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March 29, 2024, 11:34:56 pm

Author Topic: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?  (Read 13798 times)  Share 

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i-aim-to-achieve

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Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« on: December 20, 2013, 11:40:04 pm »
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Some people have been saying that doing a LOtE in VCe is a real drainer... Is that really the case or is it the same as any other subject?
Thanks

Edward21

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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2013, 12:00:02 am »
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I guess it depends on which one, I did Italian with no Italian background and did my absolute best and got 38, look I wanted a 40+ but I had no exposure to spoken or written Italian at home, yet was ranked against people who did have this opportunity so as good as I was at the language, the were others that (generally speaking here) probably had more of an advantage as a language is so skill based, you can't cram for it. Luckily the scaling is good though  ;)

It really is a drainer as the content is so heavy to process, you can rote-cram content for many subjects and with skill do quite well, a language relies on skill and I really did the absolute best I could with what I had, but in the end it's really a different type of subject.
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lArcdeTriomphe

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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2013, 12:11:45 am »
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I haven't and won't do Italian for VCE, but I did do Chinese 3/4 this year and will do French 3/4 next year, and I can say that Chinese really drained me this year.

There is a lot of work required to perfect all the areas of a LOTE: reading, speaking, listening, writing (and translation, with Chinese). In particular, the oral component was rather difficult: preparing the detailed study content took a long time and memorising it required even more effort - the general conversation was even more annoying. While, obviously, cramming is not the best way to do a language, I found that I ended up doing a lot of rote memorisation this year and that took a lot of mental effort.

Learning a language requires non-stop consolidation of new vocabulary, phrasings, grammatical concepts, and pronunciation - that's one of the reasons why LOTEs scale quite a bit :) Obviously, if you are aiming high, then that will definitely require a lot of effort and time. There is no easy path to do well in VCE in general, and that particularly applies for LOTEs. Still, learning foreign languages is definitely interesting and a worthwhile investment of your time.  8)
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Edward21

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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2013, 12:14:59 am »
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I haven't and won't do Italian for VCE, but I did do Chinese 3/4 this year and will do French 3/4 next year, and I can say that Chinese really drained me this year.

There is a lot of work required to perfect all the areas of a LOTE: reading, speaking, listening, writing (and translation, with Chinese). In particular, the oral component was rather difficult: preparing the detailed study content took a long time and memorising it required even more effort - the general conversation was even more annoying. While, obviously, cramming is not the best way to do a language, I found that I ended up doing a lot of rote memorisation this year and that took a lot of mental effort.

Learning a language requires non-stop consolidation of new vocabulary, phrasings, grammatical concepts, and pronunciation - that's one of the reasons why LOTEs scale quite a bit :) Obviously, if you are aiming high, then that will definitely require a lot of effort and time. There is no easy path to do well in VCE in general, and that particularly applies for LOTEs. Still, learning foreign languages is definitely interesting and a worthwhile investment of your time.  8)
Actually I'll add to this, you HAVE to enjoy the LOTE otherwise it will be a living hell. I enjoyed doing Italian, but I knew others in my class were only doing it for the scaling and hated every moment of it  :-\
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lArcdeTriomphe

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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2013, 12:21:39 am »
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Actually I'll add to this, you HAVE to enjoy the LOTE otherwise it will be a living hell. I enjoyed doing Italian, but I knew others in my class were only doing it for the scaling and hated every moment of it  :-\

Hear hear! Don't ever fall into the trap of doing LOTE subjects (or any other subject) purely for the scaling. While both Edward21 and I are referencing the scaling from time to time, it should be a secondary advantage of doing a LOTE. Enjoy the language and its culture and you should do well naturally. :)
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Special At Specialist

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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2013, 12:29:29 am »
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German was very time-consuming for me and the scaling was barely able to compensate for how badly I scored. The best person in my class was aiming for a 40+ in German and a 35+ in English/chemistry. He ended up with a 39 in English, a 38 in chemistry, but only a 30 in German, so he was happy overall, but very disappointed with German, considering he put more time and effort into German than any other subject.

It's possible to do well at LOTE, but from my experiences, I've found that the majority of people who aren't native speakers will end up scoring lower than expected. You really need to be practicing your language every day if you want to be a top scorer.
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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2013, 12:47:42 am »
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Just finished up 3/4 French. Not gonna lie, it was A LOT of work however it wasn't really a 'real drainer' because I really did love the language I was learning. I could it imagine it being a terrible experience if you weren't really interested in the language you were studying. I echo what everyone said about not choosing the LOTE just because of the scaling! However, if you love the subject then go for it because learning another language will surely come in handy in the future :)
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vox nihili

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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2013, 01:29:41 am »
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Some people have been saying that doing a LOtE in VCe is a real drainer... Is that really the case or is it the same as any other subject?
Thanks

It's very easy to do LOTE work without actually working. Just changing your phone and facebook to whichever language you're studying, trying to use it a bit in your life...that's really, really worthwhile work (the best in my opinion) and just feels like going about your every day business. So with that in mind, it's not a drainer at all.
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Re: Is a LOTE really that hard in VCE?
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2013, 10:36:40 am »
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I think the other posters have summarised my view well, but don't get put off by the fact that you may potentially be up against native speakers. In Italian, there's very few true native speakers and this number is on the decline. This is because those with Italian backgrounds studying the subject (such as myself) are second generation Australians and so are living in households where English is the primary spoken language. It was our parents that tended to speak Italian at home with our migrant grandparents. Very few Italian families even force their children to learn the language (I think there are Italian schools on the weekend but the situation isn't anywhere near what it's like for children with Greek heritage). You'll find the only advantage those with an Italian background have is a better accent and pronunciation (although this isn't always the case). Of those who may speak the language at home, you'll probably find that most speak a regional dialect rather than the main language, which of course then provides no advantage (and sometimes even a disadvantage) to these students. This is why many non-Italian students still manage to succeed in this subject. As you can see, the circumstances are very different to some Asian languages, primarily due to the fact that Asian migration has taken place much more recently than European migration. If this makes you feel any better, the dux of our school last year was non-Italian and achieved a raw study score of 44 in Italian. I think you'll be fine. Good luck for next year. :)
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