The student's view: You can't cram Irish or other languages

Name: Amy Kelly

School: Institute of Education

Leaving Certificate Results: IrishA1, EnglishA1, SpanishA1, GermanA1, HistoryA1, BiologyA1, MathsB1.

College: Doing Bachelor of Education (primary school teaching),at St Pats, Drumcondra.

At the outset, success in higher level Irish appeared to me a daunting feat. It is certainly not a subject that lends itself to last minute cramming. As with all other languages, mastery of Irish is developed gradually. With this in mind, I offer you the following advice on how to approach the exam.

The Irish oral is comprised of reading and general conversation. Full marks can be achieved in reading without a great deal of trouble. However, it is essential that you are familiar and comfortable with the five passages you choose to prepare.

This can be secured by reading them aloud a number of times each week. Pronunciation is scrutinised, so ensure you know how to say each word correctly. In the exam itself, breathe and take your time. If you stumble, excuse yourself and repeat the word or phrase; this way you cannot be penalised. Inject some emotion into your reading. Boring the examiner in droning monotone will do you no favours.

You can essentially “map” the general converation component of your oral before it takes place. This is done by anticipating the direction of the conversation; analysing the answers you plan to give. For example, if you say “Ta an suim agam sa leitheoireacht”, there is a good chance the examiner will ask you about your favourite book, or the one you read most recently.

Be smart, don’t mention something you will not be able to expand on if questioned further. Consider your interests and plan how you will steer the examiner to these areas without being too obvious.

However, the examiner is likely to ask you a question you have not anticipated. When this happens, do not panic. A few basic sentences prove adequate if all else fails. Remember, the oral is not a test of your knowledge in general. Rather, it is a test of your knowledge of the Irish language.

With regard to the aural exam, ensure you are familiar with the type of questions asked. It is astonishing how little the vocabulary varies throughout the years. Practise by listening to previous exams, noting how long you are given to answer each section along with the number of times you hear each extract (sometimes it is twice, other times three). If you cannot make out a word or expression, consider the context of the conversation in order to make an educated guess.

Attempts to predict the essay titles of Paper I triggers widespread hysteria each year. Of course, it is virtually impossible to do so. Therefore it is unwise to learn essays by heart. Preparation of general expressions, phrases and vocabulary proves far more beneficial. It is also advisable to learn the bones of your opening and closing paragraph, a structure that can be used regardless of the topic. Do not presume you can only answer on the “aiste” option, though this may be the format you focused on over the past two years.

All four options (Aiste, Oiread, Alt and Diospoireacht) have the same basic layout. The key difference is that the Oiread and the Diospoireacht involve addressing an audience, a factor that must be taken into account when writing. However if you have written an impressive essay on a topic and this topic appears in any of the other options, material can easily be adapted to fit the structure of the option in question.

In contrast to Paper I, Paper II is all about learning by heart. With regard to pros and your studied text (drama, scothscealta etc.) you should concentrate on central themes and characters.

With poetry, the theme is again an important aspect, along with the language employed by the poet. It is advisable to learn a list of poetic techniques (meafar, comhfhocal, uaim etc.) as these terms prove invaluable when discussing language.

Concentrate principally on the poems and stories that did not appear on last year’s paper, but completely ignoring those that did proves unwise (as many discovered last year). With regard to Stair na Gaeilge, it is relatively easy to gain full marks if you learn the required information. It is impossible to put a number on how many topics should be learned, but in each topic, five major points suffice.