By Soh Ming Hui
“Aim for A1, not H1!”
With that humourous blessing, my cohort was sent off to our Higher Chinese O-Level examinations, fresh out of a three-day-long intensive.
This is in fact, H1 (Chinese)
Not everyone crushes those papers the first time, however, and there are other students who didn’t even choose a Higher Mother Tongue subject in their secondary school years. Naturally, both scenarios culminate in the mandatory undertaking of H1 Mother Tongue (H1 MT). At least, for the J1 year – y’know, only the first and foundational step in gearing up for the A-Levels.
Yay, one more subject to stress over savour to the fullest!
As a survivor of the Japanese O-Levels myself, I couldn’t quite quell my curiosity towards one of its approximate JC equivalents, though my pursuit of an extra-curricular third language had been completely volitional on my part. And well, it would be underwhelmingly predictable of me to just churn out an anecdote on the third language experience, thereby hanging a tale for another time, so here’s one about H1 MT instead.
As the stars and backbone of this article, two of my friends have graciously regaled me with their personal experiences instead – Zitao on H1 Chinese and Shakthi on H1 Tamil – in response to my several burning questions.
How did you end up taking H1 MT? Did you expect to have to?
Z: I ended up taking H1 MT because I was ineligible for Higher Mother Tongue back in secondary school prior to coming to RV. I had expected it and (mentally) prepared myself to take on another subject and MT again for an extra year.
S: Basically, I knew I was going to have to take H1 MT because I didn't take HMT during my O-Levels. I went into my secondary school years with the full understanding that I would have to take H1 Tamil if I went to JC, so I always expected to have to.
What's it been like, having the additional subject? Timetables, travel schedules, etc.
Z: Having the additional subject made my timetables more packed, giving me less and oftentimes shorter breaks between lessons for me to eat or unwind. Usually the lessons were put behind our normal scheduled lessons, which ended up making me stay in school for an extra hour or so, several times a week. But some of the slots were in between our existing lessons, so it wasn't all that bad (apart from the general lack of breaks).
S: Very tiring. Because I took Tamil, I was going home at 6 most days on odd weeks. On even weeks, half of my Blended Learning (BL) day was eaten as I had to go all the way to Serangoon for three-hour lessons. I had to figure out how to balance all my workload, especially on BL days where I'd spend half the day just on lessons and travel time, and I would be too exhausted to immediately start work after getting home. It was a bit of a hassle LOL.
Outside opinions withstanding, what are your own sentiments about H1 MT?
Z: Personally, I feel like H1 MT gets a lot of bad rep from former HMT takers and the like, but I feel that this is condescending. Taking H1 MT for an extra year in JC1 vs HMT for 3 or more years in secondary school is ultimately up to the individual to decide. For me, I feel like I did enjoy the H1 MT lessons in retrospect due to all the activities planned by the MT department – there seemed to always be something to look forward to!
S: I. Disliked it. It frustrated me throughout the year that I had to take Tamil again just to fulfill the requirement, even though the degree and career that I'm looking to do don't require any second language. I don’t mind learning Tamil, but having to do it just to pass an exam that I was stressing over made me resent it a little bit, haha.
Both Project Work oral presentations and the H1 MT written examinations happened at around the same time, right? How did it feel, having to juggle both?
Z: I think it is actually kind of blown out of proportion. Personally, H1 MT is something that I've been practicing for since the start of the year and while not exactly the same as Express MT, it shares similarities. So I think that preparing for H1 MT wasn't as challenging as I first assumed, and we also had 3 days of MT intensive. As for Project Work OP, we are given 2 - 3 weeks of lesson time straight to hone our OP/slides and make sure that we are speaking eloquently/fluently, etc. So, I feel that while this could be a concern, it wasn't actually all that stressful to juggle both since the school provides ample opportunity for us to do OP preparations, as well as the MT intensive as a final revision session.
S: I had to make time for both my lessons and my PW rehearsals, which meant that my teacher had to plan around that as well. It was also frustrating, because I had two sides both telling me to focus on their subject — especially my Tamil teacher. I felt overworked, tired and frustrated (spot the common trend).
Last but not least, words of wisdom for the juniors!
Z: I think that it's most important to not feel ashamed if you are taking H1 MT! Taking H1 MT isn't the end of the world, and there are many fun programmes throughout the year from the MT department. Plus, the curriculum for H1 MT is actually pretty short, so enjoy it while it lasts and make friends with your classmates and have fun together!
S: Do the practice your teacher gives you and do it from the start with consistency! Don’t get complacent and think, “Oh, it’s okay, I have a lot of work and it’s just the start of the year. I can catch up.” NO. It is not that easy. (Believe me, I still have a backlog of work I never ended up doing because it all snowballed on me, and now it mocks me every time I log into sls.) DO YOUR WORK!
And also seek out tuition if you have the resources to – the extra practice and guidance will help you improve, trust me. For memorisation, stick to active recall methods (I use flashcards but whatever works for you is best) — active recall is quick so that the information sticks in your brain better. Read books in your mother tongue and watch/listen to things in your mother tongue — it will help you familiarise yourself with the language.
Lastly, DON’T BE TOO STRESSED ABOUT FAILING! Obviously work hard to do as well as you can, but retaking is always an option and there’s tons of private candidates in my personal experience, so no one will judge you if you fail and need to try again. So don’t stress so much, just do your best and see how it goes!
Starring Shakthi, with her H1 Tamil textbook in hand!
And there you have it – invaluable insight from H1 MT takers themselves!
As comical as the polarity of their responses may be, it’s seriously not scripted; they don’t even know who the other interviewee is. While I secretly giggled while writing this, I couldn’t help but be relieved that I wasn’t limited to only one outlook to base this entire article on. (The importance of variety!)
It just goes to show two sides of the coin when it comes to the H1 MT experience – whether you’d like it, loathe it, or even have a love-hate relationship with it. If you’re mandated to take one either way, you might as well make it an enjoyable experience for yourself, right?
At the end of the day, it’s just one subject in a two-year marathon — so don’t get too hung up on it!
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