vals Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Heyy there! My experience in the IB so far's been quite a troubled one: I am still deciding on my subjects - yes, I don't even know how my schools is allowing this...After having studied French B along with Spanish Ab Initio for a while, I have decided to switch to my mother tongue in Group 1, therefore giving up English A SL in favour of Italian A self-taught SL. This implies a major revision to all of my other subjects, as the IB requires each and every student to study English at a certain level, be it A or B. Having chosen to go for Italian A, I must take English B (Higher Level, in the name of fairness).Since I must drop out of one of my language courses, I have thought my decisions over and came to the conclusion that Spanish is much easier and more enjoyable than French, for me. This is for a number of reasons, which include the way my teachers carry out their job, the general learning enviroment (in plain english, my classmates lol), the books, etc.Both my French and Spanish teachers say that I have an impressive level of advancement in both languages - no wonder why, being Italian - and they've both stated that sitting the Ab Initio exams would be a waste of potential in my case.My whole Spanish class is in Ab Initio (generally, Ab Initio and B language students have their classes merged together in my school) so that'd translate as me being the only SL student.I am not so sure that after the two years I'll have enough Spanish background to pass a B exam. Besides, this is my first year learning Spanish formally, even though I've been to Spain countless times on holiday and my mothertongue puts me in a very advantageous situation when it comes to learning Romance languages. Italian and Spanish are very alike, which is both a blessing and a downside, since this is what confuses me the most during tests. I end up making up words and guessing them a good 90% of times, yet at times I can't think of the correct word because the two languages mix up in my head and I can't make head or tail of a text, sometimes I think of a word in Italian and can't translate it into Spanish...So I'd like to hear your opinion, fellow IBers: if you were given the chance to go back in time and reconsider your subject choices, would you rather choose your Group 2 language at Ab Initio or B SL, and why?Is the Ab Initio exam really that easier, compared to the B SL one? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxarin Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 (edited) Heyy there! My experience in the IB so far's been quite a troubled one: I am still deciding on my subjects - yes, I don't even know how my schools is allowing this... After having studied French B along with Spanish Ab Initio for a while, I have decided to switch to my mother tongue in Group 1, therefore giving up English A SL in favour of Italian A self-taught SL. This implies a major revision to all of my other subjects, as the IB requires each and every student to study English at a certain level, be it A or B. Having chosen to go for Italian A, I must take English B (Higher Level, in the name of fairness). Since I must drop out of one of my language courses, I have thought my decisions over and came to the conclusion that Spanish is much easier and more enjoyable than French, for me. This is for a number of reasons, which include the way my teachers carry out their job, the general learning enviroment (in plain english, my classmates lol), the books, etc. Both my French and Spanish teachers say that I have an impressive level of advancement in both languages - no wonder why, being Italian - and they've both stated that sitting the Ab Initio exams would be a waste of potential in my case. My whole Spanish class is in Ab Initio (generally, Ab Initio and B language students have their classes merged together in my school) so that'd translate as me being the only SL student. I am not so sure that after the two years I'll have enough Spanish background to pass a B exam. Besides, this is my first year learning Spanish formally, even though I've been to Spain countless times on holiday and my mothertongue puts me in a very advantageous situation when it comes to learning Romance languages. Italian and Spanish are very alike, which is both a blessing and a downside, since this is what confuses me the most during tests. I end up making up words and guessing them a good 90% of times, yet at times I can't think of the correct word because the two languages mix up in my head and I can't make head or tail of a text, sometimes I think of a word in Italian and can't translate it into Spanish... So I'd like to hear your opinion, fellow IBers: if you were given the chance to go back in time and reconsider your subject choices, would you rather choose your Group 2 language at Ab Initio or B SL, and why? Is the Ab Initio exam really that easier, compared to the B SL one? the Ab initio course is for those who have no knowledge in the language from before, and B SL is for those who have already studied the language for some years So the ab initio exams is way easier than B SL. Edited March 30, 2014 by Lynxarin Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1111 Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Ab Initio is significantly easier than B since it is for complete beginners. Now I am not sure if you really do have enough experience to take B but many of the people in my school who take Spanish B have learned it for multiple years. You have to make the decision but keep in mind B might be hard. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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