Languages at UoM

[Edmund]

I was thinking of doing Chinese 1A as breadth next semester. I do not speak/write/understand the language (though I have a Chinese background), so I should qualify for the subject. However, I was told that I would be penalised for this. I emailed the Subject Coordinator who advised that they do not penalise students because of their background.I would have to sit a test to determine how much Chinese I know and which subject I qualify for (1A,1B,2A...). I'm pretty sure they have this test for other languages, and was wondering how this works. A student with 10 years experience with a language, could pretend not knowing the language and acing the subject. So how does the Faculty of Arts look out for this?

I've heard from some friends that one would get penalised/scaled down for achieving scores over 90. Can anyone confirm if this is true? I know it sounds silly, but I will look as if I cheated if I actually got 95++ for that subject.

[vexx]

i highly doubt they will penalise someone for doing really well on a subject :S, if you can't speak a language and then you try really hard to get good at it so you can do well / want to speak it, they have no reason to assume that you're doing well only because you are cheating.

i wouldn't think too many people would even want to do a beginner's class for a language they already speak, it would be awfully boring.

[ice_blockie]

So how does the Faculty of Arts look out for this?

It doesn't. Only your teacher would know and they only "highly recommend" you to move to a higher class (or lower class for that matter). Still why waste your life/money learning something you already know.


I've heard from some friends that one would get penalised/scaled down for achieving scores over 90. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

I heard that for Chinese 4A the highest score was 80 and so only a few people got H1. Food for thought?

[Edmund]

Perhaps people see it as a free H1 or bludge subject?

[Ken]

So how does the Faculty of Arts look out for this?

It doesn't. Only your teacher would know and they only "highly recommend" you to move to a higher class (or lower class for that matter). Still why waste your life/money learning something you already know.


I've heard from some friends that one would get penalised/scaled down for achieving scores over 90. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

I heard that for Chinese 4A the highest score was 80 and so only a few people got H1. Food for thought?

Yes Chinese 4A is extremely rare to score over 80 as I myself have done it My cousin was meant to enrol into Chinese 4A with me but instead he enrolled into Chinese 2E through the subject website. The interviews and the test they give u is for those that are unsure of which Chinese stream to take. Personally, I don't think they care too much if you are 'too good' for the subject, this only happens if you're a native speaker and they find u in a stream that is lower than 5A lol