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Geoff:
Hi all,

Im new here and I'm in Year 10. I am planning to do Japanese SL next year, however I have had no prior experience in learning Japanese. I am very confused and I am wondering if i can still take the subject next year and how I can go about doing it as my school does not have Japanese as a subject. Any advice helps!

Thanks!

Aaron:
Geoff,

Welcome to ATAR Notes! A few points to assist with your question:

1. You can do Japanese SL 1/2, as there are no pre requisites for entry at this level.

2. This thread might assist some more: https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=162848.0

3. The following quote is from the Japanese SL study design, which may be of interest to you:

--- Quote ---There are no prerequisites for entry into Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to
undertaking  Unit  4.  Japanese  Second  Language  is  designed  for  students  who  will,  typically,  have
studied  the  language  for  at  least  200  hours  prior  to  the  commencement  of  Unit  1.  It  is  possible,
however, that some students with less formal experience will also be able to meet the requirements
successfully
--- End quote ---

In terms of personal experiences, I can't really comment about that given I have not done this subject.

Good luck.

AngelWings:
Hey there, Geoff!

As a past VCE Japanese SL student, I may be able to help more so than Aaron can. I do agree with most of what Aaron has said. (You can definitely do it via distance education or weekend school and there are no formal pre-requisites.)

You said that you "have had no prior experience in learning Japanese", but this still varies on your previous connections and background in Japan, language and culture e.g. you may have been to Japan on exchange or on a family trip, which we don't know about and could affect how well you'll fare.
In order to figure this out, please answer the questions below.
-  What connections do you have with Japan at all e.g. do you have relatives there, been on a trip/ exchange there, watched anime/ read manga in Japanese/ with Japanese subtitles before, tried to self-teach Japanese?
-  What are your motivations in studying Japanese at VCE level, besides the two most obvious answers: "I want this to contribute to my ATAR" and "I like Japan/ Japanese stuff"?
- Do you know what hiragana, katakana and kanji are (without searching it up)? Can you read and write all of the first two and at least some basic kanji?
- Have you read the study design for what Japanese SL students study?
- Do you know any words in Japanese and if so, what's the size of your vocabulary? Is it enough to read, write, listen and/ or speak a few simple sentences  in Japanese?
- How will you keep up if you're not doing it at your day school (i.e. the one you regularly attend from roughly 9-3 on Monday to Friday)?

My assumption currently is that you have no history, just interest and expect to learn on day 1 how to read, write, listen and speak Japanese (the four skills in language learning), but I'll give my verdict after you answer those questions. Just note that Japanese SL 1/2 does assume that you have some basic knowledge in terms of the four skills in Japanese.

Please know that I didn't intend to belittle or disapprove at all in this post, just that this is very unusual. 

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