Ahhhh…. The GCSE exams are over and a long summer stretches ahead of you. Sun (maybe), friends, relaxation, summer homework…! Hang on! Summer homework?
It may come as a surprise to some of those preparing for sixth form, but it isn’t unheard of for sixth form colleges to set homework for the new intake to complete over the summer. This may seem a bit unfair, mean even, but you will be in a much stronger position to start your A Levels in September if you have taken some time over the holidays to review what you know and start on your more advanced material.
What would our suggestions be for those who are looking at an A Level in a modern foreign language such as German, French or Spanish?
- I would always recommend finding out which board your school/college will be using and to check out the details of the specification online. You can find out what is expected in the exams, what you will be studying and even some information about the marking scheme.
- A good second step is to find out which film and/or book you will be studying. Make sure that you have a copy of your own and try to watch/read it at least TWICE before the start of the term. It is true that the teachers are paid to go through the material with you, but it will make much more sense to you if you have at least some idea of the plot. Buy a copy in the target language (e.g. German) and see if you can also get a good English translation. In this way you can read the English quickly to grasp the key points, then read the target language version in more detail as you have some idea of what is happening. Many schools and colleges will look at either the film or the book in the first year of A Level and then tackle the other one in the second year. This is helpful as it spreads the workload more evenly – so be prepared to do similar studying in the summer holidays following your first year of the course, so that you are in good shape for the second year.
- Take time to look at and learn some of the grammar. The jump from a good grade at GCSE to the higher expectations of A Level can be a large one. It is possible to get a higher grade at GCSE by essentially learning blocks of text (useful phrases and grammar constructions) but not really understanding them. Buy a good grammar guide and get practising so that you have less work to do at the beginning of the new term. Make sure that you understand all the tenses you will be required to use, how to form them, when to use them, how the irregular verbs behave. As a guide, get comfortable with the present, past (perfect, imperfect, pluperfect), future (both kinds for French) and conditional. Really comfortable, not just “well, yes, sort of”.
- It is important to get as much listening practice as possible. Use online resources such as news websites to find articles that you can listen to as well as read. Euronews (www.euronews.com), Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com) and 1jour1actu (www.1jour1actu.fr) are all good examples.
- Consider whether it would be helpful to set up or join a conversation group to improve your confidence in speaking your target language. This doesn’t have to be an expensive option as you may be able to find like-minded students from your own sixth form or from another local one so you can meet together for the price of a coffee.
Teri Fleetwood is an experienced language tutor with over 16 years experience of tutoring to the GCSE and A Level curriculum. For more information please look at the rest of the posts in this blog and also check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LanguageLearnersSurrey/ If you would like to discuss 1:1 or small group tuition, whether for exam preparation or pleasure, then do get in touch! teri@language-learners.com