What LAnguage level am I?

LANGUAGE A

According to the IB, Language A courses are for students who are successful communicators in the language to be studied. Language B courses are different from Language A because Language B courses are not designed for students who are already able to confidently and proficiently communicate in that language. Language B courses are for students who want to develop a foreign language that is not their home language, a personal language or their best language.

If you want to study a language that you use at home or have reached a high level of proficiency, and you can read and write in that language, and you can communicate effectively in that language, Language A is the most suitable course.

If you want to study a language that you use at home or have reached some level of proficiency, but not a high level, and you can read and write a bit but not that well, and you can communicate okay in that language in some situations, Language B HL in that language could be more suitable than Language A.

If you want to study a language that you don't use at home and you have not reached a good level of proficiency in that language, Language B SL is probably the best course. This is also the same for the AP language courses.

LANGUAGE B

In order to ascertain your language level, you need to think about the phase you are in, and where you are in that phase. Firstly, the language department always recommends that you continue with your strongest language acquisition subject.

A phase 1 student, and, at times, a weak phase 2 student, should be considering the ab initio course in German. This type of student would typically have studied the language for one year, or less.

A strong phase 2 student up to a phase 4 student should be opting for the SL course over two years. If you are a strong phase 4 student, or a phase 5 student, you might consider the SL anticipated course in German, which is the full SL course completed in one year.

A student in phase 5 or 6 should be considering the HL course.

If you are doing German Language and Literature, you should take the Language A German Language and Literature course.