In all likelihood you’ve chosen A Level Spanish because you like Spanish. If that’s you, you’re going to love A Level Spanish. Your competence in Spanish is going to take a massive jump up and you’ll be learning lots about Spanish and Latin American cultures.
It’s true that it’s a very big leap up from GCSE. But, if you take a steady approach and keep up with your learning then you will make the mark on time. You’ll be getting a lot better without even noticing it sometimes. See my top tips below.
But what if I’m not interested in Spanish history and politics?
Your Spanish language learning can only go so far if you don’t learn the culture too. The books and films that you study won’t make any sense to you – even if you understand the language – if you don’t understand the culture. But you will probably discover that you come to love learning about Spanish history and politics – in fact, you might soon know more about Spain than the UK! Learning Spanish language and culture go hand-in-hand and you’ll soon develop a love for all things Spanish.
My top tips for preparing for the big leap up:
Tip 1
Read and listen to Spanish every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes. We’re really fortunate to be in an age where you have so much access to content, so choose things like that you’re interested in (even if it’s not on the Specification) and read about it in Spanish. So if you like fashion, read about fashion in Spanish. If you like sport, read about it in Spanish. Watch video clips and TV series, and listen to podcasts.
My one caveat: make sure you don’t read things that have been translated from English into Spanish. Sometimes translations can be pretty awful, but even if it’s a good one, it’s not going to help you to get your brain to think like a Spanish-speaking person thinks. It’s not just the words, it’s also the way that they’re ordered and used that you’re going to pick up from this exercise. You’ll also get a feel for what kind of tenses are used in different situations.
Tip 2
This might sound a bit strange, but it’s really important to read good-quality English too. Get a newspaper (a good one!) app (or two) on your phone and try to get into the habit of reading bits of articles every day, or at least the headlines.
Why?
- First, if you’re interested in language, you really need your native language to be good as well. If your spelling and grammar are a bit weak in English, now is the time to give it some attention. But, just like with learning Spanish, this isn’t something to panic about. Reading good-quality news articles, blog posts and books will have a natural, gradual impact on your English language skills.
- Second, lots of the A Level specification involves you discussing your thoughts on a whole range of topics from social networks to immigration. The more you are aware about what the issues are on all these topics, the more you’ll be able to contribute. So if you’re asked what some of the disadvantages of social media are, for example, and you had recently read an article about young people finding it difficult to sleep at night because they are using their smartphones, you could then talk about that in Spanish.
Tip 3
Learn new vocabulary, and lots of it. One of the things that can be really frustrating at the beginning of the big leap up is that you’ll be reading quite advanced content and that means lots of new vocabulary. It can soon get really demotivating if you’re having to look up a lot of words for everything you want to read. So:
- Get a notebook that is specifically for vocabulary and write down the new words/phrases and the translations for them.
- When you’re writing your vocabulary in your notebook, also write in things that will help you make good constructions. So, for example, write “acabar de” to help you remember that the correct preposition for this verb is “de”. Or you could write “acabar de hacer” to help you remember that you need to use an infinitive verb after the “de”.
- Make a target for the number of new words you can memorise in a day/week and try to stick to it. If it’s 20 words a week, for example, get someone to test you. Remember to get them to test you on previous weeks’ vocabulary too!)
- Make glossaries. My own glossaries on A Level topics are coming soon to this site and you’ll be able to download them and start using them. Learning vocabulary is not just so that you can understand something when you read/hear it. It’s also so that you have it in your head ready to use in writing and speaking. And that’s a key difference and the reason for making glossaries. Glossaries with key vocabulary on the topics you study for A Level will mean you have a set of really useful vocabulary all on a particular topic, so you can use it as pre-reading for getting to know about a topic or as revision to boost your memory as you prepare for an exercise. It’s got the kind of vocabulary in it that will wow your teachers and examiners and give you that edge to make you sound super advanced and knowledgeable.
Tip 4
Keep up. Stay on top of your school work. You’ll find that teachers will treat you differently and give you more freedom to get on with your work. It can be tempting to put things off if the deadline is a long time ahead. But getting behind can be very stressful later so it’s sensible to organise your time well and space things out.