HJ:) Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Here is the thing... I've got a really low mark this semester 1 assessment, and our teacher was telling some of the students that some of us need to go down to English B and some of us won't pass A1. (which isn't something that teacher's should say to their students, though it is good to know the reality.) She didn't say any names but she gave some of us this look (you know?) And after that I lost hope. feeling depressed and all... well the point is, I don't exactly know how to study A1 texts. And I am having trouble studying them (due to the fact that I don't enjoy the books that we have in our syllabus) and for all I know, our teacher didn't actually tell us how to study A1 texts. All she keeps saying is ' go deep into the text.' Can anyone give me tips on how to work in A1 language? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 For A1, you need to be able to analyze literary features, understand symbolism, metaphors, allegories and imagery in texts. If you don't find all of these by yourself in your texts. you should Google them and use Spark Notes to help you. They summarize the books as well as motifs, themes, metaphors and so on. The essays are demanding as the IB expects you to be a fluent speaker of English and to have few grammatical errors; the focus of the syllabus is not whether or not you write without errors, but deep literary analysis of texts, as your teacher says. You will be required to write 2 WL's, both 1500 words long that compare and contrast themes/characters/ideas in 2 books. 11 books is a lot to read over 2 years in detail, and you must know 4 off by heart/in great detail for the final exams. You must also be able to analyze poetry and drama, not just prose. Talk to your teacher and find out if she meant you when she said that some students should drop down to English B. Teachers are allowed to say things like that; they are trying to help the students to do the best they can and I'm sure students would rather get a 5 or 6 in English B than a 3 or 4 in English A1. Talk to your teacher about exactly how you should improve, but be prepared to move down to English B (if this is possible. You must do one language at A1 level and one at B). It won't be the end of the world. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HJ:) Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 the point is English A1 is the only A1 language I have at the moment. so I don't excatly have a choice. If I had another A1 language, I would have gone down to English B long time ago. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermine0817 Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 I don't think that you can go down to English B. In IB regulations, you are not supposed to take those languages in B in which you take your examinations in. So when you take all the rest of your exams in English (science, maths, history etc) you can't take English B. For improving and learning, I can only recommend reading, I would say. Reading through your CourseCompanion helps as well. At least it helped me a lot to read the CourseCompanion. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMR Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 A1 is demanding, as it primarily focuses on very in-depth analysis of literature in paper 2 and the same applies to paper 1. In A1, one of the most important things is not to discuss issues superficially, more like taking less but discussing them very deeply. Its always good to provide evidence for your claims. The best way for this are direct quotes. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilia Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote name='HJ:)' post='41309' date='Mar 21 2009, 04:54 PM']the point is English A1 is the only A1 language I have at the moment. so I don't excatly have a choice. If I had another A1 language, I would have gone down to English B long time ago.[/quote] But if English is our mothertongue, then English B certainly wouldn't be something for you? Aren't any other A1 languages offered at your school? I agree that A1 expects you to be very good at the languages, but it is designed for native speakers. If you have to think about grammar and spelling a lot when writing/talking they I say you chould switch. But isn't English A2 offered, couldn't you take that? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HJ:) Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 [quote name='Tilia' post='42118' date='Mar 30 2009, 07:19 PM']If you have to think about grammar and spelling a lot when writing/talking they I say you chould switch. But isn't English A2 offered, couldn't you take that?[/quote] well, I am not exactly worried about my grammar or spellings, I found out that my ideas are always not planned very well, and I kind of panic when there is a time limit like, for this assessment, we had e-assessment, where we had to type it on the computer. and nope I they don't offer A2 in our school. it's either A1 or B ... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilia Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 (edited) Well, no matter what language A1 you take, you'll be required to have analyzing ideas, so there's not really a way out of that. You taking English B seems like a joke to me. I have German B and I wouldn't be able to translate what you've written into German. But talk to your teacher. Edited March 31, 2009 by Tilia Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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