Do you agree that the way french is taught at GCSE does nothing to help students retain this life skill?

Question

Rather than teaching to help children to speak french for the rest of their lives, the methods seem only to be geared to passing a GCSE.

Am I too critical in comparing my own O level tuition with modern methods?

Answer 1

No, I think that you are right. I would probably not remember any of the things I have learned in the past 2 years, but I think that it is also supposed to encourage people to do the A level. At A-level more of the study resources are only in French and the skills are practised more. I think if this was the case at GCSE then some people would be too scared to try the A-level.

I am going to do French AS level, because I like the language.

Answer 2

I do agree with you in the way that at GCSE level you seem to only be taught how to pass the exam BUT i also think that if you want to learn about the subject enough you CAN retain the knowledge for the rest of your life. but its like anything, if you don't practice or revise, you loose the sharpness of the skill.