Secondary School Third Languages

[bluecosmos]

Hi everyone,


I’m a language teacher myself, and I think you should definately take it if you are offered the third language. Some people mentioned the cost of books, but the MOELC lessons are basically free of charge. You can check how much the language schools in town charge for foreign language lessons, and many of them are not even conducted by qualified and experienced teachers. And the mastery of the language depends a lot on your age. The younger, the better of course. Even if you want to retry later, your memory will not be as good. The only concern is managing your time as the secondary school workload is really hectic. But even if you drop it halfway, you can probably gain the foundation of the language, which will save a lot of time and effort for your future learning. Many people regret not having learnt the foreign languages when young. Personally, I hope MOELC introduce more relaxed course as the current syllabus seems to prepare students to go to the Japanese/French/German universities, which is not very realistic for most of the students.

[Belle2011]

bluecosmos:

Hi everyone,


I'm a language teacher myself, and I think you should definately take it if you are offered the third language. Some people mentioned the cost of books, but the MOELC lessons are basically free of charge. You can check how much the language schools in town charge for foreign language lessons, and many of them are not even conducted by qualified and experienced teachers. And the mastery of the language depends a lot on your age. The younger, the better of course. Even if you want to retry later, your memory will not be as good. The only concern is managing your time as the secondary school workload is really hectic. But even if you drop it halfway, you can probably gain the foundation of the language, which will save a lot of time and effort for your future learning. Many people regret not having learnt the foreign languages when young. Personally, I hope MOELC introduce more relaxed course as the current syllabus seems to prepare students to go to the Japanese/French/German universities, which is not very realistic for most of the students.

I dont think MOELC is charging any school fees. At least nothing has been mentioned now.
The text books & stationery cost about $100 which I have no complaint because the school textbooks are already in this range.

May I ask which language are you teaching?

[starlight1968sg]

Hi parents,

Any would be dropping their 3rd lang next year?

[Magical2Power]

bluecosmos:

Hi everyone,


I'm a language teacher myself, and I think you should definately take it if you are offered the third language. Some people mentioned the cost of books, but the MOELC lessons are basically free of charge. You can check how much the language schools in town charge for foreign language lessons, and many of them are not even conducted by qualified and experienced teachers. And the mastery of the language depends a lot on your age. The younger, the better of course. Even if you want to retry later, your memory will not be as good. The only concern is managing your time as the secondary school workload is really hectic. But even if you drop it halfway, you can probably gain the foundation of the language, which will save a lot of time and effort for your future learning. Many people regret not having learnt the foreign languages when young. Personally, I hope MOELC introduce more relaxed course as the current syllabus seems to prepare students to go to the Japanese/French/German universities, which is not very realistic for most of the students.

Hi is it possible for me to take third language now? I am secondary one this year and the year is ending Anyway, I forgotten to choose my third language when I was choosing secondary schools in Primary 6 :stupid: . But I really want to take third language. Can I like join a third language in secondary 2 and take 'O' level with my cohort?

[jtoh]

Magical2Power:

bluecosmos:

Hi everyone,


I'm a language teacher myself, and I think you should definately take it if you are offered the third language. Some people mentioned the cost of books, but the MOELC lessons are basically free of charge. You can check how much the language schools in town charge for foreign language lessons, and many of them are not even conducted by qualified and experienced teachers. And the mastery of the language depends a lot on your age. The younger, the better of course. Even if you want to retry later, your memory will not be as good. The only concern is managing your time as the secondary school workload is really hectic. But even if you drop it halfway, you can probably gain the foundation of the language, which will save a lot of time and effort for your future learning. Many people regret not having learnt the foreign languages when young. Personally, I hope MOELC introduce more relaxed course as the current syllabus seems to prepare students to go to the Japanese/French/German universities, which is not very realistic for most of the students.

Hi is it possible for me to take third language now? I am secondary one this year and the year is ending Anyway, I forgotten to choose my third language when I was choosing secondary schools in Primary 6 :stupid: . But I really want to take third language. Can I like join a third language in secondary 2 and take 'O' level with my cohort?

No I don't think you can.

[starlight1968sg]

For parents with kids taking the 3rd lang, how is the 3rd lang?

[wiimum]

starlight1968sg:

For parents with kids taking the 3rd lang, how is the 3rd lang?

The child must have the interest for that language and willing to put in effort ie very diligent. Having language talent or someone at home who speaks that language would help tremendously. Also built in the hassle of the travel to and fro the language centre from school or home, it is likely to tire out the child who is not so persistent.
Therefore for most students , they are likely to drop it within the first year. A minority would make it finally to Year 4 to take the O level exam.

[DadOfGirl]

wiimum:

starlight1968sg:

For parents with kids taking the 3rd lang, how is the 3rd lang?

The child must have the interest for that language and willing to put in effort ie very diligent. Having language talent or someone at home who speaks that language would help tremendously. Also built in the hassle of the travel to and fro the language centre from school or home, it is likely to tire out the child who is not so persistent.
Therefore for most students , they are likely to drop it within the first year. A minority would make it finally to Year 4 to take the O level exam.

If you pass Third language at O-level & don't have full 4 point deduction( Secondary school Affliation to JC: 2 + CCA:2+HMT:2) , you can get 2 point deduction for going thro rigors of travel / persistance. Maximum deduction allowed is 4... so it may not be useful for most students

[jtoh]

DadOfGirl:

wiimum:

[quote=\"starlight1968sg\"]For parents with kids taking the 3rd lang, how is the 3rd lang?

The child must have the interest for that language and willing to put in effort ie very diligent. Having language talent or someone at home who speaks that language would help tremendously. Also built in the hassle of the travel to and fro the language centre from school or home, it is likely to tire out the child who is not so persistent.
Therefore for most students , they are likely to drop it within the first year. A minority would make it finally to Year 4 to take the O level exam.

If you pass Third language at O-level & don't have full 4 point deduction( Secondary school Affliation to JC: 2 + CCA:2+HMT:2) , you can get 2 point deduction for going thro rigors of travel / persistance. Maximum deduction allowed is 4... so it may not be useful for most students[/quote]The 2 point deduction at O levels for third lang only applies to Chinese, Malay or Arabic taken as a third lang.

[DadOfGirl]

jtoh:

DadOfGirl:

The child must have the interest for that language and willing to put in effort ie very diligent. Having language talent or someone at home who speaks that language would help tremendously. Also built in the hassle of the travel to and fro the language centre from school or home, it is likely to tire out the child who is not so persistent.
Therefore for most students , they are likely to drop it within the first year. A minority would make it finally to Year 4 to take the O level exam.

If you pass Third language at O-level & don't have full 4 point deduction( Secondary school Affliation to JC: 2 + CCA:2+HMT:2) , you can get 2 point deduction for going thro rigors of travel / persistance. Maximum deduction allowed is 4... so it may not be useful for most students

The 2 point deduction at O levels for third lang only applies to Chinese, Malay or Arabic taken as a third lang.[/quote]

So there goes more precise info...For Parents whose childs are offered 3rd language based on PSLE scores, you should not miss opportunity to take 3rd language as it boost your chances to go to goods JC.

PSLE result & chores of selecting Sec school may find you brushing aside this \"option paper\" that comes along with result slip ... only to realise much later how valuable it would have been to grab opportunty.
We are one of those parent now starring at only 2 minus points