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We have hundreds and hundreds of university subject reviews (template largely taken from those threads), which help students select their subjects. It makes a whole heap of sense to have a place where past VCE students can review their VCE subjects - 1&2 and 3&4, it's all good!
(https://i.imgur.com/FJPw5Hp.png)
(Units 1&2 and Units 3&4)
Review Index
Current Totals
Arts Subject Reviews: 7
Business Studies Subject Reviews: 4
English Subject Reviews: 12
Health and Physical Education Subject Reviews: 6
Humanities Subject Reviews: 11
LOTE Subject Reviews: 3
Maths Subject Reviews: 13
Science Subject Reviews: 27
Technology Subject Reviews: 2
Total: 85 Reviews
Total: 42 Subjects Covered
(2) (3) etc. denote 2nd and 3rd reviews.
Business Studies Subjects (4)
Health and Physical Education Subjects (6)
This is a thread for subject reviews only. If you have any questions, then please PM the member who wrote the review. The views expressed are those of the authors. Keep in mind that, despite best efforts, information provided may not be accurate.
We encourage you to review the subject(s) you have completed, even if someone else has already reviewed your subject(s). The more reviews we have, the more helpful this resource will be. Please do not name teachers or denigrate your school.
Please use the following template for subject reviews:
[b]Subject Name:[/b]
[b]Units:[/b] (Is it Units 1&2 or Units 3&4?)
[b]Workload:[/b]
[b]Assessment:[/b] (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
[b]Exam Thoughts:[/b] (What's the structure? How hard was it?)
[b]Textbook Recommendation:[/b] (What did you use? How much did you use it?)
[b]Recommended Other Resources:[/b]
[b]Year of Completion:[/b]
[b]Rating:[/b] out of 5
[b]Your Mark/Grade:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Comments:[/b] Give your overall opinion of the subject, content, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.
Updated as of reply #85
Subject Name: Japanese SL
Units: 3/4
Workload: Quite high.
Assessment:
Unit 3 (GA1, 25% overall)
Outcome 1: 500ji personal/imaginative written piece (40% of GA1, 10% overall)
Outcome 2: Listening test (20% of GA1, 5% overall)
Outcome 3: Role-play oral task (40% of GA1, 10% overall)
Unit 4 (GA2, 25% overall)
Outcome 1: Reading test (20% of GA2, 5% overall)
Outcome 2: 600ji informative/persuasive/evaluative written piece (40% of GA2, 10% overall)
Outcome 3: Interview/oral task (40% of GA2, 10% overall)
Examinations (GA3, 50% overall)
Oral examination (15 minutes, 32.5% of GA3, 12.5% overall)
Written examination (2 hours, 67.5% of GA3, 37.5% overall)
Exam Thoughts:
Oral examination
Conversation (7 minutes)
The conversation half of the oral examination involves two assessors asking you questions about yourself. The idea is that since it is about you and your life, you should be able to reply without any "prior knowledge". Of course, people usually do prepare for this section by creating 'topic areas' and thinking of possible questions. These might include your family and home life, your hobbies, your job, your school/studies, your interests, aspirations and anything else you give as fodder. It is important to have rote-learned responses because it allows you to show off your skills, but it is also necessary to have flexibility to respond to unfamiliar questions well.
Look, to be honest, it's relatively difficult. There's the whole Japanese ability aspect but there's also a performance ability aspect to it. For those who have confidence and perhaps experience in interviews, public speaking settings or other similar situations, it might not be too bad. But well, I guess it is how it sounds - speaking in a foreign language to scary-looking strangers is hard.
Discussion (8 minutes)
Throughout the term you are meant to research a specific topic related to modern or traditional Japanese culture/language with reference to texts/research. This is 'presented' as a discussion with the same two interviewers - the first minute is used to introduce your topic and restrict the domain of the discussion. This of course is also somewhat pre-prepared, and your examiners will expect more rote-learned responses. However, a key aspect of the discussion is evaluation (i.e your thoughts as a global citizen). This could be asked for in a more spontaneous way.
I did find the discussion harder than general conversation. Not only is there the same challenges that GC has, but there is also the importance of remembering what you have studied well and actually research deep enough to make a sophisticated case.
Overall, despite not contributing so much to the study score, the oral examination never fails to be a difficult and stress-invoking part of this subject. But I do think that if you can gain confidence and content in your progress, it can be lots of fun. (Also - make it fun!! The assessors will appreciate it and so will you).
Written examination
Listening and responding
PART A: Respond in English
This section will have two or three spoken texts. Each text is repeated twice. One text is likely easier but will have a small detail to trip people up. The other might be abruptly harder (sometimes in formal register, higher tempo, whatever) in which the key is to extract key phrases and accurately translate details and gist of the text. This section can be notoriously difficult for lower-performing students. All in all, the key is to translate accurately.
PART B: Respond in Japanese
There will be one or two texts, repeated twice. One might be shorter, and one longer. This section is difficult in general - speed and vocabulary knowledge are probably most important. The one mark I lost was in this section even though listening was my strength. The aim of this section is to notetake effectively, and to answer to questions as accurately as possible. Word-for-word dictation is no exaggeration.
