I couldn't agree more. English should not be compulsory, I can write a decent essay, speech, story, or article in a real life situation. I could also do a very detailed comprehension task on a poem, prose, essay, etc if I had the time.
No matter how prepared you are for an exam, you do not know what the questions are. It's easy for Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, etc because there is a question, and there is only 1 answer. You just have to study the syllabus, with English there could be any number of answers, and instead of getting marked 1, or even 5 for a question, it's worth 15. So if you get 10 out of 15 that's only 66% *sigh*.
English is the only subject I'll get a bad grade on during these exams, because of this exact reason. If I was able to do another subject other than English I would have done Geography, and I got top of the class in Years 9 and 10, and even got a High Distinction in the Geograpghy Competition (though the competition is quite simple heh). So in esscence, I could have probably received a Band 6 result for Geography, and Band 5 or 6 results for the rest of my exams (Maths, Physics, Software Design, and I already have a high band 5 in IT).
Oh well, that was my two cents *wanders off to find English teacher*
