Secondary School Third Languages

[mathsparks]

Serafiel:

excuse me, thos who got CCA clash could easily transfer class to one that won't clash. As for transport--why would they pick it up in the first place if they live really far from bishan?

i'm talking about the people who, after one test where they didn't do well, decided to quit just before o levels, so they would not have a stain among their As.

When 12 yos decided to pick up a 3rd lang, they hadn't experienced peak hour traffic on public transport nor have they any idea if they can cope with a heavy workload. As for those who didn't wanna stain their results, you didn't mention them in your earlier post.
My point is, while you stand out for your excellent determination and grades, you shouldn't 'look down' on those who had to drop out. My apologies if i've misunderstood your post.

[xxjustakidxx]

Serafiel:

excuse me, thos who got CCA clash could easily transfer class to one that won't clash. As for transport--why would they pick it up in the first place if they live really far from bishan?

i'm talking about the people who, after one test where they didn't do well, decided to quit just before o levels, so they would not have a stain among their As.

There's one more center in Ghim Moh, and we have cases (like research studies in Hwa Chong) that the school shortened the session for students with third lang.

[MintLeaf]

schellen:

I used cassette tapes too. We had Jap lessons everyday for Reading 1, Reading 2, Conversation 1, Conversation 2 and Lab.

Wow! That was intensive. Was that during the University days or the JLPT 2 preparation you did 10 years later?

schellen:

In Lab, we had to bring tapes for recording too. We also watched language videos.

What was the lab like, as in, headset only or headset and individual recording unit? And were you recording your own reading or recording something from a master unit?

By the way, at your previous job, did you use 挨拶 like ご苦労様でした、お疲れさまでした or さようなら or was English the medium for general greetings in the office?

[schellen]

MintLeaf:

schellen:

I used cassette tapes too. We had Jap lessons everyday for Reading 1, Reading 2, Conversation 1, Conversation 2 and Lab.

Wow! That was intensive. Was that during the University days or the JLPT 2 preparation you did 10 years later?

schellen:

In Lab, we had to bring tapes for recording too. We also watched language videos.

What was the lab like, as in, headset only or headset and individual recording unit? And were you recording your own reading or recording something from a master unit?

By the way, at your previous job, did you use 挨拶 like ご苦労様でした、お疲れさまでした or さようなら or was English the medium for general greetings in the office?

1. That was for uni alone. The prep course was 10 years later and only once a week. My classmates and I in uni used to complain how unfair it was that we had to go to sch everyday while our friends taking other Arts faculty subjects (who cld plan their own schedules) cld have 3-or4-day weeks.

2. We had individual headsets and recording units. Each class had about 20 students. We taped from a master which the teacher wld play from her own unit. The teacher wld also quiz us individually but she chose the settings where everyone cld hear so mistakes and admonishments were rather embarrassing.

3. I used Otsukaresama deshita, Osakini shitsureishimasu, Ittekimasu, Itterasshai, etc. Sayounara was not used and I believe you understand why.

[I_am_not_adult]

3 quarter of the top secondary school pupils quit 3rd lan in one year, suggest you not to take unless really talented in language or scored above 270 for PSLE…

[xxjustakidxx]

I_am_not_adult:

3 quarter of the top secondary school pupils quit 3rd lan in one year, suggest you not to take unless really talented in language or scored above 270 for PSLE...

But the bulk of the elite school hwa chong scored below 270 for PSLE (well, at least this year, its a lan year). I'm from there and I know quite well.

[Serafiel]

I_am_not_adult:

3 quarter of the top secondary school pupils quit 3rd lan in one year, suggest you not to take unless really talented in language or scored above 270 for PSLE...

PSLE is not everything (can't believe i'm saying this), but it's true. While I got a measly 256 for PSLE, I did study jap until now, where i'm now taking H1. As long as you got determination, can study. I've seen RGS girls quitting. Even though they're smarter, they still can't persevere. Wonder why.

[2ppaamm]

Serafiel:

I_am_not_adult:

3 quarter of the top secondary school pupils quit 3rd lan in one year, suggest you not to take unless really talented in language or scored above 270 for PSLE...

PSLE is not everything (can't believe i'm saying this), but it's true. While I got a measly 256 for PSLE, I did study jap until now, where i'm now taking H1. As long as you got determination, can study. I've seen RGS girls quitting. Even though they're smarter, they still can't persevere. Wonder why.

