Info needed on LC Spanish, Art & History

ChristinaIndigo

Hello everyone.
I am picking my LC subjects but would like some more information on them from students currently studying them.
I'd really like some information from students currently studying them for LC or else have done so in recent years.
I've already had some advice from people but I'd still like some more.
I'm taking Geography as one and am seriously looking at Spanish (as opposed to Japanese), Art & History.

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on what they're like - what's good about them and what's bad.
Almost everyone I speak to is telling me to keep away from the Art & History Combo as the two together makes for a "hellish" two years.
Would really appreciate some opinions from people who are doing those subjects now.

Any information you can give me would be great.

Thank you.

poisonated

well personaly i prefer french but spanish isnt too hard.For the oral you have to learn 5 role plays,you need to learn about 5 tenses and you have to be able to write a letter and read an article and answer questions on it.You have to be familiar with the spanish accent.I dont know what else to say,i suppose you get what you put into it.
Sorry probably not much help but the important thing is i tried:)

ChristinaIndigo

poisonated wrote: »

well personaly i prefer french but spanish isnt too hard.For the oral you have to learn 5 role plays,you need to learn about 5 tenses and you have to be able to write a letter and read an article and answer questions on it.You have to be familiar with the spanish accent.I dont know what else to say,i suppose you get what you put into it.
Sorry probably not much help but the important thing is i tried:)

Thank you

Aisling(",)

As a history student im advising you to do anything else!

its a very long,complicated course that is 99% essay writing.
At junior level i got a's with out even trying now im studying for hours and only coming up with c's.

I loved history and everyone warned me not to do it for the leavign but i didnt listen.dont make the same mistake i did.

ChristinaIndigo

Aisling(",) wrote: »

As a history student im advising you to do anything else!

its a very long,complicated course that is 99% essay writing.
At junior level i got a's with out even trying now im studying for hours and only coming up with c's.

I loved history and everyone warned me not to do it for the leavign but i didnt listen.dont make the same mistake i did.

Oh dear
Thank you so much for your honesty.

One of my strong points is essay writing - but I don't want hundreds of pages of points to revise.
As a LC student - how much homework do you get on average a night? (in hours, for all subjects together, not just history)

DON'T DO HISTORY.

ChristinaIndigo

Ok then. So, if you were all to pick again, what would you choose?

djcervi

I'm doing Spanish and French for the Leaving Cert, but I prefer Spanish and in my opinion it is so much easier than French. That said I like French and would say it is manageable but not as much as Spanish.

Basically:

Written: The only written compositions you get are a short opinion (a title) where you state for or against a particular motion, discuss how it applies to you and then mention a solution. It is very managable and you normally write 11/2 A4 pgs. The opinion is related to your main comprehension. There is also a note which is roughly 1 A4 page and you also have to do a dialogue where you are translating part of a conversation from English into whatever Spanish you have. Other options instead of opinion is a formal letter and instead of a note a diary entry. I'm preparing the note and opinion.

Oral: As mentioned you prepare 5 roleplays you choose 1 at random in the oral, after the general conversation. Personally I don't like the roleplays as at the end you are given a random question based on the roleplay by the examiner which may/ may not break your confidence in the exam. For the oral I would suggest if you can to spend a few weeks in Spain and learn oral spanish as it would stand to you greatly in the exam. It's not neccesary to do well though but it helps.

Comprehensions: Journalistic text (there is a literary but nobody does that option) you answer the questions in English, you are given Spanish sentences from text to explain in English. A sentence in Spanish to express in simple Spanish and Spanish words which you have to find their equivalent synoyms in the text. This is pretty much the same for the section b text which is the textbased on your opinion.

Aural: It's simple enough and there is always a section on a weather forecast so it is quite straightforward if you learn your weather vocab. The rest is just practice with tapes.

Hope that helps. Personally I adore Spanish and is definitely an A1 subject if you do the work. Good luck and feel free to pm if you have any queries.

ChristinaIndigo

^ Huge help! Thank you!

Still worried about History & Art though.
I'm not too bad about the Art essays, it's more the craftwork/design/still life etc I'm worried about. So much drawing under a tense environment.....

