Mother tongue in university application

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Thu, 30 Jan 2020 09:36:03 GMT

sharonkhoo — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 09:36:03 GMT

FantasyLandDreams\" post_id=\"1961266\" time=\"1580373608\" user_id=\"105816:

Hi slmkhoo / ilovelaksa

May I ask, what is the criteria to qualify for syllabus B? Also, is it subject to the approval of the JC? Thanks!

Can't help you there, sorry! My daughter attended the classes was actually exempted from MT. Perhaps you could ask the school Chinese teacher? Or ask MOE?

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Thu, 30 Jan 2020 08:40:08 GMT

FantasyLandDreams — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 08:40:08 GMT

Hi slmkhoo / ilovelaksa

May I ask, what is the criteria to qualify for syllabus B? Also, is it subject to the approval of the JC? Thanks!

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Thu, 30 Jan 2020 08:23:47 GMT

ilovelaksa — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 08:23:47 GMT

Teacher Aaron\" post_id=\"1231224\" time=\"1394080670\" user_id=\"110438:[quote=\"Teacher Aaron\" post_id=1231224 time=1394080670 user_id=110438]
Speaking from experience (click on my profile to see my background), the most important thing are your best three H2 subjects and your GP. The other stuff are not as important for local university admission.

Actually, it is the three H2s that are the most important. Most people don't know that even if you are a borderline failure in GP, you can still qualify for most courses in our local universities. You just have to fulfil the university's requirements to improve your English during the course of your undergraduate study, which usually involves taking classes and then passing an internal examination.

MT is not a major determining factor, but it helps if you are going for language related fields of studies when you are not able to meet the usual cut-off.

For GP, you need to do well (at least a B3) if you want to get into Law and Medicine. If these don't interest you, then your GP grades are not going to be all that important for university application.[/quote]

You can get into to local med with a C in GP, but ofc you must hv straight As for the other subjects and you must be Singaporean
For Law, B in GP is a must.
For MT, as long as you clear MTL’B’, you will be shortlisted for med/law provided you meet the cop with the other subjects.
According to my son’s friends who routinely fail MT, MTL‘B’ is a super easy exam to clear. They are in law and med now. One of them has a B and a C in his H2s even.
I hv realised that top UK universities don’t bother with the H1s too. They are more interested in the 4H2s.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 29 Jan 2020 23:41:28 GMT

sharonkhoo — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 23:41:28 GMT

The student can also ask if it's possible to take syllabus B - a simpler one than H1. I know it was offered in MI when my daughter was there, but not sure about JCs. I also believe that it's possible to be offered a place in local universities with lower than D7:

Applicants who are unable to fulfil the MTL requirement but satisfy all other admission requirements will be admitted to the University on a provisional basis. Applicants will be required to fulfil the MTL requirement before being permitted to graduate.http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/apply-to-nus/singapore-cambridge-gce-a-level/admissions-requirements

Another document states that there is an in-house course and exam as an alternative:
http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/docs/default-source/admissions/2019-mtl-requirement.pdf?sfvrsn=47d444e0_2

Other local universities should have the same policy.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:24:47 GMT

FantasyLandDreams — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:24:47 GMT

Hi Mindy / chenlaoshi

Thanks!

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:50:12 GMT

chenlaoshi — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:50:12 GMT

FantasyLandDreams\" post_id=\"1961142\" time=\"1580305915\" user_id=\"105816:

Hi
Asking for a friend whose child just failed hcl for O levels (E8) and just applied Jae to JC. He is very weak in Chinese but straight As for maths and science kind of results.

If the child fails H1 chinese in JC, can he still be admitted to our local universities ? What is the minimum grade that he needs to pass H1 chinese and what is the corresponding marks range? Thanks.

FLD,

The minimum grade for H1 MTL is S (40 - 44 marks). On the other hand, students are allowed to use MTL bonus points to gain admission to the Arts & Social Sciences (MTL Related) Courses.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:05:03 GMT

mindy.023084uni — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:05:03 GMT

FantasyLandDreams\" post_id=\"1961142\" time=\"1580305915\" user_id=\"105816:

Hi
Asking for a friend whose child just failed hcl for O levels (E8) and just applied Jae to JC. He is very weak in Chinese but straight As for maths and science kind of results.

If the child fails H1 chinese in JC, can he still be admitted to our local universities ? What is the minimum grade that he needs to pass H1 chinese and what is the corresponding marks range? Thanks.

Not sure if this post will get deleted again like many recent ones, but this is a direct response to your question with something more at the back for your information.

I do not know the minimum grade to pass H1 mandarin and the corresponding mark range because I dropped H1 Chinese quite a while ago. However I do know that he needs to at least pass his H1 Chinese. It is very crucial and local unis do not look kindly upon these blemishes on your results slip. It might jeopardise your chances of getting your desired course or obtaining scholarships to fund tuition fees--because these are pre-selected by unis, there is no application process for their son to apply through. Does this make sense?

