Choosing languages (already!) for Year 7
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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!!!
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!!!
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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!
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[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.
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.
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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!
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!
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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.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!
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...
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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.
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.
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.
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