Also depends on the support from the school. My daughter loves the Jap language but had to drop because school teacher kept asking her to skip classes to attend CCA. In the end, she missed so many classes she was afraid to turn up for class. So she dropped.

We intend to pick up the language again outside. My son did that, and learnt faster.

RGS is not known to be supportive as well.

[MintLeaf]

schellen:

1. That was for uni alone. The prep course was 10 years later and only once a week. My classmates and I in uni used to complain how unfair it was that we had to go to sch everyday while our friends taking other Arts faculty subjects (who cld plan their own schedules) cld have 3-or4-day weeks.

I was really amused when I read this. If it's any consolation, many faculties our time have packaged programs and daily lessons. Some people have to repeat one whole year because of one subject. I remembered first year engineering students failing all eight subjects, re all eight (what did re stand for?) and still failed, after which they have to leave the University.

schellen:

2. We had individual headsets and recording units. Each class had about 20 students. We taped from a master which the teacher wld play from her own unit. The teacher wld also quiz us individually but she chose the settings where everyone cld hear so mistakes and admonishments were rather embarrassing.

The laboratory at the University seemed quite sophisticated for that time. We were at a holding site before moving to the brand new building at Winstedt Road but even then, the new site was not as equipped. Lessons were usually conducted in a classroom environment. But our sensei were not that fierce. I had one Indian teacher who learnt Japanese during World War 2, one Singaporean lady teacher who was a part time TV personality and a Japanese lady teacher. Were your lecturers PhD holders?

schellen:

3. I used Otsukaresama deshita, Osakini shitsureishimasu, Ittekimasu, Itterasshai, etc. Sayounara was not used and I believe you understand why.

But we did use さようなら initially among ourselves in Singapore. After all, we used to say 先生さようなら in unison. It was only during a 3-month stint in Japan that I realised I was supposed to say お疲れ様でした。Our Japanese team leader would then reply with ご苦労様でした。I know about お先に失礼します, but I seldom used it. I have not been taught いってきますthough. When we were staying with the hosting family in Sec 3, we would practise ただいま、お帰りなさい、行って参ります、行っていらっしゃい、いただきます、ご馳走様でした、etc but never お疲れ様でした。Hence, I would say, the overall program was not adequate to prepare us for the business world. And for email communication, there is another whole lot of greetings like いつもお世話になります。I did not have to write many Japanese emails. We tend to read (manuals) more than write in Japanese. You definitely have an edge over us with your training and experience.

[schellen]

MintLeaf, I think the Arts faculty was the only one where we had to plan our own timetables as there were too many subjects and timeslots for tutorials for the computer to handle. In my time, I heard that CompSc was easy to get in but difficult to grad from due to the high number of failures in the 1st yr. I also heard tt if you fail anything in 1st yr CompSc, your chances of doing Honours is over.


My lecturers were of differing backgrds. I had Chinese lecturers from Yale and Beijing unis as well as part-timers who were actually Jap housewives who followed their husbands when they were posted to work here. But I think these housewives had at least a degree. They were fun teachers, motherly too, except the Yale one who was rather high and mighty at times. Our 2nd Lab lecturer was a Jap who married the dean and she was exceptionally strict. I heard tt the students she took from 1st year turned out very well though.

お疲れ様でした is used in company settings. Never use ご苦労様でした unless you're the superior; if subordinates use tt among themselves, it'll draw weird looks. If you use it with your superiors, you'll be deemed rude. We used ただいま、お帰りなさい when we stayed in ryokans and on our last tour in Hokkaido with the local coach driver. 行って参ります、行っていらっしゃいare the more honorific forms of what I use. Since my company is based locally, smaller and the boss is younger, we had a more casual atmosphere than a typical Jap company.
Biz Jap (incl. phone calls and e-mails) is very difficult and different from daily use Jap. Even Japs who are new employees in Japan will undergo a training period to teach them all these. If a Jap doesn't work in biz settings or is still not working yet, they won't know this part of Jap lang. JLPT generally tests daily/common Jap use so there is a separate test for biz Jap which is very difficult as it involves role-play using a real telephone and having to deal with biz scenarios.

Anyway, I believe we've gone OT already in this topic so perhaps we should continue this chat via PM?