Current Events > German girl gets a "C" in German language because the UK is dumb.

(+) Yeah! (+)

England's exam regulator said it was forced to downgrade thousands of A-level results because some of the teacher's predictions were "implausibly high".

Nearly two in five students have seen their results adjusted down, after exams were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But Iain said the algorithm was clearly completely unfair when it came to a situation like this.

The caller said: "My daughter is half-German, she lived and was brought up in Germany, she was born there and we stayed there for five years.

"We moved to England, but I continued her German lessons with the German embassy on Saturdays. She attained a GCSE grade 9.

"Today we found out that for her A-level German, which we thought was a definite A, she ended up with a C. Even though she's fluent in German."

A shocked Iain said: "That's the problem, isn't it? No algorithm could cope with that situation. That's the weakness of the system. If you can't create an algorithm that can cope with individual circumstances, then there's little point in going ahead with it."

Full Article: https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/iain-dale/german-girl-a-level-result-downgraded/



Das ist lcherlich.

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Literally 6 month old story. And you don't speak German.

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So a bell curve?

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Well that's dumb. Sounds like they need to rethink the UK school system

Uptight teachers are the worst.

Ia there a reason to believe speaking fluently a language means you deserve an A in said language class?

Fluent =/= proper.

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NatsuSama posted...

Ia there a reason to believe speaking fluently a language means you deserve an A in said language class?

Fluent =/= proper.

Yeah, this. I was at a school where several Hispanic people took Spanish thinking it would be an easy A because they grew up speaking it. Unfortunately, they didn't understand grammar rules and conjugation and got Bs and Cs and then a couple of them went off on the teacher, who was actually German but spent decades in South America. Same with English--most English speakers are ignorant of how grammar works, and that's all ok.

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this gimmick is really weird and pathetic TC, even for you

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indica posted...

Yeah, this. I was at a school where several Hispanic people took Spanish thinking it would be an easy A because they grew up speaking it. Unfortunately, they didn't understand grammar rules and conjugation and got Bs and Cs and then a couple of them went off on the teacher, who was actually German but spent decades in South America. Same with English--most English speakers are ignorant of how grammar works, and that's all ok.

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Awesker002 posted...

lol, yeah, he was born in Germany but spent most of his life traveling around South America so he was able to talk about the differences in language in various countries and regions. He was a cool guy.

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Zikten posted...

Well that's dumb. Sounds like they need to rethink the UK school system

You did read the topic didnt you? This is an unusual circumstance due to the pandemic. This isn't how schools normally work in the UK obviously.

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remember sentence diagrams? It's probably because of shit like that.

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The real story is this:

Due to Covid exams were cancelled. The government came out with some crap strategy to base results on algorithms. Turns out the algorithm was crap so they then ignored the algorithm results and allowed students to be awarded marks they were predicted from their teachers. Total non story and whatever happened in the article OP posted would have been reversed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/level-gcse-results-exam-grade-teacher-boris-johnson-u-turn-a9674436.html

Within hours Mr Williamson [education secretary] announced that an algorithm, which had downgraded four in 10 teacher assessed marks, had been ditched.

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Not that I dont agree with OP that the whole situation was a shit show. It really was.

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indica posted...

Yeah, this. I was at a school where several Hispanic people took Spanish thinking it would be an easy A because they grew up speaking it. Unfortunately, they didn't understand grammar rules and conjugation and got Bs and Cs and then a couple of them went off on the teacher, who was actually German but spent decades in South America. Same with English--most English speakers are ignorant of how grammar works, and that's all ok.

...What year did he say he left Germany?

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BlueHairVegeta posted...

...What year did he say he left Germany?

age wise? 10-11

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indica posted...

age wise? 10-11

No.

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BlueHairVegeta posted...

No.

lol. Yeah, not quite that old...

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indica posted...

lol. Yeah, not quite that old...

But what about his parents?

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I moved from the UK to Portugal when I was 14.

They teach English in school here. I aced all the English lessons and exams getting 100% marks and there was another English kid in the class who got 18%

So yeah, being fluent in a language doesn't mean *knowing* the language.

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I firmly believer that learning a language should be more about being able to successfully communicate with actual real life people and not get hung up on grammar rules and technical shit.

You would have a ton more Spanish speakers in the US if they taught you practical language skills instead of technical ones. Because you would have students seeing tangible progress more quickly and not losing interest.

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pogo_rabid posted...

I firmly believer that learning a language should be more about being able to successfully communicate with actual real life people and not get hung up on grammar rules and technical shit.

Agreed

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bell curves are stupid and so is any school or professor that adopts a bell curve system. a grade should be judged by the quality of the work, and only the quality of the work.

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This algorithm grading sounds stupid, but to be fair, it's not like we all got As in English, despite that being the majority's first/only language.

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Zikten posted...

Well that's dumb. Sounds like they need to rethink the UK school system

Its to do with the stupid system the tories decided on instead of exams due to the pandemic last year rather than the school system @Zikten Maybe read the article next time.

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She probably didn't do homework

spikethedevil posted...

Its to do with the stupid system the tories decided on instead of exams due to the pandemic last year rather than the school system @Zikten Maybe read the article next time.

I already mentioned that. People just ignore the fact and would rather go off on a moan.

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sLaCkEr408___RJ posted...

She probably didn't do homework

Read the article ffs @sLaCkEr408___RJ


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pogo_rabid posted...

I firmly believer that learning a language should be more about being able to successfully communicate with actual real life people and not get hung up on grammar rules and technical shit.

You would have a ton more Spanish speakers in the US if they taught you practical language skills instead of technical ones. Because you would have students seeing tangible progress more quickly and not losing interest.

How do you measure "practical " language?

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NatsuSama posted...

Ia there a reason to believe speaking fluently a language means you deserve an A in said language class?

Fluent =/= proper.

This. Mexican students often dont make an A in spanish in the US from what I recall. Boils down usually to improper grammar just like what hangs up English speaking students in English.

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I work with a person who left their home country at a weird age (like just pre-teen) and they can't communicate clearly in any language.

It's really annoying.

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mooreandrew58 posted...

This. Mexican students often dont make an A in spanish in the US from what I recall. Boils down usually to improper grammar just like what hangs up English speaking students in English.

Except she literally had a German tutor and was easily on path for an A

Going "Well I KNow sum dumb Mexicans!!!!" is irrelevant

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Um where the fuck did he even imply they were dumb?

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