• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

Should English Be Compulsary Poll (1 Viewer)

Should English Be Compulsary

  • Yes

    Votes: 276 36.3%
  • No

    Votes: 484 63.7%

  • Total voters
    760

aaronbthatsme

New Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
1
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
nah the way i see it is you should be able to choose... gues thats only cause i suck at it... and cause of it im pretty much stuck with a subject that i do bad in so its kind of like all of you guys doing a subject that you dont do well at and making it compulsary... its like a garantee fail lol:p
 

black_kat_meow

hihiwhywhy
Joined
Jun 20, 2005
Messages
1,726
Location
Sydney, for now
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
miegoreng said:
Over 60% of the responders to this survey say no! That should be enough in this democratic society of ours!!!
Lol, that is because the majority of members on this forum are Asian, I'm thinking.

And you made me laugh before, using the word "imperative" in an inappropriate context to try sound smart, lol.
 

miegoreng

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
34
Location
Zetland
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
black_kat_meow said:
Lol, that is because the majority of members on this forum are Asian, I'm thinking.

And you made me laugh before, using the word "imperative" in an inappropriate context to try sound smart, lol.
Lol, I used the word "imperative" because the post near mine used it and it sounded smart, and I don't know about the others, but I am asian.

Even if we win the discussion that English should not be compulsory, few minds will be changed. You believers in English will say 'Hmmm, ok', but in your hearts you know you will still believe. It's why there will always be people who believe or disbelieve in God, even if strong evidence either way comes up. Even knowing this, I know I might be able to change one mind and it's fun anyway to strengthen my disbelief in English.
 
Last edited:

miegoreng

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
34
Location
Zetland
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Allan vB said:
English should be compulsory throughout school - it's vital for expression, vocabulary, creativity, reasoning, analysing and investigative skills. These are things that we use everyday, so doesn't that mean that studying English leaves us better equipped to interact with others in the world and tackle other problems in life?
NB. When I say "something" etc, this refers to the list in this quote.

Another of my reasons of why English has survived is that the teachers misguidedly say it should be compulsory and then they use their good ability to manipulate and use words to trick the people arguing against it.

Oh please, English is clearly not vital for all those things listed. Many people before us have been creative etc. long before we had to do English and will so long after English is finally gone.

You should be able to learn expression etc. by yourself. I'm average at English but I'm sure I am better at reasoning etc. than many of the top guys at English. And come on, if you really need English to better equip you to interact with others and tackle problems in life, you really need help.
 

nayyarv

His Holiness
Joined
Feb 4, 2007
Messages
62
Location
Top of the pack
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
lol

Never thought i would get so many replies

One thing though, i thought i posted this in general discussion

why has this moved into the school folder?
 

nayyarv

His Holiness
Joined
Feb 4, 2007
Messages
62
Location
Top of the pack
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Re: Should English Be Compulsory Poll

oh btw

I have to agree, my thread is entirely about me whinging about the fact that i have to do English, even though it is my worst subject. Arguing about it was probably the most pointless thing i have ever done, but it made me feel better

Nothing will come of nothing, the status quo is gonna remain for a long time, and in 3 exams time this topic will be consigned to irrelevancy until it is dragged out by another person like me in another time and another place.

It is however quite interesting to see the pro-english versus the pro-maths. From what i see, the pro-english group is just rehashing old arguments about how english study allows us to 'express ourselves properly', and others seem to think that the HSC English syllabus teaches us basic english skills that we need for the rest of our lives (rofl).

The pro-maths on the other hand are rehashing the fact that HSC english is pointless (a view i personally agree with) with a few injunctions of 'death to english'.

Unbiased people (i.e. those with similar skills in english and maths) would contribute more to the conversation than people like me (i was trying to name names, but i got bored)

Argue on, and congrats - second most popular discussion this month
 

white ferret

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
100
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
english at my school is just about memorising quotes and coming up with practice essays that are manipulated to fit the exam question. there's serz no point in making it compulsory as we don't learn anything from it that's gna be useful anyway. it's not like we dont know how to speak and write english....

nayyarv said:
lol
Never thought i would get so many replies
One thing though, i thought i posted this in general discussion
why has this moved into the school folder?
coz we do english at skool?. hahah
 

jjsnax

New Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
12
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
nah i dont think its a necessity.
sure - its an important subjects. basic literacy skills are a must-have, just in life in general.
but on the same level, the students who remain in school should have the liberty of choosing the all subjects they take on for the next two years.

what happens is, ppl that dont want to do it - bcos they find it challenging, or simply dont enjoy it - end up underperforming/ doing crap in the HSC, and this in turn drags their entire UAI down.


its there bcos it makes it a hell of a lot easier for the Department of Ed to keep track of everyone.

bottom line is.
its there. and its here to stay. and theres about fuck all we can do about it.
moving on.
 
