Eng A for a non-native english speaker

[Deadyetalive]

Hello, 

I'm going to start IB this year but I'm not sure whether to choose English A SL as my language A since I'm a non-native english speaker.

The reason why I wanted to choose English A was because I'm studying in a foreign country and I cannot choose my native language as language A. (If I take it, it'll be self-taught).

I also wanted to choose English B HL since I'm still learning English but I've recently learned that you cannot choose one language for both language A and B.

I'm really panicking about the whole situation since I've read a lot about how tough it'll be for a non-native english speaker.

Needless to say, I study in an English school, so I'm no stranger to the English language.

Thank you all!

Edited July 28, 2022 by Deadyetalive

[AnnaHoffman]

You can opt for English A SL, there are many students from my surroundings who opt for it and completed without facing any hard times. Still, prepare to spend time with English and an additional "pushes" from your supervisor when it comes to grammar, language structure, etc. in your academic papers.

[Taneli14]

On 7/28/2022 at 3:52 PM, Deadyetalive said:

Hello, 

I'm going to start IB this year but I'm not sure whether to choose English A SL as my language A since I'm a non-native english speaker.

The reason why I wanted to choose English A was because I'm studying in a foreign country and I cannot choose my native language as language A. (If I take it, it'll be self-taught).

I also wanted to choose English B HL since I'm still learning English but I've recently learned that you cannot choose one language for both language A and B.

I'm really panicking about the whole situation since I've read a lot about how tough it'll be for a non-native english speaker.

Needless to say, I study in an English school, so I'm no stranger to the English language.

Thank you all!

Hi,

I wouldn't be worried about not being a native English speaker, especially if you're confident or at least moderately confident in your English. I was not a native speaker going into the IB. I was confident in my English though, meaning I knew my level of English wouldn't be an issue, which was why I went to the IB in the first place. Furthermore, English A SL is not very hard. You don't have to do the HL Essay and in your Paper 1 you only have to analyze one text in one hour and 15 minutes. Very doable. I am currently doing English A HL and my overall grades fluctuate from sixes to sevens.

I only joined the forums today and already I've seen plenty of non-native speakers stress about A level English. This has come as a complete surprise to me. I haven't encountered this in my school and my peers don't really stress about it much at all, at least not more than they do about the subject in general. What all of this is preluding to is, be confident. Your English will develop in the IB and you will get plenty of practice.