ENGLISH A1 HL is suicidal..?

[hsy.hsy]

Hello

I will be entering IB diploma program this coming August 2015, I just wanna ask .. is taking English A HL REALLY REALLY that suicidal..? 

my school graduates all keeps on telling NOT to take English A HL..

 

This are the subjects I'am taking right now..

 

Mandarin Ab initio SL

English A HL

Biology SL

History HL

Art HL

Math Studies 

 

.. Most of them are suggesting to take biology HL.. but then, our school bio teacher *ahem* sucks in teaching *ahem* so.. I was thinking it wasn't that good idea.. and my english A teacher she's really good. 

 

So is it that hard to get like higher marks in English A HL.? 

My goal is to get at least 4... 

 

Pleasseee I need suggestions!

 

 

[Excalibre]

Of course not!

As a student who's just completed his IB Diploma (waiting for results), I can easily say that English A Language and Literature HL was the most enjoyable subject by far. Besides, if you know that your teacher isn't competent then don't risk your entire education. Go for the safer route.

From my experience, English A Lang. and Lit. HL was fairly easy, compared to Physics and Chemistry HL at least. But then again, I was always into literature and actually enjoyed writing essays.

Also, in terms of preparation, you only need to practice a few essays a month and READ as much and as widely as possible. Sparknotes and Shmoop are both good resources for the texts when it comes to analysis, as long as you're not plagiarizing that is.

And when it comes down to getting grades, I found it easy to get Levels 4/5 but much more difficult to access Levels 6/7. To get access to the higher band levels you really need to be critical in your analyses and know what it is you're talking about. However, don't be too scared, because almost 90% of the time a well formed formula/layout will get you a solid Level 4/5. Stuff like the Big 5, PEE, etc.

One other factor that can have a big impact on English A HL, is whether you actually enjoy reading, writing, analyzing, comparing and contrasting. (Blah Blah Blah) However, it all boils down to personal preference and whether YOU are willing to put in the time and effort to get a good grade.

Edit: You never mentioned which English A HL course you're talking about? Is it English A Literature HL or English A Language and Literature HL?

If it's the former, then I'll suggest you ask around a little more so someone who's done that course can give you their 2 cents.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Excalibre

[ibgraduate]

Uuuuhm no. It's doable. But at times you feel like you wanna die but that's usually the night before in-class essays or deadlines. 

 

English is my worst subject because I'm terrible at writing and analyzing texts. I'm definitely a science student but I took EngA literature HL anyway because almost my entire ib class did so i thought how bad can it be. 

 

It's definitely an interesting course, not gonna lie. I found most of the books we read really interesting because I also got to explore the culture behind it, like Japanese, French, and Colombian culture (however Canadian literature was soo boring omg never again). Because this is a tough subject for me though, I felt like this class was the most heavy in terms of homework and time-investment, since it took me longer to understand some concepts like post-modern consciousness and existentialism weaved into the text as well as writing a decent essay. During class time, I wrote down almost everything my teacher said and anything they wrote on the board. This way I could include it in any future writing assignments and be awarded more points lol.

 

After two years though, I feel more confident in my writing. Is it the best? Not by a long shot. But I got better at writing and analyzing more accurately and efficiently. I spent maybe a total of 3 days spread out over the 2 yrs on my world lit essay and got a pretty good mark. I had to invest a lot of time into preparing for my IOC though, just because I'm not comfortable with winging an oral commentary (who is?). The may exams for english however by far the easiest out of all the other exams. Practice from analyzing 20 atwood poems in prep for my IOC made the poem an easy choice to write on for the unseen commentary and the exam on previously studied works, I just spent about 2 hours reviewing old notes for each play we had looked at and then bsed a ton.

 

Overall I pulled off a 6 overall in this class, even though i was predicted a 5. HL is more work than SL, but it's not bad at all if you enjoy english. I kept myself motivated with the thought that I wouldn't have to take english ever again after high school since I was doing sciences and would use my ib credit to skip eng in uni lmao. Also, if you are slow at writing or need more time to come up with a decent analysis, take HL because during exams you get 2 hours instead of 1.5hrs for SL, which is A LOT of time, enough to even edit *gasp* Anyway, just my thoughts. Hang in there  

[Guest]

I know it might be late, but you might want my input

 

I am studying English A Language & Literature HL, and I LOVE IT!!!

 

In the beginning of IB, which was last year, I was wondering the same thing. I took SL and did very well (got a 7 in the semester report ;D ), and so my teacher suggested that I should do HL - it was the best decision I've ever made in the course of learning IB.

 

I'm not a native English speaker - I'm a Vietnamese, but I'm more fluent in English than my own mother tongue. I scored an A in IGCSE English First Language, and my teachers told me that I write very well. My English teacher in my current school is AMAZING! 

 

I'm also taking Biology HL, and I find it so much harder than expected. You'll learn a lot of things and should be able to answer test questions the IB way - I guess practice makes perfect! I love Biology, though, and I try to read around the topics learnt in school but I guess I'm not a Science person. I got a 5 for a predicted grade (it's not official yet).

 

If I had to choose between Eng and Bio HL, I'd choose Eng in a heartbeat! However, we're different and since you're just starting IB, give everything a try while you can! In the first year I did 4 HLs and I survived! You can too!

 

Good luck

[luckymousey]

Hey I guess it's not too late to reply now but I do HL Literature and I absolutely love it! It's actually my easiest HL and believe me, it's not as hard as many people make it out to be. The key to getting a 7 is be organised, manage your time well especially for big assessment pieces like the IOP and IOC, have a love for reading or literature and you should be good to go. Don't take statistics or what other people say too much into consideration because you may have different strengths or talents than others. I know one of my friends who thinks that Business and Management HL is the easiest subject ever but I personally hated it and still do (which is why I changed to Economics). If you like English and feel like you would be willing to dedicate time to the subject (not much, even a consistent 30-40 mins per night can do the job) then you will do fine in the subject.