I have to do Chinese SLA, and it is UNFAIR

[jz27]

Hey all,
I was born in China and lived there for a mere 4 years speaking Sichuan dialect and not receiving a single minute of Chinese education at ANY school whatsoever. Yet, this unfair system forces me to do SLA, when some of my mates who were born here, are better than me at Chinese. What do I do?

[snowisawesome]

Have you shown vcaa evidence that you havn't had a single minute of chinese education at any school?

[plsbegentle]

Hey all,
I was born in China and lived there for a mere 4 years speaking Sichuan dialect and not receiving a single minute of Chinese education at ANY school whatsoever. Yet, this unfair system forces me to do SLA, when some of my mates who were born here, are better than me at Chinese. What do I do?

So you lived in China and went to a chinese school and they didn't bother teaching chinese to you?

[Sine]

So you lived in China and went to a chinese school and they didn't bother teaching chinese to you?

they lived in china from ages 0 to 4 i think so no schooling is feasible

[msandler2009]

Even though you have never had a Chinese School education, you would still have an advantage over someone who was born here (Of a non-Chinese heritage) and possibly only started learning Chinese in school in Year 6. After all, you have been immersed in a Chinese background, in addition I assume that you probably speak some Chinese at home, which is to your advantage.

[Juves]

Hey Jack, I was in a similar situation to you. I came to Aus when I was only 4, and I mainly spoke a dialect in China. It was a real struggle. I had the same issue and thought it was completely unfair. I had a lot of arguments with my parents and the subject emotionally strained. Depending on your current situation, I would say that it really depends on how good you are now. Although I came when I was really young like you, my parents always spoke Chinese mandarin/dialect to me, so I was somewhat fluent in Chinese – albeit a lot of work was still needed to be done for GC and DS.

The real game changer at the end of the day for me was having an amazing teacher pushing me to get a respectable score. She helped me every step of the way to get there. My class mates were all better than me but through diligence and hard work, I got a decent score for the disadvantage of coming early.

Another thing that you should consider though is that Chinese does not really favour people who come super late either. Those that come late do not necessarily do better. Some of my friends at school got low 30's even though they came after having an education in China. The exam and SACs are all about 技巧 and not your actual skill. Keep in mind you also have an advantage for translation!

Hope this helps, if you need more help, pm!

[CatherineMo2015]

Hey Jack, I was in a similar situation to you. I came to Aus when I was only 4, and I mainly spoke a dialect in China. It was a real struggle. I had the same issue and thought it was completely unfair. I had a lot of arguments with my parents and the subject emotionally strained. Depending on your current situation, I would say that it really depends on how good you are now. Although I came when I was really young like you, my parents always spoke Chinese mandarin/dialect to me, so I was somewhat fluent in Chinese – albeit a lot of work was still needed to be done for GC and DS.

The real game changer at the end of the day for me was having an amazing teacher pushing me to get a respectable score. She helped me every step of the way to get there. My class mates were all better than me but through diligence and hard work, I got a decent score for the disadvantage of coming early.

Another thing that you should consider though is that Chinese does not really favour people who come super late either. Those that come late do not necessarily do better. Some of my friends at school got low 30's even though they came after having an education in China. The exam and SACs are all about 技巧 and not your actual skill. Keep in mind you also have an advantage for translation!

Hope this helps, if you need more help, pm!

pretty agree! One of my students got raw 42 in 2016, and she came here when she was only 4.

[vox nihili]

Hey all,
I was born in China and lived there for a mere 4 years speaking Sichuan dialect and not receiving a single minute of Chinese education at ANY school whatsoever. Yet, this unfair system forces me to do SLA, when some of my mates who were born here, are better than me at Chinese. What do I do?

If you don't speak Mandarin at home, then you really shouldn't be "punished" that way. I think this is an example where, despite the best intentions, SLA doesn't actually produce the outcome it's after. You should try contact VCAA and see how you go with that.

Otherwise, maybe you should consider discussing this with your school and seeing whether you can't have the decision changed with VCAA. If that fails, relish the challenge. Knowing sichuan dialect will help you pick up Mandarin a hell of a lot more quickly than anybody from a non-Chinese speaking background, especially if you already know how to write. Moreover, even though it might give your ATAR a bit of a hit, the skills you'll develop in a SLA will be a lot more significant than you would learn in SL—that will help you down the track.

[jz27]

Thank You for all of the replies. I emailed vcaa and they didn't say much. Since I have to do SLA so be it.

I would like some advice on Chinese SLA. I am currently in VCE prep and am year 9. Is there anything I should do to stay one step ahead?

[AngelWings]

Thank You for all of the replies. I emailed vcaa and they didn't say much. Since I have to do SLA so be it.

I would like some advice on Chinese SLA. I am currently in VCE prep and am year 9. Is there anything I should do to stay one step ahead?

As dumb and intuitive as it sounds (and all the more ironic because my Chinese sucks), practise makes perfect. Speak in Chinese, write your diary in Chinese, change your phone to Chinese, talk to your mates who speak Chinese in a combination of Chinese and English. Whatever works for you.

[Juves]

Thank You for all of the replies. I emailed vcaa and they didn't say much. Since I have to do SLA so be it.

I would like some advice on Chinese SLA. I am currently in VCE prep and am year 9. Is there anything I should do to stay one step ahead?

Seeing that you are in Melbourne High, join the Chinese Club, heaps of help there mate.

[jz27]

R.I.P. Translation is being removed theres goes my only strong point

[hums_student]

R.I.P. Translation is being removed theres goes my only strong point

Hey dude, I was in the same boat as you last year. I'm a 100% white dude but I had to do SLA as I lived in China for a couple of years. I also went to an international school where all education was in English but VCAA still didn't accept it.
HOWEVER, your fluency in Chinese doesn't actually matters that much. In 2016 the kid who got a raw 50 came to Australia when he was 3. Meanwhile I have a friend in my SLA class last year who speaks fluent Mandarin with a Beijing dialect, came to Australia in year 6, and ended up with a 27 raw. It's more about answering the questions the way VCAA wants them to be answered, rather than answering them in a way a native speaker would.

Also translation sucks It may seem easier to students who are more fluent in English like you and I BUT the examiners still expect them to be answered in a very specific way.

加油！

[topnotch1]

Thank You for all of the replies. I emailed vcaa and they didn't say much. Since I have to do SLA so be it.

I would like some advice on Chinese SLA. I am currently in VCE prep and am year 9. Is there anything I should do to stay one step ahead?

Super late to reply, but a good tip for staying one step ahead is definitely preparing your oral components in advance. For example, I wrote up a script for my general conversation in chinese 1/2 and all I did in 3/4 was get my teacher to proofread it and it was ready to be memorised. Writing up oral scripts are very time consuming and can take up a lot of unnecessary time, meaning that you spend less time working on your weaknesses (for me, it was essay writing). I know of very high achieving students who completed their detail study over the summer break and began to memorise it well ahead of students. In my opinion, oral exams are the easiest to do well in, given that you keep your nerves at bay on the day and during SACs. This requires lots of practice though! I spent around 3 hours a day in my mid-year holiday memorising responses, speaking to a mirror to mimic speaking to another person and making eye contact.

However, since you are only in VCE prep as of now, it's good to lay down a foundation if you're still struggling. Watching chinese TV shows/dramas/reality shows, speaking chinese in class and at home, reading books, chinese forums, listen to chinese music. You're bound to find something that interests you amongst those!