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Help with understanding the leaving cert and German

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  • 20-06-2008 7:25pm
    #1
    alexanderomahon
    Registered Users Posts: 601 ✭✭✭


    Hi, I hope somebody can help me.

    My daughter has just completed her Junior Cert adn one of her top subjects is german. The school have now notified her that German will not be available in the Leaving Cert.

    We have looked at moving schools, but been turned down at the one we wished to go to. Her own school has said she can do 6 subjects for the leaving and then do the German outside of the school.

    I have two questions.

    1) How practical is this in terms of getting somewhere where she can follow the syllabus outside of the school. (Both myself and my wife speak German)

    2) She will be doing transition year next year adn I wonder if it is possible for her to begin her leaving cert german course now and take it one year before the rest of her subjects?

    Hope somebody can help.

    Thanks


Comments

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    #2
    aine-maire
    Closed Accounts Posts: 456 ✭✭aine-maire


    well,i do german and i think that the exam is very doable...
    if she found german quite easy for the junior cert i would say that she won't have a problem as long as she's prepared to work hard at it! :)


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    #3
    Jay19
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭Jay19


    yeh she can take it extra but you have to remember that you can only use the points from any one sitting of the exams. Meaning she can't add two years of points together even as her 6th subject.


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    #4
    Ekels
    Registered Users Posts: 462 ✭✭Ekels


    alexanderomahon wrote: »
    Hi, I hope somebody can help me.

    My daughter has just completed her Junior Cert adn one of her top subjects is german. The school have now notified her that German will not be available in the Leaving Cert.

    We have looked at moving schools, but been turned down at the one we wished to go to. Her own school has said she can do 6 subjects for the leaving and then do the German outside of the school.

    I have two questions.

    1) How practical is this in terms of getting somewhere where she can follow the syllabus outside of the school. (Both myself and my wife speak German)

    2) She will be doing transition year next year adn I wonder if it is possible for her to begin her leaving cert german course now and take it one year before the rest of her subjects?

    Hope somebody can help.

    Thanks

    1. I think that you and your wife could teach your daughter, as long as you were well versed on the oral syllabus. It's a case of consulting a German teacher because there is a prescribed set of material that must be learnt off by heart. I also think that all you need to teach your daughter is a set of exam papers. The comprehensions and grammar should come fairly easily for you and then the letter and short essay require learning a few abstract topics and phrases.

    2. Yes, there is no problem for your daughter gaining an extra edge by studying German for 3 years, it would be a very good idea. Although the course could also be completed in one year, but it would be no harm to ensure that she has a very good grasp of the language. Furthermore, it would allow her to dedicate much more time to her other 6 subjects if you had covered items such as general grammar and practiced tapes/ aural comprehensions.

    All in all, I recommend you consult her old teacher in order to get a rounded insight into the whole German course and it's requirements of you, if you do intend on teaching her yourself. Otherwise, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a grinds teacher.


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    #5
    BMH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 804 ✭✭✭BMH


    You might as well do 7 subjects in school as well, since there's no point in hanging about for 3 hours a week(don't think she'll study) and it'll give her the chance to drop down in subjects she finds difficult without affecting her points.


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    #6
    alexanderomahon
    Registered Users Posts: 601 ✭✭✭alexanderomahon


    Thanks for the comments. Very helpful.

    Go raibh maith agat.


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    #7
    IrishKnight
    Registered Users Posts: 922 ✭✭✭IrishKnight


    I took up German for the leaving cert in tran year. Ended up with a c in ord level. I'm sure with both you and your wife German speakers and indeed, it being her best subject I'm sure she'll be fine.

    If you haven't do so already talk to the German teacher in the school, who knows they might be able to help you out.

    Viel Glück


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    #8
    A-Bit-Dodge
    Registered Users Posts: 152 ✭✭A-Bit-Dodge


    Can I just add, its a bit of a farse that the school arent making it available for a leaving cert subject.. And if their excuse is,"Not enough numbers for German" they ought to be ashamed of themselves...

    Best of luck though, she should definitely keep it up outside of school. Finding a language easy is a great talent and should be nurtured!


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    #9
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,228 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Have you pursued the school you were 'turned down' for?
    They are happy enough to take Department money no doubt.
    What excuse did they give you for rejecting your daughter?

    It's quite possible to do German seperately, either by herself with your help or more formally with a grind. If there is a German teacher in her school, I'm sure he/she would be delighted to advise you and your daughter. It would be best to sit it in the same year as her other subjects, if only to avoid a repeat Leaving Cert. fee.


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    #10
    alexanderomahon
    Registered Users Posts: 601 ✭✭✭alexanderomahon


    spurious wrote: »
    Have you pursued the school you were 'turned down' for?
    They are happy enough to take Department money no doubt.
    What excuse did they give you for rejecting your daughter?

    .


    No vacancies as demand was too high.


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    #11
    cautioner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 862 ✭✭✭cautioner


    A-Bit-Dodge wrote: »
    Can I just add, its a bit of a farse that the school arent making it available for a leaving cert subject.. And if their excuse is,"Not enough numbers for German" they ought to be ashamed of themselves...

    Best of luck though, she should definitely keep it up outside of school. Finding a language easy is a great talent and should be nurtured!
    Hmm. This is standard practice in my school. I think the minimum is 8 students for a class to go ahead. Which is why my year has no Accounting or Physics. Would it not be the same story in most schools?


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    #12
    Mark200
    Registered Users Posts: 3,536 ✭✭✭Mark200


    I hate German
    1) How practical is this in terms of getting somewhere where she can follow the syllabus outside of the school. (Both myself and my wife speak German)
    If you're thinking of teaching her yourself, then I'd imagine it'd be difficult. It depends how good she is at the moment really. As others have said, the best thing would be to ask her old German teacher.
    2) She will be doing transition year next year adn I wonder if it is possible for her to begin her leaving cert german course now and take it one year before the rest of her subjects?
    Yep, but as others have said it wouldn't be counted for points.....which would be a bad thing I presume, presuming that she is good at german because you and your wife speak it....and it'd be guaranteed high points for when she's trying to get into college.


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    #13
    LizT
    Registered Users Posts: 29,089 ✭✭✭✭LizT


    cautioner wrote: »
    Hmm. This is standard practice in my school. I think the minimum is 8 students for a class to go ahead. Which is why my year has no Accounting or Physics. Would it not be the same story in most schools?

    No it really depends on the teacher. The physics class in our year had only 4 students.


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    #14
    dickjones
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭dickjones


    You have mention that you and your wife can speak German so it is very simple that you can teach her German in your home by any book but I will recommend you that German language is not very hard to learn the difficulty is with things like German Grammar and Vocabulary.So learn German Grammar and Vocabulary in a very simplest form from http://www.learngermanreviews.com/ and you will see that it is not a hard language.



    Good Luck.


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