Extention? (1 Viewer)

[elisabeth]

Servus

The other day when I was talking to my teacher at OHS (Mr Keevil - anyone else have/had him?) and he said if I was going to do German extention, I had to decide quickly and notify him in writing soon.

Now I was just wondering who else did/is doing German extention here? I get the impression that it's mainly for fluent speakers, which is definately not me. I don't have a German speaking background.

But the thing that made me consider it, is I was thinking about doing German at university and thought it might make the transition a little easier...

Anyone got any advice or experiences that would help with the decision making?

 

[chicaraca]

I get the impression that it's mainly for fluent speakers, which is definately not me. I don't have a German speaking background.

But the thing that made me consider it, is I was thinking about doing German at university and thought it might make the transition a little easier...

Anyone got any advice or experiences that would help with the decision making?

Hey elisabeth,

I am definetely not a fluent speaker, but i have pursued 3U German because i enjoy languages. I have found that it has helped me creatively in being able to express myself. It can be challenging at times, but it is very similar to English, as you must analyse texts with techniques/quotes/relevance to key issues.

My German teacher told me that only a small proportion of 3U german students are background speakers. The majority of these students have lived in Germany for some period of their life, usually for about a year or more. Often their grammar is not perfect, as German is not their mother tongue.

In addition, if you have the opportunity to go on exchange, take it up, especially if it is for a long period of time (eg 3 months +). This will improve your skills significantly.

Anyway I wish you all the best for the future, and I hope that you are able to make the right decision.

 

[mervvyn]

I am also not a native german speaker, and i dislike english (as the BoS gives it to us anyway) but i got a lot out of it. I am sort of fluent, but two of the other three in my class weren't and they seem to cope alright.
My advice would be to take it up at least for the beginning if you can (i don't know how easy that is with OHS) and you could drop later if you don't want it anymore, but you should make you decision on how much you like german and studying it at a deeper level - at the beginning it feels a bit like a plunge in the deep end with monologues and essays, but they get easier with practice like stuff in english.
Anyway, all the best.

 

[elisabeth]

Thanks you guys.

I think I'll give it a go. I don't enjoy English very much, but I have always liked German. Most of the music on my iPod is German and I have a bunch of German DVDs. That's the closest thing to immersion I've got for now. I've been on lots of short holidays to Austria, Germany and Switzerland, but like you said chicaraca, a long exchange would help a lot. Not enough $$$ though

I'm going to call or fax my teacher tomorrow. I'm doing 12 units now, I'll try and do 13 till Christmas and see how things are going with German then. So probably expect me back asking for help in a couple of weeks!

Thanks for your help Are you class of 2005 too?

 

[mervvyn]

We're both 04'ers... ext german is this friday, sooo not ready.

Having done 13 units, i can tell you that it's tough at times, but worth it if you enjoy all of your units. However, if you struggle, dropping is also an option, but at least you tried (i should have dropped modern ages ago).

On the point of immersion, SBS radio has some german time every day, and you could watch/tape Das Journal in the mornings. Reading german books, even something relatively simple like harry potter, was useful for me, even if your dictionary half-becomes your bible.

If you have a good mindset, which you seem to, you'll do fine

 

[elisabeth]

On the point of immersion, SBS radio has some german time every day, and you could watch/tape Das Journal in the mornings. Reading german books, even something relatively simple like harry potter, was useful for me, even if your dictionary half-becomes your bible.

Hey, you forgot Kommissar Rex My little brother loves it.

Lol, I have HP 2, 3 and 4 in German, but relatively simple? O.O If that's your take, you should do fine in your extention exam. Viel Glück!

I faxed the form today, I'll try and keep going till Christmas... hopefully I'll like it so I can drop geography.

 

[chicaraca]

thats great, you sound like you'll have no problems
if you have anymore Q's im happy to answer them

 

[scoby_2000]

i do extension german, we have already gone through 2 of the texts

ive like it heaps my class consists of only 3 students one of whom is a fluent german speaker and the other one who speaks it at home. Im probably as bad as a pig at speaking english, but i still enjoy and get a thrill out of speaking another language!

i bloody suck at it as u can see in my messages i post, but i really try and i love it!

i suggest doing it, its great, even if your not that good!

 

[mervvyn]

There were about 100 ext germaners in my year (last year) in the state... i think

 

[sephora]

Im doing Extension German and so not looking forward to our assesment on der Hunne tomorrow

 

[elisabeth]

Im doing Extension German and so not looking forward to our assesment on der Hunne tomorrow

Viel Glück! Ich habe auch eine Prüfung... heh, just a cont. speaking thing though.

 

[Peartie]

Im doing ext

I totally screwed up my speaking this week but...it was all on racism and i was like "o crap".....we have 3 people in our class (including me) and myself and one other went on exchange for 10 weeks to Germany (duh) with AGSES over xmas hols of 2003/2004. None of us r fluent though.

 

[Peartie]

Do we need Quotes for our Extension Essay?

 

[chicaraca]

if you mean quotes for the essays about themes such as tolerance, appearance, etc then they are not really necessary. but if you mean quotes where you are trying to make a point about the techniques/language used, then quotes are essential!

viel glueck

 

[Peartie]

Vielen Dank

 

[chicaraca]

Kein Problem