Any A level German teachers about

[CarrieErbag]

My dc is home added and wants to do German A level, the only distance learning provider is Interhigh and I have concerns about enrolling with them.
Could she follow the syllabus with an appropriate text book and get a tutor for help with the oral? (I think not)
We are running out of ideas on how we can facilitate this, I think she needs to be set regular work etc.
Anyone moonlight?

I don’t do German but am an MFL Teacher to A Level. There is a huge gap between GCSE and A Level. What grade was achieved at GCSE? Is there aptitude or enthusiasm? Or both?! With motivation and good understanding generally of grammar, you may get somewhere just following the text book but you really need someone to support developing grammatical understanding and, as you say, the speaking side of things. You could look at ZigZag resources for additional material (expensive but good quality as a general rule) and make sure you have text books for the current spec (there was a major change a few years ago). You would need a tutor familiar with the exam or at least one with some connections to get support in interpreting the spec if required. What tutor support is Interhigh offering?

She got an A with Cambridge exam board.
She's very enthusiastic and loves the language .
I think there's about 2hours a week on line lessons, but it's £3k for the course + exam fees and I have no idea about results of quality of teaching.
Finding reviews is quite hard which makes me

have you been on the home ed board?

Yes of course.
It appears most home edders transfer to 6th form college for A levels and there is no one with A level students at Interhigh.
Thought I'd come to the nerve centre so to speak.

Ask InterHigh straight about their success rate and be aware that when they say 100% that will mean A-E. What course will she want to go on and do at uni?

It’s a tough one. I would look for a tutor with experience at A Level - you could get a lot of tutor hours with £3000 but equally I think you will need some 1 to 1 for the speaking part even if you go with Interhigh.

Have you spoken to any local private schools? You might be able to do a deal to just attend for German?

No private schools near me.
Have spoken to Interhigh about results, all they would say was that because students take exams as external students they weren't privy to all results and had to rely on what students reported back if indeed they did.
Results on a par with national average was as good as I got from them.
Currently she has no idea what she wants to do at uni
Thank you for your help I appreciate it.

Hi OP. I'm a qualified MFL teacher. I now work as a private tutor and teach German up to A-level.

You're right that it wouldn't be possible to follow the course using a textbook and get a tutor just for the speaking element. Language-learning at that level is pretty complex (especially German!) and your DC would really need a lot of input and guidance. There would also need to be a holistic approach. For instance, grammar and speaking aren't separate: a good knowledge of the former is essential for the latter at this level. Also, close reading and translation (from German) improves vocabulary, which in turn improves speaking, listening and writing.

There's also the literature/film element to consider. For A-level, they have to write essays on (usually) either two books or one book and one film in German, which can be a real challenge.

Happy to answer questions and help in any way I can if you want to PM me.

is therr a göthe institut?
iirc a-levels should be international level b2, maybe they have classes/teachers for that level.

I teach German to A-level and think that the right student who is extremely self sufficient might be able to work though the syllabus with minimal input.

You will need a tutor who will give feedback on essays and translations as well as guidance for the research project and oral exam. I believe that it could be done with 2 tutoring sessions a week.

Any tutor must be an excellent German speaker and have experience with the new spec A levels.

@malvisindakona thanks for your offer, I shall no doubt on you when I've done some more research.
We are not in a cosmopolitan enough area for a Göthe institute unfortunately.
Our nearest German tutor is 40 miles away so I will ask if they have any provision for distance learning, unlikely but I've nothing to lose at this stage.
Let me know @QueenofCBA if you want a postal student

Another qualified teacher, German A level tutor and examiner here, seconding what's been said by PPs above: textbook work might be ok alone, but the texts/film and research project will need a lot of guidance. Whichever tutor you go for needs specific recent experience if this is to be a success. Viel Erfolg!

Have you considered online tuition? I think a lot of tutors do that now. I offer that and really it’s as good as face-to-face if you have a decent connection.

The tutors I have looked at so far don't offer on line tuition.
It's either you go to them or they come to you.
German doesn't appear to be a particularly popular subject at A level.

Could you use a text book and actually send her to Germany for 6 weeks half way through to boost her speaking skills?

Have a look at Goethe online - not A level tuition but very highly respected way to learn German.