Choosing languages (already!) for Year 7

LazyDaisy · Post by **LazyDaisy** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:25 am

Cross-posted with everyone!!

You can't have Mandarin as a second choice as they will not randomly allocate boys to that subject. You will only be able to do Mandarin if you put it first - not helpful!!

I had no idea about science and German - I enjoyed German much more than French at school because I loved all those rules!!!

Third time round · Post by **Third time round** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:29 am

Hello everybody! Yes we have that letter too! It appears that my DS will drop down dead if I don't put chinese as the first language. I did some asking around and I'm hoping that his musical ear will be able to differentiate between the different intonations as apparently many of the same words have different meanings according to pronunciation! It does seem an awful lot of languages all at once! I would have chosen French and Spanish for him, but he wants to do Chinese and German! I think he has to choose for himself though, as otherwise his heart will not be in it!

Post by **hermanmunster** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:31 am

[quote="Snowdrops: - but she can do Astronomy instead

)[/quote]

Lucky girl - they started it here but too late for DS!

re languages - I think it depends on whether they like the sound of the language and the fact that some are easier to get going on than others....
also I suppose the more you do the easier it gets. By the time you have sussed the word for LIBRARY in french german and russian (bibliotheque, bibloteka and don't ask me the german) you get the hang of the fact that there are only so many words around it is just how you use them.

mummycomelately · Post by **mummycomelately** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:39 am

HM, what I meant was that German isn't widely spoken around the world, nor is it used widely in business. You may not want to visit China, but our kids may end up doing business with Mandarin-speaking people since it is pegged to be the business language of the future. (And yes, quite a lot of people speak it.)

Spanish is more widely spoken around the world so just for travelling I think it would be more useful.

Good point about it being harder to get a good GCSE in Chinese, but yes he can drop it at Y9 if the going is too tough.

LazyD, yes they may end up in the same form. I am now worried that my DS will be a linguistic dunce with the other boys all fluent in three languages already!

Third time round · Post by **Third time round** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:43 am

MCL.....don't panic, my DS has no experience of any other languages either! While the trinity crew is on here...could anyone tell me if we have to pay a deposit or anythin, abd if so...how much and when?

Post by **hermanmunster** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:49 am

mummycomelately wrote:HM, what I meant was that German isn't widely spoken around the world, nor is it used widely in business. You may not want to visit China, but our kids may end up doing business with Mandarin-speaking people since it is pegged to be the business language of the future. (And yes, quite a lot of people speak it.)

Spanish is more widely spoken around the world so just for travelling I think it would be more useful.

Good point about it being harder to get a good GCSE in Chinese, but yes he can drop it at Y9 if the going is too tough.

LazyD, yes they may end up in the same form. I am now worried that my DS will be a linguistic dunce with the other boys all fluent in three languages already!

Quite agree re the use of mandarin in the future - can't imagine either of mine needing it cos total lack of business minds in the family - though maybe useful for diplomatic service. there was a thread before about the difficulty of getting a good grade as all the A* and As seemd to go to native speakers.
re the spanish - you are right re the number of people speaking it - I am probably just demonstrating my europhilic , USAphobic views!!!

good luck with the deposits...

mummycomelately · Post by **mummycomelately** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:55 am

LazyD and TTR, wonder what they'll do if everyone chooses Chinese?

p.s. just checked Trinity's 2009 GCSE results for Chinese - 10 A* and 1 A. So it seems that not many keep it up, but those who do it do well! They probably discourage the no-hopers from taking it on any further. Worth a go, though, especially as he is so keen.

Our sons may already have met during the rounds of tests. My DS kept bumping into the same people at different schools.

A Mum · Post by **A Mum** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:01 pm

My daughter was allocated German to study a few years ago and we were disappointed at the time but have since found out that it could be quite useful as Germany has a lot of industry. They are very big in the car industry, ship building and aircraft manufacturing as well as being heavily involved in in electronic engineeing and the chemical and pharmacutical industries.

Third time round · Post by **Third time round** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:03 pm

Thanks for the stats! I feel slightly better about it now! Yes, I was wondering what they would do if everyone chose Chinese! Is the first choice guaranteed?

mummycomelately · Post by **mummycomelately** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:22 pm

TTR I don't know. They don't say it's guaranteed and they say places are limited in the Chinese sets. Maybe they don't usually get too many?

As for the deposit, I don't know that either. Let's just keep our heads down and maybe they'll forget...