Spanish or Russian GCSE?

[ispecialiseinthis]

My DC GCSE options deadline is coming up and, as with most 14yo, they don’t currently have a career in mind.
The school will let them do a maximum of 10 GCSEs - 6 core subjects (triple science, English language and literature, maths). Doing both languages is not really an option, as it will mean dropping another option.

Any advice how to choose between the two languages? TIA

As Russia is the world's pariah and the language is not as widespread as Spanish, then Spanish would seem a lot more useful.

My only concern would be that Russian is becoming rarer in schools - if the teacher were to leave, would the school be able to replace them? There may only be one teacher able to teach Russian in the school whereas I'd expect multiple who could teach Spanish so timetables could be sorted to prioritise GCSE.

Do Spanish, guaranteed 9 if you work hard (sounds like he loves languages).

Keep up some Russian on Duolingo or if you want to sit the GCSE (the school can enter him, you might have to pay) then get a tutor outside of school or pick up studying Russian later in life.

Spanish is the most spoken language in the world. Probably far more useful than Russian (unless you want to become a spy or something).

Yeh Spanish all day long of those two.

Much more useful and as a PP points out, easier to find a teacher if the current one leaves.

I did three languages including Russian and found it quite easy. It’s a straightforward language to learn once you’ve sussed the alphabet, but I’ve barely used it since.

I think in this day and age Spanish would be infinitely more useful!

Im not sure if you are overthinking this. Does your dc have any interest in Russia or learning Russian?

I imagine to be useful (intelligence and the like) you would need to be fluent so gcse unless planning on further study would seem pointless.

Basic Spanish on the other hand might come in handy on future holidays.

If they want to study languages at A Level there will be more schools offering Spanish than Russian, and remember that a school can offer an A Level but run the course only with a minimum number of students and, again, Spanish will be more popular. Your DS can also start Russian from scratch at university.

My DS had the same choice last year and chose Russian. Mostly because he didn’t like his Spanish teacher and so didn’t click with the language whereas he really enjoyed Russian. I thought it would also make him stand out more for UCAS applications etc as Spanish is a common GCSE/A level. And also Russia may not remain a pariah state forever, history is cyclical - once it opens for business again in 10 or 20 years knowledge of the language will be in demand.

Thanks everyone.
Our thinking is that whilst Spanish is much more widely spoken, it is also much more commonly studied and so Russian may set DC apart from others should languages be relevant for their future degree or career

Russian might be quite useful in certain jobs but the thing is that Russian people who’s involved in international trade know English.

You could say the same about Spaniards and South Americans...

Which culture or literature is she most interested in? That'll be more important if she's thinking of doing the language at A level.or university.

This. Not a cat in hell's chance I'd want my DS learning Russian.

If they’re currently studying both I’d ask them whether they have a preference or one that comes more easily. TBH, having a gcse in either language is neither here nor there in terms of employability. If your child has the kind of interest in and aptitude for languages that would make them likely to take the language far enough to actually be worth having (employment wise) they will have views about which to do.

Languages open doors.my brothers bil had an aptitude for languages and did his ug at Southampton. He then worked for the us govt and learnt Arabic Urdu and I think Russian. Good luck

Spanish.

DD’s school offered Russian up until last year - they stopped mainly as it was getting unfair for non Russian speaking/born children. They were very much in the minority and it was hard to achieve the top grades when the majority of kids taking the subject had been speaking it for their entire lives. Popularity also took a massive dip post Ukraine invasion. There is a severe lack of Russian teachers so that would also worry me - what if DC’s teacher leaves or goes off sick?

Not remotely concerned about this aspect even if they went onto take Russian at degree level.

Agree, GCSE in a language won’t get you far but thinking more of not closing doors by giving up the “wrong” language and, therefore, removing it as an option at A levels.
DC does seem to have an aptitude for languages but not sure how far they would like to take it. They may end up dropping languages completely at Alevel.

Pains me to hear the Russian dismissed having studied it myself, but I understand the appeal of Spanish. Tell him to take whichever one appeals most.

I’ve studied both, albeit I’ve only studied Russian to a basic level. Spanish is far easier for an English speaker to learn - there are only a few tricky sounds not found in English, the spelling is pretty phonetic, the grammar is very different from English (but there’s not much of a case system - hurrah!) and as it’s a Romance language, much of the vocabulary already seems familiar. Regarding difficulty, the US State Department classifies Spanish as a Category 1 language and Russian as a Category 3 language.

https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/

However, Russian undoubtably has a scarcity value and is sometimes used as a lingua franca in parts of Eastern Europe, especially between people from different parts of the former Soviet Bloc, who were often taught in Russian-medium schools prior to 1991. I mean, I’d be cautious about speaking it to a stranger in the current political climate, but there’s no doubt it’s a useful language to have as a back up and a little can go a long way - even just being able to sound out Cyrillic can be helpful at times.

You mention aptitude for languages, and not wanting to close doors.
Why not revisit the choice not to do both?

2 languages, some kind of humanity perhaps, and a random 4th. Why not?

My dd ended up doing 3 languages at gcse, 2 at a level and now 1 at degree level. (Joint honours with English Lit)

Agree - DC wants to do geography and two other quite different options that are non-negotiable in their view and we are happy to support. One of these two languages is the other non-negotiable but struggling to decide

They weren't popular in the 60s and 70s either - but that didn't stop my sister being offered a good Civil Service job because she had an O Level in it, putting her ahead of all the other applicants with French/Latin.

Even if they stay being unpopular, there is still a need to employ Russian speakers.

Even if they stay being unpopular, there is still a need to employ Russian speakers.

If only to eavesdrop.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, as they say.