Do you need prior experience?

[FitzgeraldGuy]

I'm a year 10 student who is -- despite the year being less than halfway through -- considering subjects for the VCE next year. Because Russian is not being taught at my school, (and I have been learning Russian for a good while) I am thinking of taking LOTE German as one of my six subjects; however, I am not knowledgeable of any prerequisites that may or may not be enforced. Is it compulsory to have had prior exposure to the language? It would be more beneficial to, of course; but I am not sure if the languages are taught to beginners, or to people who are more seasoned. I really hope that it is taught from the ground up; if it isn't, I will either have to study really hard this year, or reconsider and take another subject. What do you guys think?
A clarification of this would be appeciated.

Many thanks,
FitzgeraldGuy

[Limista]

In my opinion, you shouldn't take German at this late stage - it is too much of a risk and could be detrimental to your VCE performance. This is because year 11 German assumes prior knowledge (of which you stated you have none) and in truth, would be more than a struggle to grasp. Even if you studied exceptionally hard this year and in the Summer holidays in order to catch up, it would be a problem, as you would be neglecting your year 10 subjects in favour of German, which to be honest, you still wouldn't have perfected despite the study. It does seem illogical to try and learn a language up to VCE level in a space of ~9 months, when others have had a minimum of 4 years to get to the 1/2 stage.

On the other hand, you would be MUCH better off picking Psychology. One does not require prior knowledge for 1/2 psychology, and you can really do well in the subject if you work hard.

I can understand that VCE German is an enticing option because of its scaling. However, I believe you would get a higher raw score in Psychology then you would a potential scaled score in German. 

[FitzgeraldGuy]

Thanks for the reply. I just really love linguistics. Although Russian is not an option for me, I still want to do a language because it would be enjoyable. However, taking into account what you have said, it probably isn't the most plausible thing to do.
I did attempt to teach myself German a while back, and am familiar with the characters and phonetics. However, I'll think I'll just give it a miss; knowing just the letters and their sounds won't get me anywhere.
I guess it's Psychology, then!

[Limista]

Thanks for the reply. I just really love linguistics. Although Russian is not an option for me, I still want to do a language because it would be enjoyable. However, taking into account what you have said, it probably isn't the most plausible thing to do.
I did attempt to teach myself German a while back, and am familiar with the characters and phonetics. However, I'll think I'll just give it a miss; knowing just the letter and their sounds won't get me anywhere.

That's great that you have a passion for linguistics! Perhaps you can pursue German or Russian in University instead?

Yeah studying a language is interesting. To be honest, German is my favourite subject this year, just because it's so different from the monotony of the typical maths & english 

Learning characters and phonetics is a good initiative on your part, but really as you said, it's not enough unfortunately. I think you'll excel in Psych! You'll really like it if you approach it in an open-minded way. 1/2 psych is a bit dry and VERY different from 3/4. I found 1/2 psych boring, but 3/4 was awesome because it was more biologically and interactively based. Good luck!

[spectroscopy]

im not too sure about german, but at my school of the ~80 kids that did chinese in year 9,  at the end of term 1 year 11 there is 1 class of around 15 left (with some chinese speakers in it), around half of the students at the start of year 10 wanted to do chinese in vce because of scaling and they thought it was fun etc. but in preparation for vce it got difficult quickly, and without a lot of study non native/second langauge speakers couldnt keep up, and chinese doesnt have all the grammar things like german, different suffixes, genders, das/der/die, agglutinative language etc.

ask your teachers, look at some past exams/sacs, i personally wouldnt dream of taking german without any prior experience, you can do russian at VSL check that out, but you should probably reconsider and take another subject,
just my 2 cents


im also curious to what other people have to contribute though and their experiences in vce lotes

[WonderBunny]

Have you considered doing Russian at the VSL? Languages by distance are hard work, but do-able.

[FitzgeraldGuy]

That's great that you have a passion for linguistics! Perhaps you can pursue German or Russian in University instead?

Yeah studying a language is interesting. To be honest, German is my favourite subject this year, just because it's so different from the monotony of the typical maths & english 

Learning characters and phonetics is a good initiative on your part, but really as you said, it's not enough unfortunately. I think you'll excel in Psych! You'll really like it if you approach it in an open-minded way. 1/2 psych is a bit dry and VERY different from 3/4. I found 1/2 psych boring, but 3/4 was awesome because it was more biologically and interactively based. Good luck!

That is what I plan to do! I may do a diploma of linguistics on top of my bachelor. Maths... so tedious. I do have a passion for English, though.

Psych really did sound intriguing; I was just a little apprehensive about it, seeing as I heard it was, as you said, 'dry' in the first year.

[FitzgeraldGuy]

Have you considered doing Russian at the VSL? Languages by distance are hard work, but do-able.

I was considering doing this, but I think doing a language at distance would subject me to unessecary stress. I think it would take the fun out of the learning a language, to be honest. The only reason I teach myself Russian is for pure enjoyment. If there was an opportunity to take it at my school, I would! But, again, learning it under so much pressue - not to mention the other subjects I would have on my plate - would detract from the fun of it.
Thanks for the suggestion, though!