Hi em_ssi,
I do both Specialist and French and I would definitely say they're of equal difficulty for me, but in different ways.
Specialist - Difficult in the fact that the concepts are hard and may take a while to get your head around.
French - Difficult because you must spend a lot of time developing vocabulary, grammar, listening skills, oral skills, etc.
They are pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of subject choices but both involve persistence. Whether french is "less effort" solely depends on your current french and maths skills. For example, if you are naturally quick at picking up concepts, than spec will be easier for you then someone else who struggles with maths. Similarly, if you have already got strong french skills it will be easier to build upon this in VCE.
I'd say pick the one which you enjoy the most, rather than basing it on scaling or how much effort is required. The few points extra in scaling will make very little difference (as they both scale high compared to other subjects), but how much work you are willing to put into them will dramatically impact your scores. Enjoyment does more commonly lead to success.
In all honesty, I'm expecting similar results in french and spec because for me, they are pretty much of equal difficulty. So I'd say equal effort for both subjects will yield pretty similar results (obviously depending on your current maths and french skills). Ultimately, your selection should come down to what you want to do more...
1. Solving complex maths equations that can get pretty frustrating and will take a large chunk of your time.
2. Learning a language, involving grammar, vocabulary, listening, reading, culture, oral (and sometimes repetitive memorising) that also will take a large chunk of your time.
To be honest, neither will take "less effort" unless you are at a significantly higher level in one already.
Out of curiosity, what other subjects are you doing?
Anyway, hope this helps a little!