Language exams have seemed to have struck the right chord with matric pupils, with Grade 12s describing their Afrikaans and English papers as "beautiful" and conveying valuable life lessons.
More than 137000 full-time candidates wrote the basic education department's Afrikaans home language, Afrikaans first additional language and Afrikaans second additional language papers yesterday.
And 7911 pupils wrote the Independent Examinations Board's English home language paper while 453 sat for the English first additional language exam.
Dike Phatudi, from King Edward VII School in Houghton, Johannesburg, said the basic education department's Afrikaans first additional language paper was "beautiful".
"The answers kept jumping at me. I studied really hard and it just seemed to flow. I knew what was going on."
Down the road at St John's College, pupils wrote the IEB's English paper.
Michael Macklin said the standard of the home language paper was "pretty fair" and similar to the tests they wrote at school during the year.
He enjoyed the paper as the written pieces were based on strong opinion and focused on personal responsibility and accountability.
Macklin's classmate, Ebrahim Laher, said the paper's theme of accepting responsibility for one's actions was relevant as matrics are "going into a new world" next year.
He said the three-hour time limit was just enough as he had a couple of minutes to revise.
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