This is not to mention how advantageous it is to be fluent in Mandarin of course. I used to be very banana myself, but a series of unlikely events made me appreciate my Mother Tongue a lot more and I am now much fluent than I ever was in school. There's a trick to it. If you want to find out more, contact me and let me know. If not, then I hope this was helpful to your friend.

On a side note, if the child is already in JC and considering University in any capacity, that falls in my area of expertise. I offer free consults for students and parents. Can check my profile for more information.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:51:55 GMT

FantasyLandDreams — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:51:55 GMT

Hi

Asking for a friend whose child just failed hcl for O levels (E8) and just applied Jae to JC. He is very weak in Chinese but straight As for maths and science kind of results.

If the child fails H1 chinese in JC, can he still be admitted to our local universities ? What is the minimum grade that he needs to pass H1 chinese and what is the corresponding marks range? Thanks.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:53:19 GMT

engp9463 — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:53:19 GMT

So many banana people. Sad!

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Thu, 06 Mar 2014 04:37:50 GMT

Teacher Aaron — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 04:37:50 GMT

Speaking from experience (click on my profile to see my background), the most important thing are your best three H2 subjects and your GP. The other stuff are not as important for local university admission.

Actually, it is the three H2s that are the most important. Most people don’t know that even if you are a borderline failure in GP, you can still qualify for most courses in our local universities. You just have to fulfil the university’s requirements to improve your English during the course of your undergraduate study, which usually involves taking classes and then passing an internal examination.

MT is not a major determining factor, but it helps if you are going for language related fields of studies when you are not able to meet the usual cut-off.

For GP, you need to do well (at least a B3) if you want to get into Law and Medicine. If these don’t interest you, then your GP grades are not going to be all that important for university application.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:56:23 GMT

havok_ex — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:56:23 GMT

I think MT in JC is pretty much useless. It does nothing to improve one’s admission chances. In uni, they usually just look at your GP, 3H2 and 1H1. Even if you took a 4th H2 subject, it eventually gets ‘downgraded’ to a H1 like everyone else.

I was part of a group of friends that was terrible in MT even from secondary school. We knew it was useless so we barely studied at all. All we needed was an S, so that we wouldn’t have to take MT again in uni. If you got a U, you had to take a MT module in uni. In the end we all got S and we got into local uni just the same as those who scored As and Bs.

Sure, MT has its benefits when and if you want to communicate with those who can only use those languages. But that was not my goal in JC. My goal was to get into university, nothing else really mattered to me.

Of course, if you are applying for scholarships, then yes, more H3, H2 and H1 subjects with As would definitely help. But if that is not your goal then don’t think too much about MT.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:16:08 GMT

Mummy Dadeda — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:16:08 GMT

Hi. What about entry to Uni via poly? U only have O level MT. What’s the criteria?

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sun, 05 Jan 2014 02:17:16 GMT

zbear — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 02:17:16 GMT

centralpark:
If the child scores a B3 for HMT, I would like him/her to take AO chinese in order to get an A2 or A1. This makes the overall results look better. Does any of you think it's crazy or stupid?

Now, I do think that it might be better to do MT in years 1-4 and proceed to AO MT in year 5. I suspect it's harder to score distinction in HMT than AO level MT. What do all of you think?

I do agree that it doesn't make sense to concentrate so much on MT at the expense of other subjects.

My ds (who is just average) will be taking his O level MT in Sec 3 this year (this is the usual requirement) n his HMT in Sec 4 next year.

Regardless of his grade for MT n HMT O level, I don't think I want him to continue taking it at A levels or even try to improve his grade. I know his limitations n I don't think no matter how many times he try, chances are his grade wont improve to a A grade.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:41:17 GMT

centralpark — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:41:17 GMT

Thanks Skyed.

Relieved to hear there are crazy people around.

I like the idea of lengthening the years of contact with MT so as to retain better what the students learn in school. Once they go to years 5,6 and uni and work, they have less opportunities to use MT frequently.

I always think that the tactic of students finishing with MT education earlier by taking HMT is like force feeding a duck or goose to make foie gras while taking your own sweet time to learn and ‘savour’ the MT is like the slow food movement.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:33:39 GMT

Skyed — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:33:39 GMT

centralpark:
If the child scores a B3 for HMT, I would like him/her to take AO chinese in order to get an A2 or A1. This makes the overall results look better. Do any of you think it's crazy or stupid?

Now, I do think that it might be better to do MT in years 1-4 and proceed to AO MT in year 5. I suspect it's harder to score distinction in HMT than AO level MT. What do all of you think?

I have many friends who did that (got B3 but continued in jc with mt to get A). According to all my hmt friends the H1 Cl paper is really v easy for them. I took normal Chinese in sec and I found the final A level paper passable lol

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:26:28 GMT

centralpark — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:26:28 GMT

If the child scores a B3 for HMT, I would like him/her to take AO chinese in order to get an A2 or A1. This makes the overall results look better. Does any of you think it’s crazy or stupid?

