Pink97 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I'm currently in Year 11 and am doing my IGCSE. I'm doing IGCSE french as a language but don't like it and therefore opted to not take sl french. I am interested in taking arabic ab initio though. The thing is although i dont take IGCSE arabic we still have to go to mandatory arabic classes from the government. These classes are divided into 3 sets -1st set consists of native speakers who read/write well-2nd set consists of non-native arabs who can read/write at a lower level than the native speakers (I'm in this set)-3rd set consists of the other non-arabs who can barely read/writeAlthough, i am in the second set i usually struggle with the oral but do really in written work. During our arabic classes we just do exercises etc, therefore i've never actually been taught basic grammar etc Knowing all this, do you think the school will allow me to take arabic ab initio? Before, you suggest i take sl arabic, i've already looked at past papers and can definitely say that they are of a much higher standard then my current arabic level. Thanks! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1111 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Discuss with your school and tell them that you don't think you have enough expertise to take Arabic SL B. Although shouldn't you be learning during your IB course so you that the past papers won't be so difficult anymore? It depends on how much you really know. Anyways, what country are you from? 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrowhead Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 As far as I am aware, all Ab Initio courses are designed for people who are absolute beginners/novices in the language i.e. you start your Day 1 of an Ab Initio Language course studying the alphabet. Ab Initio courses assume that you have no prior knowledge/exposure to the language whatsoever.Keeping with that idea, you are grossly overqualified to study Arabic Ab initio SL.However, this is a conversation that you need to have with your IB school coordinator. If he/she is willing to allow you to be in Arabic Ab Initio, then there's nothing stopping you.This being said, I do think that you're worrying over much about the Arabic SL exams. Of course they're too difficult for you right now! But between now and 2016, you will have studied Arabic SL for two years and you will then (ideally) be ready to tackle those exams. The fact of the matter is that if you could look at the Arabic Ab Initio SL papers right now and believe that you can answer them even somewhat competently already, that course is not for you as it will not challenge you as it is supposed to. That's my two cents anyway.Talk to your IB Coordinator though, the final decision is in his/her hands if you really want to go to Arabic Ab Initio SL. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink97 Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Discuss with your school and tell them that you don't think you have enough expertise to take Arabic SL B. Although shouldn't you be learning during your IB course so you that the past papers won't be so difficult anymore? It depends on how much you really know. Anyways, what country are you from? I'm Somali American, why?As far as I am aware, all Ab Initio courses are designed for people who are absolute beginners/novices in the language i.e. you start your Day 1 of an Ab Initio Language course studying the alphabet. Ab Initio courses assume that you have no prior knowledge/exposure to the language whatsoever.Keeping with that idea, you are grossly overqualified to study Arabic Ab initio SL.However, this is a conversation that you need to have with your IB school coordinator. If he/she is willing to allow you to be in Arabic Ab Initio, then there's nothing stopping you.This being said, I do think that you're worrying over much about the Arabic SL exams. Of course they're too difficult for you right now! But between now and 2016, you will have studied Arabic SL for two years and you will then (ideally) be ready to tackle those exams. The fact of the matter is that if you could look at the Arabic Ab Initio SL papers right now and believe that you can answer them even somewhat competently already, that course is not for you as it will not challenge you as it is supposed to. That's my two cents anyway.Talk to your IB Coordinator though, the final decision is in his/her hands if you really want to go to Arabic Ab Initio SL.Yah, i guess they'll be easier by the time i'm finished the course. What i'm worried about by taking that class is that it will be filled with Arabs that already speak Arabic fluently which will put me at a great disadvantage since i dont speak much Arabic.If the ib coordinator doesn't allow me to take the ab initio course, i'll have to settle for spanish ab intio or take sl arabic and get a tutor :/ 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink97 Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Btw i just looked at an arabic ab initio past papers,-paper 1 i could probably get a decent score on with my current knowledge -paper 2 i certainly can't do, but i can attempt some of the essays 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viktor Dorph Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Btw i just looked at an arabic ab initio past papers,-paper 1 i could probably get a decent score on with my current knowledge -paper 2 i certainly can't do, but i can attempt some of the essaysWhere did you access these past exam papers from?Out of interest, I take it you did not gain permission for Arabic ab initio, hence your message signature says Spanish in purple.Thank you. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink97 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2014 Btw i just looked at an arabic ab initio past papers,-paper 1 i could probably get a decent score on with my current knowledge -paper 2 i certainly can't do, but i can attempt some of the essaysWhere did you access these past exam papers from?Out of interest, I take it you did not gain permission for Arabic ab initio, hence your message signature says Spanish in purple.Thank you.Here: http://papers.xtremepapers.com/IB/Yah, the Arabic teacher said i was good enough to do Arabic b so i certainly wouldn't be allowed into the ab initio class. I decided against doing Arabic B though because of the sheer difficulty of the language, I'd probably only scrape a 4/5 if i did the course. Good luck with Arabic Ab Initio - it will be hard but it's definitely a great language to learn! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viktor Dorph Posted April 3, 2014 Report Share Posted April 3, 2014 Thanks.Yea, it will be a hard nut to crack, but it will definitely be worth every hour!"Risk taker" Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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