English or English Language? not enjoying English

[Einstein]

Ive had about 8 or so lessons of English since the start of the year and I'm not really enjoying English tbh. I picked it in Year 10 thinking, "yeah I've got 2 more years, its not that bad", i don't mind english since year 7, maybe around a 6.5/10 or so, with 10 being best subject and 5 being average and so on.

I hate  writing essays (Well aware you do the same in Eng Lang), but i just can't see my self always analysing characters , themes, etc, it pisses me off, looking at my timetable and seeing english as one of my periods tomorrow.

Im alright at English, received HD in my year 10 report with a overall average of around 93-95 throughout the year, but that was by far my best year since year 7. Through from year 7 - 9 it was more of a D, around 87 maybe scrape into a 90 percent at times.

My grammar isn't up there either, but i enjoy analysing tenses, verbs, nouns, jargon all that kind of thing, and wouldn't mind doing that. Is that what english lan basically is?

A Guide to English Language for New/Prospective Students - i have read this also, but it hasn't really validated anything for me so far. Another question id like to ask is, is the subject hard? why is it scaled up by 2, with english going down by 1.

Subject change deadlines for my school was last friday, should i stick with english until end of semester 1 then move into it when possibly others move out, otherwise i can give a crack at changing it maybe by tomorrow or wednesday.

Thank you and any help would be appreciated.

[Paulrus]

someone who's done 3/4 might be able to explain this a bit better than me, but in units 3/4 you look quite a bit at how language varies, depending on the situation and purpose (like formal or informal), and how it can reflect our culture and identity. if that sounds interesting to you it could be a good idea to give it a try

the difficulty of eng lang is pretty subjective i guess. i did unit 1 and i found it easier than english, but it's a 'your mileage may vary' type of deal really. it's important to remember though that scaling isn't dependent on how difficult the subject is, but rather how well everyone does in that subject in comparison to their other subjects

that said, if you're unsure, it'd definitely be better to do unit 1 of eng lang than unit 2, because unit 2 has almost no relevance to the 3/4. unit 1 is where you learn all the basics. it might be a good idea to pick up eng lang now, and if you enjoy it, continue it. if not, you can pick up english again at unit 2 and you won't have missed out on much.

[Einstein]

someone who's done 3/4 might be able to explain this a bit better than me, but in units 3/4 you look quite a bit at how language varies, depending on the situation and purpose (like formal or informal), and how it can reflect our culture and identity. if that sounds interesting to you it could be a good idea to give it a try

the difficulty of eng lang is pretty subjective i guess. i did unit 1 and i found it easier than english, but it's a 'your mileage may vary' type of deal really. it's important to remember though that scaling isn't dependent on how difficult the subject is, but rather how well everyone does in that subject in comparison to their other subjects

that said, if you're unsure, it'd definitely be better to do unit 1 of eng lang than unit 2, because unit 2 has almost no relevance to the 3/4. unit 1 is where you learn all the basics. it might be a good idea to pick up eng lang now, and if you enjoy it, continue it. if not, you can pick up english again at unit 2 and you won't have missed out on much.

If you're aiming to get 99.95 or something along those lines, do English Language.

If you're aiming for a decent mark (say 35-40+) stick with English.

My school didn't offer English Language and English was my most hated subject (well that and Chemistry were par) but yet I managed to scrape a 40. Don't give up and keep in mind that you HAVE to do well in English/English Language as it's one of your primary top 4 subjects.

Thanks for both your feedbacks guys. @BasicAcid, why do you say English Language is needed for a 99.95. I have heard that both a LOTE and Specialist is needed, of which i am doing Specialist. Also, how hard did you have to work to get a 40?

Thanks

[Einstein]

doing 3 3/4s in year 11. Don't know how i can bludge hahaha

[Einstein]

thats fine. Problem is, how should i improve my English, write tons of essays, how many marks (in reality) can i afford to drop to get a 40? will 7-8/10 essays cut it?

[Einstein]

is english language hard to understand and is their a lot of things to memorise?

[aqple]

is english language hard to understand and is their a lot of things to memorise?

It's not hard to understand at all, but YES there are a lot of things to memorise.
From what you've wrote, I think you would enjoy Englang more. I personally enjoy it a lot more than English (I'm doing both).

[Einstein]

sorry for the late reply. Does anyone know if jumping straight into 3/4 without 1/2 is a good idea?

[VivaTequila]

I personally recommend doing English Language. If you aren't captivated by the themes and ideas and characters in the stories/texts you're reading, you won't enjoy at least two of the three sections in English 3/4, and if you also happen to dislike Language Analysis you won't enjoy 3/4 English at all. Pick well because it will be part of your top four. I think English Language would be easier to study for, but that said, I never studied it.

[shadows]

You kinda misinterpreted what I said. What you've said is correct (it's basically impossible to get 99.95 if you don't do a subject that scales to above 50 e.g. spesh/LOTE).

What I meant was that English Language moreso reflects your time and effort put into the subject (anecdotal evidence with friends outside of my school, I have no personal experience). If you're willing to study, very, VERY hard you'll guarantee yourself a really high mark. To get a 45+ you can drop 8-9 marks throughout your essays.
Opposed to English where at the top ends it's really competitive. To get a 40+ you can only drop 6-7 marks throughout your essays, but if you want to be in the mid tiers (i.e. ~35-40) it's generally pretty easy to get 6s or 7s on your essays.


To be honest, I didn't expect a 40 on English, I was aiming for 35+ and I thought had just scraped that mark.
I didn't study as hard for English as I did for my two maths and physics. But I forced myself to understand the basics for each essay (to guarantee I fulfil the criteria and get at least 5-6/10 on each essay). My SACs were pretty average (my SAC marks exclusively would've only gotten me about a 36 or so) but I knew I had to step it up come exam time. I spent literally 3 entire days just studying English; memorizing some of the top essays I could find on the internet (of course not word for word, but their quotes, key ideas and some absolutely ridiculous vocabulary which I have not used nor encountered in my everyday life since).


You're only in year 11 lmao, I got 60% on my year 11 English exam (I nearly failed GMA and Chemistry in year 11) but as long as you put the time and effort in year 12 for all your subjects, you should be fine.

Enjoy year 11, your last year of ever bludging during class without any consequences.

Scoring top end in English requires a lot of hard work too. If you worked really really hard but is not naturally "good" at English I think it is possible to score really high (45+)
Although a lot of people say English is "subjective", on the most part it isn't. Examiners are experts and mark to a very strict marking scheme. They don't give or take points due to how they "feel" or what resonates with them.

The thing about english though is that you need really good ideas to set you apart. Even if your writing and vocab is superb, if you are writing about simplistic generic ideas... you will be marked down severely.
Scoring well in English requires the harmony of good writing and good ideas.

*Don't add in really good vocab into your piece just for the sake of it. If not put in the right context, it will backfire and make the piece look really bad.

If you were to make an effort to write essays regularly and actively improve on it, you can vastly improve in year 12. It's only early days of year 12 but compared to what I was writing at the end of last year I can clearly see a difference.

TO the OP: It just depends on what you like. Just don't think that you should do one because it is easier to score well in. (Well I haven't done English Language),but I can say that if you were to work really really hard in English, scoring high does not fall down to luck or subjectivity....

Sorry if I got a little carried away. I sometimes feel like a lot of people get this pre-conceived notion that English is some blasphemous subject that you can't score high in if you're not some English pro. That simply isn't true.