Language continuers or beginners (1 Viewer)

[Maybe2004]

Hello I’m currently in Year 10 and for my subject selections, I’m highly unsure between whether I should do Japanese beginners or continuers... I’ve already decided on Korean continuers and so, would Japanese continuers be too much considering I didn’t choose it as my elective in Year 9 or 10 so I don’t have 400-600 hour formal education?

 

[Kurrison]

It up to you. If you are very familiar with Japanese then give it go. Only if you think you can do it well on Japanese.

 

[Velocifire]

Do Japanese, cause anime!

 

[Maybe2004]

But would you say it would put me to a disadvantage compared to kids who have studied Japanese longer than me?

 

[Maybe2004]

Do Japanese, cause anime!

Hehe we all love anime!

 

[Velocifire]

It would, but it is crazy to know how anyone can IMPROVE, and in a SHORT amount of time as well!

 

[Kurrison]

But would you say it would put me to a disadvantage compared to kids who have studied Japanese longer than me?

do not think others lol. don't compare yourself to others. Just do you think you are able to ace on Japanese course including speech with Japanese writing?

 

[quickoats]

I’d suggest to go with Jap beginners since it’s pretty much yr 9+10 work, whereas continuers will build up on that knowledge. You’d rather be in the appropriate level rather than falling behind and trying to catch up simultaneously.

Did you do Korean as an elective? If not, it’s probably best to do it at the beginner level so there’s no catchup/falling behind involved.

 

[Maybe2004]

do not think others lol. don't compare yourself to others. Just do you think you are able to ace on Japanese course including speech with Japanese writing?

Well, I do already know how to write hiragana and katakana with a few kanji so I can write as good as Year 1s in Japan...I’ve also finished a few textbooks so I think I could do well... I guess it’s a smart idea to not compare it’s just that since hsc is all about ranking I got a little confused and disheartened. Thank you

 

[Maybe2004]

I’d suggest to go with Jap beginners since it’s pretty much yr 9+10 work, whereas continuers will build up on that knowledge. You’d rather be in the appropriate level rather than falling behind and trying to catch up simultaneously.

Did you do Korean as an elective? If not, it’s probably best to do it at the beginner level so there’s no catchup/falling behind involved.

I didn’t do Korean as a elective I’ve just studied Korean regularly for three years to the point that I’m close to an intermediate level. Plus I love learning Korean and think continuers would allow me to better understand the language.

The thing with Japanese is that it’s not about me falling behind, it’s just that I am willing to dedicate a lot of time to it but doubt whether I could catch up (even if I studied hard for a long time) to the same level as the regular students found in the course. If it is possible and continuers isn’t completely different from beginners, I would prefer to do continuers because of the passion to understand Japanese to a deeper level and the scaling is much better too.

 

[quickoats]

Well, I do already know how to write hiragana and katakana with a few kanji so I can write as good as Year 1s in Japan...I’ve also finished a few textbooks so I think I could do well... I guess it’s a smart idea to not compare it’s just that since hsc is all about ranking I got a little confused and disheartened. Thank you

While it’s a good attitude to not compare your ability and intellect to others, you might want to consider your knowledge base.

You wouldn’t jump into Jap Background Speakers (or heritage idk what they call it nowadays) because you are expected to be a native Japanese speaker who has probably spoken it since birth. Comparing yourself to the course candidature (those who have spoken Japanese for 16-18 years) is not a bad thing - just keeping it realistic that your knowledge base may not be suitable for the course. Same goes for continuers. It acts as more of a continuation of formal Japanese study done in high school so you may lack the requisite knowledge that others doing continuers may already have from year 9 and 10.

Remember, school is not the be all and end all of linguistic study. You can take Japanese units in university after building a solid foundation in year 11 and 12.

 

[quickoats]

I didn’t do Korean as a elective I’ve just studied Korean regularly for three years to the point that I’m close to an intermediate level. Plus I love learning Korean and think continuers would allow me to better understand the language.

The thing with Japanese is that it’s not about me falling behind, it’s just that I am willing to dedicate a lot of time to it but doubt whether I could catch up (even if I studied hard for a long time) to the same level as the regular students found in the course. If it is possible and continuers isn’t completely different from beginners, I would prefer to do continuers because of the passion to understand Japanese to a deeper level and the scaling is much better too.

I don’t mean to be harsh, but continuers may be a bit of a jump. It’s not really a “deeper” level, but a further level of study.

In regards to scaling, unless you can catch up really quickly in continuers, it’s probably better to do beginners. Since you’ve already learnt quite a bit, some of beginners will be familiar and you might see yourself doing very well (the high mark will offset the lower scaling).

Good luck!

 

[Maybe2004]

I don’t mean to be harsh, but continuers may be a bit of a jump. It’s not really a “deeper” level, but a further level of study.

In regards to scaling, unless you can catch up really quickly in continuers, it’s probably better to do beginners. Since you’ve already learnt quite a bit, some of beginners will be familiar and you might see yourself doing very well (the high mark will offset the lower scaling).

Good luck!

Thank you for talking to me about this! I feel like what you are saying makes a lot of sense and it seems to be a wiser choice to do Japanese beginners instead of continuers considering that I’ll most probably find it easier to do well.

 

[foxxraven]

As you mentioned, NESA has a requirement that you must have done a certain amount of hours in the language in order to qualify for continuers, and since you didn't do it in year 9 or 10 I don't think you would qualify, so you'd likely have to do Japanese beginners. Good luck!

 

[foxxraven]

Some schools can be very strict on this... if your school is as strict as mine was, continuers essentially means that you MUST have done the language in years 9 and 10 as an elective. If you haven't done the language as an elective in years 9 and 10, some schools will say that beginners is the only option, and they won't let you into continuers. This can be compounded even worse if the school only offers continuers languages and not beginners, in which case they may try to persuade you out of beginners even though you are within your rights to study it at open high school. I was in a similar situation in year 10, and unfortunately I failed to convince them... :'( but give it your best shot anyway. Best of luck!

Same at my school, they only offer continuers and you must have done the language in years 9 - 10, but in some circumstances (very rarely) there have been people doing beginners (there's only one person doing a beginners course in my year, which is japanese beginners and they just go with the japanese continuers class, I think the only reason this happened is because my school has an awesome japanese teacher).

 

[Maybe2004]

I was planning to do Japanese Continuers from the NSW School of Languages not my school because they don’t even offer it. My school offers Japanese Beginners but it usually never runs and that’s the main reason why I wanted to do Jap. Continuers because it will definitely run at NSL but I’ll do something (hopefully) to be able to do Japanese Beginners.

 

[Velocifire]

Heya, then do it!

 

[Maybe2004]

Hello,

Just wanted to finished this thread for anyone thinking about doing Beginners or Continuers Japanese. I chose Continuers Japanese in the end and I can tell you that it wasn't easy for the first 6 weeks. I literally felt like the most stupid person in the grade and most of the grammar did not make sense. That being said, I really put everything into the subject, alongside doing distance education for Korean Beginners and I can tell you that unless you can learn at a really quick pace and are ready to continuously get every sentence you write edited, don't even think about it. I literally wanted to drop Japanese really bad until I suddenly understood everything just before my first assessment. But yeah, in the end I'm doing Japanese Extension now and you cannot even tell I didn't study it in Years 9 and 10. So in the end its up to you!

Good Luck!