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Does doing well in a language B require absolute fluency in the language?


faith

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I will be starting IB next february (I study in Australia) and I am absolute overwhelmed by the thought of speaking for 10 minutes in my language B- Japanese.

I've been doing Japanese for four years now and I guess I can be considered as above average when it comes to reading and speaking, but speaking (the pronunciation, intonation) is simply beyond me. I get so nervous during the oral tests I had this year that I either spoke really fast or forgot about the things I needed to say.

Anyway, I am just wondering, does doing well (say getting a 6 or a 7) in language B require a high degree of fluency? What happens if you just don't understand what the teacher is talking about during an oral assessment?

The thing is, my Chinese is much better than my Japanese (I can manage mandarin reasonably despite the fact that my first language is cantonese) and I can actually transfer to Chinese early next year. However, I find the thought of doing all these things I already know absolutely stupid and unchallenging. What should I do?

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I did French for my Language B at HL, and got a 6 for the oral. Despite having never been to France, and not even been taught by a French teacher!

It's totally possible to get a good grade on your oral if you practice it enough. The teacher doesn't talk to you much in your oral, you present a topic of interest which pertains to Japanese culture.

Besides, in 2 years, you're bound to improve further. And if you can afford it, get on a flight to Japan sometime in your IB course so that you can perfect your speaking. It'll help immensely.

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I've been studying French for 11 years and the thought of speaking in french B at SL for 10 minutes scares the hell out of me.

I'm good at having conversations in French and all, but I don't do great in presentations so to speak, so doing one in a language that is not familiar to me scares me so bad.

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I've had my mock oral (French B HL), and it really wasn't that bad. You only have to talk yourself for about three to four minutes, the rest is just talking to your teacher. The presentation itself is -really- tiny: you need to take something very small and talk a little about it, and then be prepared to answer a few questions. Don't prepare half an IOP! I sort of did that for my mock, and it would have been so much better to just talk a little. (I had facts and figures and names of laws and everything.)

Also, a tip: choose something you're interested in for the oral. I may talk about some aspect of a book I'm reading for my real oral (it's in a few months! aah), because I like this book and I think there's a lot to say about narration, or themes, or one small thing within it. Don't go choosing very ambitious topics that require a lot of research!

Lastly: don't worry too much. You'll be nervous, but it'll be over in less than a quarter of an hour.

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"ok so you asked about nto being able to understand what is being siad in the language. the solution is quite simple. i can across this problem with almost every question that was asked of me"

i would simpy say i am sorry or that i dint' understand the question and she would rephrase it for me. after the orla i told my teacher that i was concerened that because i had done that for almost every question

she told me not to worry that the second part of the oral is supposed to be more conversational and it is a part of conversation to ask to have theing repated or clarifyed

and that is what i was doing. i eneded up with a 6 on my oral, and had only been taking the languae for 4 years when i gave my oral.

by the end of IB you will feel so much more prepared for the oral, so don't worry about it. you don't have to be fluent

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Thank you everyone for your help!

Actually Aboo, I will be going on an exchange to Japan soon in three weeks! I am excited and nervous at the same time. Hopefully my oral skills will improve =)

Hyperbole, you can actually read novels in your language B? Wow! The most difficult thing I can read in Japanese is those picture books for three year olds.

Good luck everyone on your language B+IB as well!

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Well, Im taking Arabic B HL, im not that good in arabic i did my first orla and the teacher asked me about smoking during pregnancy, I ended up talking about integrity and some stuff it was soo funny so, well do what i did for my orla (my IGCSE one) which im gna do for IB oral talk that language for a whole week beofre the oral and repeat it 2 a day until the day by then its memorized in ur brian!

Ill have an arabic orla i start talking arabic in my enlgish classes bio chem math lol do that

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