Hi, I am currently a junior and i am doing the IB Diploma.
However, I am taking IB French I SL and I am currently so lost in the curriculum.
In our school, the French 2 teacher basically handed out A’s without really teaching anything, but once I got into French 3 (Also IB French teacher), it was the exact opposite.
I had straight A’s in French 1 (my middle school french teacher was really helpful) & French 2, but in French 3 I started to suffer.
My French 3 grade was an B- overall. This was last year, sophomore year.
For the first quarter of my junior year I got a B+ in IB French, however for second quarter I received a C.
I am beyond afraid that I will end up with a B- overall again and would like your input on whether I should just drop the class next year to save my GPA for next year.
(I have tried reaching out for help, staying after school with her, etc).
My daughter would say it’s worth it because she enjoyed the process of the effort.
However, I doubt it made any impact on any of her admissions or merit decisions. In fact, the arrival of the actual diploma was such a low key non-event I was left pondering what ever was the purpose? She did learn how to write amazingly well and it is serving her well.
But if you are drowning, absolutely drowning in the language requirement, it’s ok to raise the flag.
That is why I don’t want to drop the language, because then I could not do the diploma since there is a language requirement. I am scared that even if I try my hardest, it will kill my gpa.
That is why I don’t want to drop the language, because then I could not do the diploma since there is a language requirement. I am scared that even if I try my hardest, it will kill my gpa.
I am excelling in all my other IB classes, but the number of mental breakdowns that I have gotten in French is crazy. I feel as if I do not have the fundamental knowledge from the previous years to succeed. At the same time, I really want to continue on with it for the sake of overcoming adversity.
Can you get tutoring? Are you in public school? No teachers hours or peer tutoring available? At french 4, it shouldn't be killer at SL. What part of the grading is your problem? Tests?
You might need to find out where your gaps are, and then go back to some basics to cover those gaps. Sit down with your teacher, and get that person’s evaluation of your specific areas of weakness.
Also, language learning can really go by fits and starts. Struggling now does not mean struggling forever. It is entirely possible that your brain will just figure out some of this stuff, and you will be able to move ahead more easily.
IB Spanish was my D’s gpa killer. She would have made valedictorian if not for IB Spanish and she is still not comfortable speaking the language. But the B’s weren’t the end of the world. So, I would say stick it out unless it will drop your gpa below the threshold required for some particular scholarship or program. The rigor of IB probably outweighs the B- in general admissions.
If you have time, or over the summer, it can be very helpful when learning a language to watch TV, videos, and movies in that language. At first you will probably have some trouble understanding but will pick up more over time. There are also some good French video’s available for free on-line – for example the BBC has some good French instruction videos. In high school I used to watch the news in French. This had the advantage that I had already seen the news in English and therefore had some idea what they were likely to be talking about. If you know anyone who speaks French fluently then dropping by for an hour or two every week and speaking French for that hour can be helpful also.
Another thing to think about is whether to take a French intensive class over the summer. I know of a few in Canada which are reasonably priced (at least by our standards) and that welcome both domestic and international students, but there are probably some in the US also. If you are currently a high school junior you should be old enough to participate, and some appear to be aimed at high school students. There are French immersion courses over the summer at the Université de Sainte Anne in Nova Scotia, Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, and at various universities in Quebec (in Montreal, Sherbrooke, and in Quebec City). There very well might also be such classes at a local university or community college near where you live.
Not LeMonde. Wayyyy too hard. Mon petit quotidien, l’actu, perhaps Le Parisien or Métro would work.
My suggestion would be to switch to another language ab initio. Can you do that now, as the second semester is under way?
If there is way you can afford a private tutor, it will be really helpful. Find one asap, because getting behind on language is very difficult. FWIW, my daughter took French for six years. Her sophomore year of high school (I guess French 3, by then) was super tough for her. We got her a tutor for maybe four sessions. It helped her over the hump, and got her back on track before she fell too far behind. Befroe she had help, she was defintitely going to quit French after sophomore year. But instead, she ended up liking French even more and took it in both junior and senior year. She did see the tutor occasionally after those first few sessions, but the biggest thing the tutor did was make her realize she wasn’t hopelessly behind.
If your family can’t afford a tutor, maybe see if your high school has anyone offering French for NHS hours. Or your parents could post on a local social media forum asking if any college students would like to earn a little money tutoring. That would be much less expensive. Personally, I would stick it out for the diploma.
No public IB school around here offers AB Initio in any language. The path is always 3 years of a language, then 1 year of SL or 2 years of HL. That’s the reason my sophomore has decided not to do IB. She is struggling enough in Japanese 3.
I’m a junior in IB too! I had to drop my SL language because I was struggling so much (I’m in ab initio now). I think that unless you are planning to use the diploma for college credit (some schools give a year for a score over 30 or 36), it would be better to try to drop into regular French. I feel as though having almost all IB courses and good grades is better than having all IB courses but one really low grade.
My school has a 4.0 grading scale system. IB gives you a 1.0 GPA Boost, but do you think its possible for me to receive at least a B+ or an A- as my final grade in that class? The final exam is 1/5 of the final grade. First quarter I had a B+, Second quarter a C. First semester I had a B- in general.
I don’t know how much colleges consider the IB diploma vs. taking IB classes, but I was in your shoes last year- decided not to take IB French II (I had 4 language credits already) and drop the diploma- I’m talking SL anthro now instead and its really fun and interesting. Do whatever you think is best!
If you drop, will you still have to do the EE and CAS? Our school wouldn’t allow it. We had a handful of kids exit the programme after junior year. Every kid in my daughter’s IB Spanish 2 got B’s this quarter the SL and HL, so this happens to a lot of kids. Talk to your IB coordinator and share what you want to do. They might have a line on tutors. As a mom who just had her daughter turn in her EE, I can’t imagine having to do all that work for nothing.