Reading and responding
PART A: Respond in English
One or two texts. One is usually short, one longer. The point here is to translate accurately (even moreso than listening). Of course, identifying the correct part is necessary to so comprehension is important, obviously. This part isn't so difficult in my opinion. It will be difficult for people who have little experience in translation and do it sloppily (forgetting words, using ambiguous phrases, paraphrasing etc.).
PART B: Respond in Japanese
One or two texts, supposedly of a higher difficulty. The key here is to identify the correct things to use in the text (comprehension) and structure your responses correctly. I don't think this part is that hard either. Sometimes there are things to trip people up on, but I think it is easier than Part A purely because it can be a clever cut-and-paste job.
Writing in Japanese
Ah, the dreaded essay. You choose from 5 stimuli that are usually different text types and topics. It is obviously in Japanese, but does not have to be as long as what is provided on genkouyoushi. I do believe I used most of it though. I think this is one of the hardest sections but I'm not sure how lenient the marking is. Also, to debunk a myth: you do not have to do imaginative to get full marks. I only ever did evaluative, personal or informative and got 15/15 on the exam (for evaluative, I think it was).
Ironically, people don't seem to put as much work into the written exam even though it is weighted more than anything else. It's not easy and there are many skills that need to be improved - not just knowledge, skills. But once it clicks, I really think improvement can follow easily.
Textbook Recommendation:
I did not use any textbooks for Japanese in any of these years I did it. They work for some people. I think our school used "Kookoo Seikatsu" but I never bothered buying it.
I'd go to a library, give one a read and decide if it works for you.
Also, our school provided print outs and booklets so I don't even think we used the textbook in Year 12 unless it was homework (which I didn't do).
Recommended Other Resources:
People. It baffles me that people think you can learn a language without actually using it for what is was intended. Find a penpal online, host an overseas exchange student, go to language swaps, get a tutor - whatever. I can guarantee that your language ability will just skyrocket somehow.
Year of Completion: 2015, then 2016 (lol)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Look, any LOTE subject is pretty grim. Not many people enjoy them, and to be honest I didn't enjoy it much at the time either. But the more you decide to embrace it, the more you enjoy it. I think it is well worth the effort and hundreds of time more useful and fun than any other VCE subject (talk about biased!).
Your Mark/Grade: 42 (48.2 scaled) in 2015, followed by 50 (52 scaled) in 2016.
Comments:
LOTE subjects are difficult, arduous and the competition is fierce. Japanese isn't even the worst out of them. The oral examination is gross, listening is anxiety-inducing, and you will likely go red and pass out at some point because you just can't get the sentence out. But fear not, Japanese and many other LOTE subjects are super rewarding, super interesting, and an absolute asset to your life. If you have any sort of passion for Japanese, I say 'just do it'. The effort is worth it - and you might not even find it that bad. (Honestly, most people just exaggerate). And again, if you make it fun, it really, really is. Good luck!
Think it's time to revive this thread.
Subject Name: Ancient History
Units: 3/4
Workload: From personal experience, it was the subject with the highest workload for me. There is a lot of reading and essay writing involved.
Assessment:
Each school does SACs differently, however this is how they’re generally conducted (with Greece and Rome as examples):
Unit 3
AOS 1 – Features of Ancient Greece [SAC: Source analysis, worth 12.5%]
AOS 2 – The Peloponnesian War [SAC: Essay, worth 12.5%]
Unit 4
AOS 1 – Features of Ancient Rome [SAC: Source analysis, worth 12.5%]
AOS 2 – The Fall of the Roman Republic [SAC: Essay, worth 12.5%]
Exam Thoughts:
Total weighting: 50%
Number of Sections: 3 (choose 2 to complete)
Length: 2 hours + 15 minutes reading time
The exam is split into Egypt, Greece, and Rome – you choose the two you studied. Each civilisation has a source analysis (worth 4~5 + 5~6 + 10 marks) and an essay (worth 20 marks). The whole exam is out of 80 marks.
Textbook Recommendation:
HTAV has textbooks for Rome and Greece. I never bought them, but from a borrowed copy of the Rome textbook, I found it pretty useless. It went through some very important events in a couple of brief pages (All three Punic Wars were covered in one chapter). Would not recommend.
I recommend checking out the textbooks written by historian Pamela Bradley (she has textbooks for all three civilisations). They go way beyond the course and do not follow the study design, however content-wise they’re incredibly useful.
Recommended Other Resources:
HSC’s Ancient History resources and Pamela Bradley’s textbooks are a good place to start.
It’s also worth checking out the books by these historians:
Primary
Plutarch
Herodotus
Thucydides
Pericles
Xenophon
Livy
Appian
Caesar
Cicero
Secondary
Pamela Bradley
Thomas Martin
Paul Cartledge
Donald Kagan
Mary Beard
David Gwynn
Tom Holland No, he’s not the dude that played Spiderman
Richard Miles
Tim Cornell
Barry Staruss
Year of Completion: 2018
Rating: 5 out of 5
Your Mark/Grade: 44 (A+, A+, A+)
Comments: History’s a really rewarding subject, however it’s also extremely content-heavy and the amount of extra reading and essay writing you have to do exceeds subjects like English and Lit. It was by far the subject I spent the most time and energy on, however I found it to be useful in improving my writing ability, not just for history but for other subjects as well.
So, if you’re planning to choose history. Well done, I see you’re an intellectual. Just be warned that the workload will be quite high, however in the long run it would be incredibly rewarding, both in VCE and beyond.