doing the Dutch GCSE would have allowed her to do other options. If the Dutch GCSE is not an option, then we will make her do German (or French, which she is now suddenly considering!)

Yes, but being monolingual really isn't a problem for most anglophones
I am just itching to have a rant at that, but I won't, as everyone has been full of nice suggestions.

I would just pount out that I have lived in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Central Asia, and Holland, and in all of them I needed to speak something other than English! In fact I do speak Indonesian, Russian and Dutch.

My Dutch PILs don't speak any English. My Dutch SIL does, but not really well enough to chat in a lot, just enough for her to communicate with my kids when they don't understand the Dutch.
Most of Dhs friends speak fluent English and at first we did everything in English and it was fine. Then, after I had done an intensive Dutch language course, we told them that we would only use Dutch, and if I couldn't follow everything, then I would soon learn. At this point I discovered a whole new group of people. Speaking in their mother tongue they were so funny and relaxedand quite different to the more formal group they were when speaking English.

No, being monolingual is not enough in the world we live in.

Errol - while I share your dissatisfaction with the standards required to obtain a GCSE qualification in an MFL, I still believe it is crucially important for every child to study at least one MFL to GCSE. A little insight into another culture is a massive improvement on none.

Errol, I think she has to do triple science, especially if the choice is drama or triple science!
She doesn't know what she wants to do at A level yet. Or what sort of engineering she wants to do.

It wouldn't surprise me though if she did something techy but not engineering.