Can my year 11 DS drop a subject?

bestpud

Dunroamin wrote: »

GCSE German is hardly a qualification but learning to stick with things you don't particularly like can be very useful, particularly when the institutionalism and structure of the services is removed.

Stick with it to the detriment of other grades?

Fair enough if he's just whining but not if it's taking disproportionate amounts of his study time and he isn't going to sail through his other subjects.

hawk30

I went through something similar at uni. I was doing a combined degree, but although I had loved doing German at GCSE and A level, I found I couldn't cope at degree level and I was getting poor grades. I had to battle with my parents and the uni, but I dropped it after the first year. It was the best thing I ever did, as it allowed me to concentrate on my other subject, an area in which I now have a fab career.

To those saying he should struggle on, why? We all have things we aren't good at (I can't catch). If you have tried it (and I mean a good try) and don't like it, why should you be forced to continue when there are other options out there?

Btw, as an adult I have never used my German, not even when I've visited Germany, so I'm doubtful as to how much use it is.

seven-day-weekend

Dunroamin wrote: »

It's been considered for a long time that everybody should study a language at this level, it was only recently that the requirement was dropped and then reinstated. You don't need any special ability to study a language for GCSE as the standard is pretty basic.

The standard is pretty basic, yes. However,some people struggle with the basics, even if they are quite bright. My son struggled with the fact that it was a foreign language and that the structure etc was different to English. When I told him (thinking I was helping) that a particular phrase meant so-and-so, he just asked me (in tears), why they couldn't just say so-and-so.

As you know, my son has mild Aspergers Syndrome (not known about when he was at school) and he 'thinks differently' to other people. There must be plenty of other children who just don't 'get it', for whatever reason, the same as some don't 'get' Maths or Physics. We can't all be good at everything.

I am not advocating here giving up, on a whim, but one should certainly not be concentrating one's efforts in a subject that one is obviously going to fail miserably and humiliate oneself into the bargain, especially if it is not a fundamental subject, imho. My son did not give up French altogether. He had permission to do his oral just to the teacher instead of in front of the class, turned up for the exam, failed and got an F.

janninew

OP,

Has your son been doing German since the start of Year 10? If so why has it taken him a year and a half nearly of studying the subject to get to this point? This is a big part of my job and we will allow pupils to swap subjects if they have a very good reason and its doable, but only at the start of Year 10, certainly not half way through Year 11. As for doing extra Maths or English lessons at the time he should be in German, its a great idea, but simply not practical, the teachers of these subjects won't have time in their own timetables and will most probably be teaching other year groups. The best thing I think is for him not to waste any time revising for German and concentrating on his other subjects instead. I really doubt the school will allow him to drop a subject at this very late stage, they would be worried if they do it for him they could have another 200 parents all wanting the same for their children.

Dunroamin

bestpud wrote: »

Stick with it to the detriment of other grades?

Fair enough if he's just whining but not if it's taking disproportionate amounts of his study time and he isn't going to sail through his other subjects.

I don't suppose it makes much difference really but it does sound to me as if he's struggling with everything and blaming the German for all his problems.

Mind you, if he put a bit more time into his school work it might be rather different.

pollypenny

gem75 wrote: »

If you can learn one language i.e. English, then there is no reason why you can't learn another if you are prepared to put in the effort.

Doesn't follow: we learn our mother tongue as part of our acquisition of language, anyway, and total immersion.

I'd like to see statistics on children's fluency in two languages where parents have a differing first language.

seven-day-weekend

pollypenny wrote: »

Doesn't follow: we learn our mother tongue as part of our acquisition of language, anyway, and total immersion.

I'd like to see statistics on children's fluency in two languages where parents have a differing first language.

There was a little boy I knew in Spain (English parents), he had lived there since he was a baby. Most of the people he came into contact every day with spoke Spanish as first language.

He acquired Spanish as he acquired English and learned to speak both languages at the same time. He spoke English at home, but otherwise he spoke Spanish.

When he want back to the UK at the age of 13, he instantly gained an A* in GCSE Spanish. He has continued to study Spanish because he wants to do a degree (taught in Spanish) at Granada University when he is old enough.

The younger you are, the easier it is to acquire a language. By the time a person is of secondary school age, the brain's ability to acquire a language has largely gone and you have to learn it, which is an entirely different method of getting a language and not everybody is very good at it.

Brighton_belle

podperson wrote: »

But being able to recognise your own strengths and weaknesses, look at the bigger picture and strategise for a problem rather then simply accept the status quo may be quite good attributes for someone who wishes to go into the forces.

Couldn't agree with this more:T

Dunroamin wrote: »

I don't suppose it makes much difference really but it does sound to me as if he's struggling with everything and blaming the German for all his problems.
.

Or developing self awareness and problem solving skills.

We are not all equally gifted in acadmic skills. Some it will come easy to. Others will need a little/lot of effort and suceed, others manage if they limit the bredth of information gathering/learning and others drown academically whatever effort they put in.
I suspect you did well with a lot of subjects with some effort and therefore are assuming everyone should 'just try harder', like you did and that is all there is to it.

Dunroamin

Brighton_belle wrote: »

We are not all equally gifted in acadmic skills. Some it will come easy to. Others will need a little/lot of effort and suceed, others manage if they limit the bredth of information gathering/learning and others drown academically whatever effort they put in.
I suspect you did well with a lot of subjects with some effort and therefore are assuming everyone should 'just try harder', like you did and that is all there is to it.

I think that if someone is struggling with their GCSEs they need to be doing rather more work than 90 minutes a night.

I've already suggested that the OP's son would be better looking at doing a BTEC at college as being more suited to his abilities as a more practical course.

[Deleted User]

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Yes it is. Everyone chooses how they live and everyone can choose to do things they are able to instead of struggling through every day and being unhappy.
.

Yes of course. I forgot. They can choose the easy option - benefits!