Now, I do think that it might be better to do MT in years 1-4 and proceed to AO MT in year 5. I suspect it’s harder to score distinction in HMT than AO level MT. What do all of you think?

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:25:23 GMT

centralpark — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:25:23 GMT

In terms of efficiency, it might be worthwhile not to concentrate too much on mother language in order to be done with the subject in years 5 and 6. Why? It's better to concentrate on the core subjects that will be taken again in years 5 and 6 again while at the same time, give enough attention to mother tongue. For higher mother tongue, I'm afraid some students may spend a disproportionate amount of time and neglect building a strong foundation for the core subjects. It's better to concentrate on your strengths and ensure your weak subject does not sabotage your overall point rather than putting most of the time and effort on the weak subject. The strategy has to change after the psle. MT is important as it carries equal weightage with the other subjects in the t score for school admission.

I'm comfortable with the child putting in reasonable time and effort in MT or HMT as long as the core subjects are not sacrificed.

It's MOE's policy. All students (mainstream and IP) need to score at least D7 in HMT at O levels to be excused from studying MT in JC. Most students would prefer to take one subject less at JC so as to focus on the remaining H2 and H1 subjects.[/quote]

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 14:26:21 GMT

Skyed — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 14:26:21 GMT

MT helps if your other subjects didn’t do so well but your MT did well. MT score can be added to the original 90 rank points max to become 100 and scale back to 90.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:49:00 GMT

jtoh — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:49:00 GMT

zbear:
jtoh, thanks for the info. So the MTL bonus points are good only if you pursue these language courses in the U? I was given the impression that they are useful for any course in the U.

Based on the info from the website, bonus points only for the MTL-related courses in FASS.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:42:44 GMT

zbear — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:42:44 GMT

jtoh, thanks for the info. So the MTL bonus points are good only if you pursue these language courses in the U? I was given the impression that they are useful for any course in the U.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:36:07 GMT

jtoh — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:36:07 GMT

zbear:
jtoh:
[quote=\"centralpark\"]Hmm.... Why are the IP students still spending so much time on mother tongue then? Since they don't need a good score at O levels to get into a desired JC.

It's MOE's policy. All students (mainstream and IP) need to score at least D7 in HMT at O levels to be excused from studying MT in JC. Most students would prefer to take one subject less at JC so as to focus on the remaining H2 and H1 subjects.

On top of this exemption, I think if you do well in HMT, you can add the marks into your entry score to the local U. I remembered dd's principal mentioning this. Can anyone confirm this?[/quote]

From NUS website:

Admission to Mother Tongue Language (MTL) Related Courses»

If you have done well in your higher MTL subject (Chinese, Malay or Tamil) or MTL subject (Chinese, Malay or Tamil) at the 'A' Level examination, you are eligible for MTL bonus points on condition that you pass the required modules in your respective MTL subjects; you are allowed to use the MTL bonus points earned to gain admission to the Arts & Social Sciences course for the following MTL-related concentrations:

Chinese Language or Chinese Studies
Malay Studies
South Asian Studies

The following MTL bonus points will be awarded:

Two bonus points for applicants who attained at least an E grade H2 MTLL;
One bonus point for applicants who attained at least an A grade in H1 MTL;
One bonus point for applicants who attained at least a B grade in H1 General Studies in Chinese; and
Students offering any combinations of MTL-related subjects are allowed to accumulate the MTL bonus points allocated for each subject, including a combination of H1 MTL and H2 MTLL.
The cap on bonus points will be three.
For more information, you can visit MOE’s website at: http://www.moe.gov.sg/cpdd/alevel2006/faqs.htm#Q29.

MTL bonus points will be added to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'A' Level component for computation. The use of bonus points to gain admission to NUS is similar to the award of bonus points for admission to the Junior College Chinese Language Elective Programme.

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:05:55 GMT

zbear — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:05:55 GMT

jtoh:
centralpark:
Hmm.... Why are the IP students still spending so much time on mother tongue then? Since they don't need a good score at O levels to get into a desired JC.

It's MOE's policy. All students (mainstream and IP) need to score at least D7 in HMT at O levels to be excused from studying MT in JC. Most students would prefer to take one subject less at JC so as to focus on the remaining H2 and H1 subjects.

On top of this exemption, I think if you do well in HMT, you can add the marks into your entry score to the local U. I remembered dd's principal mentioning this. Can anyone confirm this?

Reply to Mother tongue in university application on Sat, 04 Jan 2014 10:41:36 GMT

jtoh — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 10:41:36 GMT

centralpark:
Hmm.... Why are the IP students still spending so much time on mother tongue then? Since they don't need a good score at O levels to get into a desired JC.

It's MOE's policy. All students (mainstream and IP) need to score at least D7 in HMT at O levels to be excused from studying MT in JC. Most students would prefer to take one subject less at JC so as to focus on the remaining H2 and H1 subjects.