To Drop or not to Drop...

[VSquared]

Hey,
So I've recently chosen my VCE subjects an I put down French.
I'm alright at French, been doing it since Year 7 (in Year Ten now) and I've been getting above average marks - I just got 85/125 on my exam.

But recently, due to my relatively heavy course in terms of workload (Linguistics, Spesh, Methods, Chem), I've been considering dropping French. I'm worried my workload might be too much and dropping French might ease it a bit, plus the teachers at my school aren't the best...

I'm looking at doing Med in Uni and obviously French isn't a must-have subject for it.. So thoughts anyone? Happy to hear previous experiences

Thanks

[alondouek]

I did French and loved it. I also had a fairly heavy concurrent workload (eng, methods, chem, bio), but it was very refreshing not to have another maths/science subject to worry about. In my opinion, doing humanities and languages as well helps develop different forms of critical thinking, and that's vital for your later studies and your eventual career.

I'm heavily biased because I really enjoyed French, but practically speaking the mark up is useful -especially if you want to get into med.

[vox nihili]

I always found French to be my least stressing workload. It's easy to enjoy learning it so you don't feel like you're doing work, so I'd definitely suggest that, in continuing French, you review your study habits and try to make them a little bit less stressful. What you've got to remember is that French can be really rewarding and it can give you extra abilities that can enrich your life. You can incorporate French into your life and help to make it not just a subject, but a lifestyle choice as well (ok that sounded really wanky but it's true). try to relax a bit, and not fret too much about marks, language can be great fun then! That's honestly how I took it, and hey, it worked out really well for me. I didn't get extra tutoring, never went to France and didn't even once have a native teacher and I did ok!

Also, it's great for med. Scaling is superb and it does help out a little, helps broaden you a little bit!

[lolalol]

I absolutely loved French and whilst there was a fair amount of work, I second what the others have said in that it was really interesting and so it never felt like a chore. Also whilst scaling shouldn't be the main reason you do a subject, keep in mind that the scaling for French is really generous so if it's a subject you're genuinely interested in then that's an added bonus. Another thing is that my study for French this year wasn't all 'traditional studying' i.e. sitting at a desk writing stuff. It was a huge help to listen to French songs and watch movies as well, so perhaps your French study can become down-time for you too. On a last note, don't worry too much about your speaking, especially if you're just going into 1/2 next year. Your oral skills will improve exponentially over the course of VCE French and by the time the oral comes around I'm sure that you'll be confident enough to handle the oral exam

Just my two cents. I'm a little biased of course because I love the language and really enjoyed the subject. Best of luck in whichever subjects you choose!

[Tyleralp1]

Hey,

I am in Year 10 going into Year 11 and faced much the same problem. However, my issue wasn't the workload, it was simply the shitty teachers and lack of enjoyment. Like you, I was scoring high in French and was rank one. Despite this, I decided to drop it for Physics. I love science and find that subject much easier and enjoyable to learn. You could say I'm doing the Asian 6 Suixide" 6.

I also have the goal for med. In relation to your issue, do what you reckon you'll find easier to do better in. Ususlly, that's what you enjoy most. The teacher does have a small part as if they make class not enjoyable, it becomes de-motivating. It is hard to do well compared to other subjects. Though iif you're having some doubt, I advise you drop it.If you excell elsewhere, the ATAR in the end isn't effected.

[VSquared]

ahh thanks guys will stick with french

[zvezda]

ahh thanks guys will stick with french

If you can, go on an exchange because it will in effect decrease your workload.
Trust me because i did the subjects youre planning on doing, aside from english language

[vox nihili]

Yeah thing is I can't go on the exchange due to a couple of medical issues.. Any other tips? Not just for French but maybe some of the other subjects? Thanks

Exchange isn't the be all and end all. It's certainly very, very rare than anybody would get a score of say, above 40, without having ventured overseas but it's doable!

[VSquared]

Exchange isn't the be all and end all. It's certainly very, very rare than anybody would get a score of say, above 40, without having ventured overseas but it's doable!

So you're saying by not going on the exchange I've effectively reduced my chances of getting 40ish? :/

[vox nihili]

So you're saying by not going on the exchange I've effectively reduced my chances of getting 40ish? :/

Not going on exchange reduces your chances of getting a good score, of course, but with that said, there are plenty of people who went on exchange who also didn't get a good score. It's really about attitude, and exchange forces you to speak the language, which is probably the biggest benefit of it.

[alondouek]

So you're saying by not going on the exchange I've effectively reduced my chances of getting 40ish? :/

I scored higher in French than all the people in my class who went on exchange (except for one guy, who spent 4-5 years in France, and was also une véritable légende de la langue française). Exchange is useful for some people, less so for others. It's certainly not critical for VCE French by any stretch of the imagination.

[vox nihili]

I scored higher in French than all the people in my class who went on exchange (except for one guy, who spent 4-5 years in France, and was also une véritable légende de la langue française). Exchange is useful for some people, less so for others. It's certainly not critical for VCE French by any stretch of the imagination.

It certainly can have an enormous effect, but it's not the be all and end all. There's so much legitimate French content on the web (particularly YouTube and Facebook), you can get the same sort of experience, to some extent anyhow. That and actually using it in your life is helpful I found. Like turn your Facebook page and your phone into French (our printer was too—something my brother was not so happy about!)

[lolalol]

So you're saying by not going on the exchange I've effectively reduced my chances of getting 40ish? :/

Just finished up 3/4 French this year and I was rank 1 in a very strong cohort. Along with rank 2 and 3, none of us have gone on exchange and we've also been finalists in the Alliance Francaise comp (in comparison to others in our cohort who have gone on exchange). Don't lose hope

[Stick]

Not going on exchange reduces your chances of getting a good score

Take it the other way around - going on exchange increases the chance of getting a good score, but it doesn't guarantee a good score. It's what you do with the exchange, rather than the exchange itself. As others have said here, I think you'll be fine.

[vox nihili]

Take it the other way around - going on exchange increases the chance of getting a good score, but it doesn't guarantee a good score. It's what you do with the exchange, rather than the exchange itself. As others have said here, I think you'll be fine.

Perfect way to put it. Definitely the attitude I took last year too (though I can't articulate it apparently haha!)