Gcse's!

[Natsuki]

Okay, so this is just pretty much a simple question, but has anyone here taken a German GCSE, and if so, how difficult was it?

 

Starting today I'm now officially off school for the next three weeks or so, but I can't even begin to think about Christmas, because I know that the closer Christmas gets, the closer I am to going back to school, and the first week back I've got a German mock exam. It sound ridiculous, I know, but it's so off putting and distracting from everything else. I'm taking it a year early (I didn't really have any say in the matter!) and if I don't get at least a C in this mock (could scrape with a D, I suppose) chances are I won't be entered in the real thing, and it's really stressing me out. It doesn't help that I have some very competitive friends who simply make the matter worse. I don't care whether or not I get the highest grade in our little group, but they always make it sound like it does, and then I have to listen to them going on for hours about how amazing they are!

 

I haven't got the real exam until March/April time, which gives me plenty of time to revise for that, but the mock seems so damn close and my German grammar and sentence strucure is generally appalling (IMO, at least.), and I feel like I have a tonne of revision to get through in the space of a couple of weeks. It really takes away from the whole Christmas vibe.

 

My teacher seem to think I'll be fine seeing as I'm pretty much the only one in our class who's had experience of early subjects in year 9 (English language, A, General Studies, B) but that was with subjects I was a little more familiar with, and my parents feel it's far too late for me to back out of this now. It's not the only subject I have to take this year either, it falls right on top of english literature, media studies, Btech sport theory and IT. It means I'll have less to do next year, but even so, I feel like I'm steadily sinking underneath a huge pile of coursework and revison notes... I am aware there are far bigger problems in the world than this, just wanted some opinions and advice

 

Anyway, I'm just digressing now, but back to the German - has anyone else done it?

[untitled]

i didnt do it but all i can say is prepare:)

you can't do more than you are able to

[Black_Angel]

Loads of my friends did German and I think they found it pretty alright.

Just do a load of past papers and get a lot of practice in, that way the actual exam will be easy peasy :]

I did French, which is kinda the same I suppose, didn't do hardly any revision and got a B.

[Stenners]

Alot of the English language originates in German, therefor German is much easier then French

[Sygy]

i did german gcse for a term before getting kicked off..oh that beloved 2% in the mock!! ahhh

 

Thats a very interesting statement matt! so german is easier despite the fact that you have to learn dative and genative cases which are absent from the french language also taking into the construction of words in german and how many false friends there are. but yes, orally you can hear the english in the german...when they speak slowly.

[splitmyDNA]

I did German GCSE it was alright, got myself an A, but it isn't too bad. The listening is MUCH harder than the reading.

[Natsuki]

I did German GCSE it was alright, got myself an A, but it isn't too bad. The listening is MUCH harder than the reading.

 

Yeah, I'm not so worried about the reading, because all you have to really do is memorise a number of phrases and questions and then regurgitate them in some form on paper lol... but yeah, the listening is going to turn me into a nervous wreck. We've done billions (well, not quite) of practise ones in class, and the vast majority of them are on really scratchy and jumpy tapes that play way too fast. You don't get a chance to take any of it in...

 

But after reading this, I do feel a little reassurred.