Bru na Pairce

LilMissCiara

Does Brú not mean pressure though?!

kowalski18

sheep-go-baa wrote: »

You stay in a house/B&B, and you go home at the weekend (You will be so glad of this when the time comes!) They send out a list of the places you can stay. Not sure if we can post the names here but the woman i stayed with was lovely, She had tea and cake ready for us every night when we got in awesome after a hard day

HI am looking at the list of b&bs would you be able to send me her name in private message? thanks !

CookieMonster.x

I'm going next summer and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with b&bs and who is really nice to stay with? Preferably wifi and good food!
Thanks

PcAngel

CookieMonster.x wrote: »

I'm going next summer and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with b&bs and who is really nice to stay with? Preferably wifi and good food!
Thanks

I would like to query this too. Thanks

Mccartn2

I went to Brú Na Pairce in July 2012. Honestly the only thing I got out of it was the helpful notes. I didn't enjoy it. Although I made some good friends, It was way too long of a day ( 4 x 1 1/2 hour classes + 3 hours study from 18:00 - 21:00) and the pace was absolutely ridiculous. Irish wasn't my forte (even though I was in the B class), so it just took me time to learn all the info that was thrown at you. You were expected to learn a lot of idiomatic phrases and essays and yes, you were tested every day and looked like an idiot if you didn't know it.

I would only recommend Bru if you are seriously dedicated to getting that A1 in Irish. This is not an experience from someone who did no work and didn't like studying. I passed the Leaving with great results but for me, Irish just took me a little longer to learn and Bru na Pairce was certainly not the place to go.

The classes are as follows:

1. Irish Oral
For me this class was the best. The teacher was nice and really helped everybody along.

2. Essay Writing.
Probably the worst class. The teacher was so unfriendly and completely embarrassed you if you didn't learn the right sentence off by heart. She was such an unfriendly person that it took away from the learning experience and we were really just fired with too much information. Having said that the notes were very good and helped me throughout 6th year.

3. Pros and Poetry
This class was an utter joke. The teacher arrived in and literally skimmed over all the pros and poetry. She read all of them in such a fast pace that it was IMPOSSIBLE to hear what she was saying. Then she would make little comments about it. It was simply a class of "highlight this and that" without any indication of what it meant. I learned nothing from this class. The teacher was just way too fast. She sounded like someone was fast forwarding a tape machine.

4. Comprehension

This class was OK but after 4 1/2 hours of work I was completely drained as was the entire class. The teacher was quite nice but it wasn't very informative.


Study: So basically you finish class at about 4 and are back for study at 6-9. I think that if you lived near Killarney you were able to miss it (not sure though!)
This was without doubt the LONGEST study ever. I know I sound like a baby but seriously it was mid July and the sun was beaming! It was absolute torture.


All in all I would never recommend Brú Na Pairce unless you are very studious. I mean you see comments saying "oh it was tough but worth it" on their website. NO IT WAS NOT WORTH IT! Again I want to stress that I'm quite a good student and I don't mind studying but this course is just ridiculous. I had a weak-ish level of Irish so maybe that was the reason but I would never EVER recommend this course. There are better ways of learning Irish:...and cheaper too! If you don't live near Killarney you end up staying in a B & B for 2 weeks which is again more money.

If you know you are going to be dedicated and learn something and if you have good Irish and IF it is your decision to go, then yes, go. But I went mid summer and it was the last thing I wanted to do. If you are like me and was 'shipped off' by your parents, just show them this comment. IF YOU, THE STUDENT, DO NOT WANT TO GO, THEN DO NOT GO BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE MOTIVATION TO LEARN. This course is on such a high level that it was laughable. If you are considering going, then go straight after school. The amount of work you do does not balance your satisfaction of this course. If you are a student who takes a little longer to learn things, then do not go.

Another reason why this course is not enjoyable is because it's also situated in this run down hostel-shack place. And the woman who runs it is nothing short of evil!

Guys do not go to Bru Na Pairce unless it is you who chooses to go. This is not a place to doss. It's also not like Irish College and it is not a place where you think by doing no work you will learn something. If you know you will not work, then please don't go. For me it was a waste of money, and at the end of the two weeks I was completely unsatisfied by it. To whoever is looking to go to Bru Na Pairce, please take this comment/essay that I wrote into consideration. I really know what I'm talking about here.

Thanks.

SuperSayian

I have also attended Brú Na Pairce and I must say that I found it incredibly helpful. To be honest, it was more my parent's idea to go there rather than mine but I found all of the teachers excellent, especially the man who taught us aistí. It's certainly not a place to go unless you intend on working while you're there. You have to take into consideration that they cover the ENTIRE course in the two weeks so of course it's going to be fast paced and challenging. I got an A1 in my LC (H) Irish exam and Brú Na Pairce helped me do this. Mary is tough but she means well, she's a brilliant teacher too. She came in a few times during the "study" portion of the day to do a bit more grammar work.

I would definitely advise going there if you want to do well in Irish. It helped me a lot. Just be prepared for a lot of work