L

lsam

Guest
lolokay said:
pretty much that ^

leave it compulsary, but make it based more on linguistics - grammar and whatnot - with some general analysis and argument forming, rather than just being textual analysis (which should instead be the focus of just the extensions).

also would make things easier for the maths-y people
Make spelling compulsory too.
 

miegoreng

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
34
Location
Zetland
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
jjsnax said:
bottom line is.
its there. and its here to stay. and theres about fuck all we can do about it.
moving on.
Makes me feel better about complaining, seeing that so many other people agree, and that I can beat the English supporters arguements. Incidently, they are meant to be better than me seeing as they believe they can construct better arguements from what they learn.

I haven't seen an English-supported reply in a while, so it seems as though they have finally given up. Hurray for us! The truth and righteousness will usually win eventually even if it takes ages.
 

11kloseboy

Member
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
80
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Maths is easier than English for me, I don't understand why english is compulsory and maths isn't. Maths is more important in life anyway. I mean like if you become a software programmer you can type essays into the computer. Maths is in all areas of life.
 

SomeoneCool

Banned
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
224
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
English not good me in it. It do pain in my assholes. People who do the teaching of the english should do a dying. I no like them. They make my asshole pain.
 

minijumbuk

┗(^o^ )┓三
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
652
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
lyounamu said:
English should be compulsory as English accentuates critical thinking and encourages higher level of essay writings.

Having said that, English does not have to be part of our UAI. It should be compulsory as a subject but we shouldn't hold any obligation to count it as our UAI.
Agreed 100%
 

cheney31

Member
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
107
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
d3vilz said:
you've hit the nail on the head. if you've read my post on page 12ish, my statement is nearly identical to yours. the hsc english course should be revised because learning some fucking poetic techniques and writting an essay why "robert frost is effective in conveying journeys" or reading shakespeare isnt going to be any useful in life. the hsc course should continue with the basics, reading, writing, grammar, etc.. cos i'll bet that not many people in my school or other sw sydney schools will have students with 100%perfect english
exactly... it should be focusing on the grammar and sentence strucure like what they did in SAT in the US rather than literacy... the textual analysis component should be under the title of "literacy" rather than "English".
 

stillwaters

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
130
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
like someone else above said (sorry i cant remember who ><)- english should be compulsory but i dont reckon it should be one of those compulsory two units that counts towards your uai.

i dont agree though that the emphasis should be on literacy... i actually like the course how it is- i think the point of english is that it helps you learn how to actually think. its one of those odd courses that can piss one off intensely especially when there's assessments coming up and you feel like you did not absorb anything at all, but there are those moments when you're in the classroom and ppl are talking about the text and how it relates to life and stuff.
 

mleiu

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
40
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
English is a skill of communication. Lack of skills in communication and express emotions/thoughts are one the indicators of a (somewhat) less intelligent person.

It is also vital for any career and life, in general actually. I'm saying everyone should be talking like a lawyer or dig Jane Austen, I'm just saying the basis of it (which is Standard English - the only part of English that is compulsory) should be satisfied.
 

nerdsforever

hsc zomg
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
464
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
taking aside the fact at how much I absolutely loathe english, I still agree that it should be compulsory. English is about communication and it is essential for life. if it wasnt compulsory, then lazy english retards like me will be able to get out of it. goiing to uni without being able to spell, etc. English is also essential for heaps of top occcupations. If english wasnt compulsory, smart people say like in science will be able to take medicine without knowing how to read a prescription????
 

bmn

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2007
Messages
214
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
I dispise english completely, always have always will, and it should not be complusory! I would be aiming for 100UAI if it was not compulsory. But is is so I don't care anymore. Whatever mark I get in english (even if it is a 0) i will still be happy -> BECAUSE THE CORSE IS STUFFED UP. Also all the english skills you need for the other corses are taught in years 7-10.I agree with foram. Also, as for critical thinking: do MH or maths, you'll think differently. The only thinking you need to do in english is how to answer the question with as much bs and fancy language as you can. The rest is regurgitation. And I'll still fail lol. If I accually get a good mark in english, I will accuse it of life hacks.
Also something should be said about english teachers. They are in a class of their own. They make the boring even more boring and the remotely good pain and suffering. I wonder how they enet over to the dark side, way too much WoW perhaps?
 

SiN3m

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2007
Messages
537
Location
Kalosis
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
u live in an English speaking country, so yes it should be compulsory... if all the immigrants from over seas choose not to learn english, and that leads to there being no general language spoken in australia, then how is everyone supposed to communicate?

It will affect media, communication and even Australian film...
 

shakky15

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2006
Messages
355
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
SiN3m said:
u live in an English speaking country, so yes it should be compulsory... if all the immigrants from over seas choose not to learn english, and that leads to there being no general language spoken in australia, then how is everyone supposed to communicate?

It will affect media, communication and even Australian film...
please dont pull out the 'we need english to communicate' argument... im sure by now we can all communicate effectively - we dont need to know about the techniques in a film to enjoy it and we dont need to use the biggest words we know to get our points across...

im sure at the end of year 6 we could all speak english more than fluently and properly...
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top