Hello! Good idea with this topic - I was just thinking of starting one myself, when I saw this.
So, I've been doing it through Open High since Year 9 - one of two in my grade, and next year I'll be the only one. I didn't get to go to any of the open day things, because I had exams during one and the other was on the same day as area x-country or something or other. Huh, I agree about the native speakers though - that topic has its own thread though, and most people seem to think native speakers end up doing badly...
However, tell me, how are you managing to find OHS fun?? I'm finding it extremely repetitive. The exercises for each module are exactly the same - reply to a letter/email, read a passage and answer questions, write an article or something. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the crossword somewhere in Module 3!
I'm also finding it really hard to stay motivated, and I don't actually learn the languae properly. I'm only doing my work just before I send it in, pretty much. Oh, and during my 3 periods on Wednesday; yup, one whole school day for German... though that's coz I do 14 units
Hmmm, I still haven't handed in Module 4 parts 4 or 5!
Oh, and sometimes the teachers are REALLY lost. My year 9/10 teacher thought I was someone else, and at the parent teacher evening told my dad how wonderful I was at German, but maybe I should reconsider wanting to do the HSC this year, because a little more practice might be good for me... I was in year 10!! *sigh*
And last year, in the yearly speaking test, the supervising teacher left us alone in the room, and she'd taken our tapes from us and fiddled around with them, and mixed up the envelopes. So I took the tape on top of my envelope, and recorded my stuff - over the top of the other girl's work! Which led to a whole lot of trouble, and she ended up doing a much simpler task over the phone.
I don't want you to think I'm only capable of complaining though - I'll admit the songs we have to listen to are pretty hilarious, and the work is quite easy. Especially at the start of this year, and the start of year 9. Actually, I don't think I've learnt anything new except for the past tense - I learnt the basics of everything else in years 7 & 8... but I forgot, so going over it is good. And I'm hopeless with cases and genders and everything; I can never remember!! Got any tips for that? Though it's pretty much just memorising. Just wondering though, whether the actual course is as easy as Open High? Or are other schools way ahead of us?
Who's your teacher? I've got Mrs Senkpiel. And how are the others doing it through Open High, from what you saw when you went there? Are there heaps of native speakers who're gonna thrash us?
Sorry for the length of this - I'll go back to studying for yearlies now
