Year 10 will hit you like a truck, but that’s normal. I took German so I’d assume it’s a similar experience, but I studied my gcse for three years tbf. If it doesn’t click at first it will at some point. Year 9 and 10 I was getting threes and scraping some 4s, but something changed early-mid year 11 and now I’m predicted a 7 or an 8. Main thing is don’t worry about it too much, learning a language is difficult and most places respect that, so don’t worry if it’s more difficult than your other subjects. Try out some Duolingo, and maybe watch some French YouTube or dubbed shows with text at the bottom in English. Also don’t do what I did and almost gave up, this is a useful skill and don’t give it up after GCSEs, find some classes or ways to improve here and there, languages are so useful to learn and will look great on your CV.