How to study for English? Is English based purely on talent?

[kenhung123]

I'm not trying to be an idiot. But does reading a lot on VCE notes count?

[EvangelionZeta]

Definitely.  However, it shouldn't comprise all of your reading - or even 10% of it.  If you really have to, read articles about your hobbies, whether they be sport, video games, etc. on the internet - editorials and argumentative pieces etc. in particular are actually greatly useful for VCE English.

[ninwa]

I am quite slow learning when it goes to english. Hrs, I don't know actually maybe 1hr per essay a week? I am determined to work hard for english. My teachers are not very good. I am not sure is it just me hating the subject.

Everyone's given really good advice re: improving in English so I have nothing useful to add.

RE: teacher - spend a few weeks in his/her classes and get to know their teaching style and whether it suits you. If not, I'd get a tutor, but preferably one with a fair bit of experience. I would recommend shinny http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,8768.0.html or teacher28 http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,12463.0.html because I've seen their work and they're clearly v v qualified.

(doesn't mean they're the only decent ones out there!)

[kenhung123]

Thanks for that.

Also would like some more advice on english as I will be starting my revision soon!

Thank you

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I always had problems with VCE English. I never quite knew what they required of me.

My SACs were mediocre for Unit 3 but I ended up with 43. I think you need to write a lot of essays (practice a lot like Maths/Science subjects) to do well in English. Thing is, don't churn out essays - write one, get it corrected then write another taking suggestions into account. This will prevent you from wasting valuable time, i.e. writing will be more precious.

I really recommend writing at least an essay a week. This will stop you from overloading in the last month or so, and your skill development will be consistent and stronger.

[darkphoenix]

Yeah i have a similar problem, its such a broad subject, its kinda hard to 'study', i guess you can only practice with writing essays and such to improve, as the old saying goes, 'Practice makes perfect'.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I agree. Practice does help. My Unit 4 SACs definitely showed improvement as a result of practice.

[amirite?]

I wonder if my 25000 posts on various forums have helped my English skills. A good proportion of those are giving my opinion on articles and news stories so I guess I can look through an article and suss out the key points and make an argument better now. My grammar has also improved to and my vocabulary has probably expanded greatly too. I think forums are a great way of learning indirectly. I happen to remember nearly everything I read on a forum too. Probably from re-reading previous posts to refresh the context as I skip from thread to thread.

[EvangelionZeta]

^^from experience (I'd have done a similar amount of forum-posting), that'd definitely be beneficial for your English skills.  Keep at it.  :p

[appianway]

Hmm, what I find the most stressful about English subjects is the subjectivity. Is it possible to walk into the exam with a good idea of how you'll do? I just know that my English Language results weren't concordant with my SACs, GAT or performance in 1/2 English, so I'm concerned about underperforming next year.

[xXNovaxX]

^Yes, with English you are able to tell how you will go. I came out of the exam room SMILING, and as soon as I saw the essay questions I smiled, like WTH......smiling in an exam :/

I got slightly higher than predicted, so yeah it's possible. For my OTHER subjects though I couldn't predict how I would go

[kyzoo]

^Yes, with English you are able to tell how you will go. I came out of the exam room SMILING, and as soon as I saw the essay questions I smiled, like WTH......smiling in an exam :/

I got slightly higher than predicted, so yeah it's possible. For my OTHER subjects though I couldn't predict how I would go

I think I also smiled somewhere in the Methods exam 0.o.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I don't know, I came out of the exam thinking I'd done better than my SACs, but haven't got my SoM yet :S

[mickallotropy]

Is it possible to walk into the exam with a good idea of how you'll do?

To be honest only to a [small] certain extent. Even walking out it's difficult to know, but before it has started there will always be nerves that there will be a bad topic or you'll have writers' block. I didn't really want to talk to anyone beforehand and felt quite weird.
For me, the exam actually went as some people above described, in fact I distinctly remember looking up after my 2nd essay was done, with a good hour to go, and thinking, "This will feel awesome at the end". I imagine I definitely smiled. On the whole it just felt good, and I finished with a little time to go and actually didn't change anything.
That being said, I most certainly didn't expect a 50 (though didn't see any specific reason why not), but probably anything above a 45 or thereabouts.
And I most definitely made at least one textual error (in Context though), referring to one woman by her daughter's name (Omagh's Patsy as Kathy for those interested).
I did screw up later that day in Spesh, but perhaps that is for another thread.

[shinny]

To be honest only to a [small] certain extent. Even walking out it's difficult to know...

From my experience, the feeling of how you think you'd do walking in is likely to be more accurate than the one walking out. Especially for high achieving students, you're almost bound to think that 'OMGOMGISCREWEDUPMAJORLYFMLFMLFML'. But in general, it's still quite difficult either way.