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March 29, 2024, 06:49:33 am

Author Topic: Learning a Language in the VCE or HSC!  (Read 573 times)  Share 

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EEEEEEP

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Learning a Language in the VCE or HSC!
« on: January 10, 2018, 07:19:53 pm »
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Just an introduction
Hi! I’m E6P and I studied a language in Year 11.

The language that I did was Chinese Heritage. Every Saturday, I would go to Strathfield Girls High School early in the morning to go to a few hours of classes. It was a great experience and I found it very fun and enjoyable, compared to a science or higher-level maths.  I actually loved every minute of it.
Unfortunately, I dropped it as I did pretty badly at it and it took too much focus away from the other subjects.

Why do a language?
-   Exposes you to a few other cultures and experiences
When you learn a new language, you learn new things about other cultures. These things may be cultural values, food items, music styles and dressing styles! It gives you a new perspective on things.

-   Can be a great asset to you in the future (if you do decide to continue to keep it up)
If you get fluent enough in it, you can possibly move overseas and work/study overseas. Additionally, it might come up in certain circumstances (for example… if a tourist asks for destinations) or if your company deals with a diverse group of clients.

You can put It on your CV if you are actually good enough at it!

-   Can be extremely interesting (it is a lot different to learning to learning Engineering or Physics)
When you learn a new language, you meet a diverse amount of people and through this, experience interesting things.

What do you learn?
Reading, writing and speaking.

You learn the vocabulary involved that’s in a language’s dictionary, the grammatical and sentence structures and how to pronounce things properly.
On the side, you also learn about cultural values, foreign media and issues relating to other foreign nations.

What are some of the languages that are available?
-   Japanese
-   Hindi
-   Chinese
-   German
-   French
-   Latin
-   Vietnamese
-   Korean

I don’t know anything about the language, will it disadvantage me?
Absolutely not! Sure, people who take languages will have some knowledge or background, but many will also not! 

On the "mismatched abilities" side, there are a few levels of courses for some languages. For example, Korean as a first language, Japanese as a second language and Chinese beginners!

Here is a good example.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/lote/chinese2nd/chin2ndindex.aspx
Quote
A student is eligible for Chinese Second Language ​Advanced if:

they have had no more than 7 years of education in a school where Chinese is the medium of instruction

How much effort will I need to put in?
Learning a new language takes quite a big commitment (less if you already spoke it a home…. But still..it takes a lot of effort).

Everything is nearly foreign, the grammar, the sentence structures, the pronunciations, the symbols and words. It does take quite a big amount of effort to do well.

You need to listen to native speakers, practice writing, watch foreign films and read texts in the language during your free time. For a language, learning doesn’t end in the classroom.

You need to constantly use the language or you will forget it..and then find it hard in year 12 or in later exams. It isn't something that you can rote learn and then expect to do well in.

To finish off…
Go give it a try! You may make friends, you may do better than you expect. It might even open up to opportunities that you never even thought you had! 

If it goes pear shaped, you can just drop it =)

So go do it! Do a language =)
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 07:21:27 pm by EEEEEEP »