This has been a long, arduous Year 11 journey. I know some may have enjoyed these quality updates and trust me they're not cringe worthy. I am proud that I got a scaled 38 in Chinese according to the "2019 Scaling Report with codes".
Biggest tips for Chinese SL (targeted at those who don't speak mando at home like meself)
despite the new study design for 2020 onwards:
Understand conversational patterns in putonghua, understand the tongue position; velar etc. Practice until you sound natural. Don't be shy to add some humor. Time yourself early on (like seriously, doesn't matter if you haven't achieved a level you're satisfied yet, time as you go). Watch all sorts of dramas and variety TV to gain linguistic understanding of contemporary (China) Mandarin and expose yourself to convos between two fluent native speakers. Most crucially the broad ranges of conversational modes and jargon. Replicate that certain actor's expression + add flair and adjust to situational context.
Once you've gone through what most people call, 'learning the basics of a language'. The tips I've dropped under here, will be invaluable to your VCE Chinese preparation (credit to ryanchan799):
To score high in Chinese SL, personally I think it's not enough to just know the SL and SLA vocabulary lists. They are the most basic vocabulary that you're expected to know, but only knowing those words and nothing more won't get you very far. Apart from accurately answering the question, the only way to score high in the final exam (in the writing components) is to "wow" the examiner with accurate and sophisticated vocabulary, because everyone gets the same prompts, and your mark essentially depends on how well you have responded to the topic, not only content-wise but also in terms of language.
The best way to learn vocabulary is immerse yourself into the environment of the language - watch a lot of Chinese programs, although that would have been more beneficial if you did that while you were young, so your pronounciation is more native. Some good programs include 奇葩说 (第六季newest season), 脱口秀大会(第三季newest season) or 2019主持人大赛. Another good way of improving vocabulary is to watch 电视剧, from all different categories so you get exposure to different "types" of vocabulary.
古装 - 《庆余年》《琅琊榜》《楚乔传》《三生三世十里桃花》
现代 - 《我的前半生》《欢乐颂》
抗日/谍战 - 《伪装者》《剃刀边缘》《麻雀》《胭脂》
These are some of the dramas I've watched, all very good. Particularly the 古装 shows, they use a lot of fancy/formal/literary vocabularly.
Edit: Some shows aren't available on youtube (most are), but you can access them through 爱奇艺,乐视TV or some other platform.