How much homework do leaving certs get on average a night?

-ME-

I don't do LC Spanish but I really wish that I had. In my school, they only offer Spanish from 5th year onwards but people still seem to do really well in it. A lot of people who do both Spanish and French in my school seem to find Spanish easier, even though they've been doing it for way less time.

Art: I have mixed feelings about art. The classes are far more relaxing than any other LC subject and it's a very easy subject if you're artistically talented. I, however, am not particularly good at art and really shouldn't have chosen it. Although very enjoyable, it's a frustrating subject in many ways because you can't just study loads to improve your grade.. If you're not that good in the first place you have little hope of doing well! I'm aiming for pretty high points and I just know that art is going to bring my points down. The art history, on the other hand, is very manageable. It's really interesting and quite easy to do well in I think.

History: I dunno, I also have a love hate relationship with history! Of all my subjects, history certainly requires the most amount of time and effort. If you pick history, be prepared to spend A LOT of time studying it. It is very interesting though and does piece together like a story. I am not scientifically minded at all and would personally find historical facts far easier to remember than anything sciencey. The research study and the document question make history quite easy to pass as that accounts for 40% of the exam. So basically the course is very long, but it's very interesting. Oh and you're under loads of pressure for time in the exam which is very stressful! If you're doing subjects which don't require much study such as languages (Spanish) or Art I would definitely recommend history as you'd have the time to give it the attention it needs!

ChristinaIndigo

-ME- wrote: »

I don't do LC Spanish but I really wish that I had. In my school, they only offer Spanish from 5th year onwards but people still seem to do really well in it. A lot of people who do both Spanish and French in my school seem to find Spanish easier, even though they've been doing it for way less time.

Art: I have mixed feelings about art. The classes are far more relaxing than any other LC subject and it's a very easy subject if you're artistically talented. I, however, am not particularly good at art and really shouldn't have chosen it. Although very enjoyable, it's a frustrating subject in many ways because you can't just study loads to improve your grade.. If you're not that good in the first place you have little hope of doing well! I'm aiming for pretty high points and I just know that art is going to bring my points down. The art history, on the other hand, is very manageable. It's really interesting and quite easy to do well in I think.

History: I dunno, I also have a love hate relationship with history! Of all my subjects, history certainly requires the most amount of time and effort. If you pick history, be prepared to spend A LOT of time studying it. It is very interesting though and does piece together like a story. I am not scientifically minded at all and would personally find historical facts far easier to remember than anything sciencey. The research study and the document question make history quite easy to pass as that accounts for 40% of the exam. So basically the course is very long, but it's very interesting. Oh and you're under loads of pressure for time in the exam which is very stressful! If you're doing subjects which don't require much study such as languages (Spanish) or Art I would definitely recommend history as you'd have the time to give it the attention it needs!

Thanks a million for that.
Would you mind explaining to me about what exactly you are graded on in art? In our school I see the LC's doing posters in an exam situation (which I'm terrified about) and also they are only allowed take in with them one prep sheet or something? I'm not too clear on what exactly LC art involves/

Sorry for being awkward lol

djcervi

The thing about Spanish is less people do it in comparison to French and German. So it is easier to get an A1 in Spanish as there is less competition. The verb systems are most consistent then French as there are pattern to learn. You can, in most cases, tell the gender of a word from its ending (el gato- masculine, la casa- feminine), in French you can't in a lot of cases. Plus it's easy to pronounce.

ChristinaIndigo

^ Well, I've been doing Spanish since 5th class. Was really lucky in 1st year, had an amazing teacher but then she left and 2nd & 3rd weren't the most productive. I do like the language though so that's a big help.
The other two are still causing me stress though

Aisling(",)

ChristinaIndigo wrote: »

Oh dear
Thank you so much for your honesty.

One of my strong points is essay writing - but I don't want hundreds of pages of points to revise.
As a LC student - how much homework do you get on average a night? (in hours, for all subjects together, not just history)

yeah like right now i dont mind history but its still one of my big evil subjects and im one of the top in the only honor class.
just its way too much work for what it is.

ChristinaIndigo wrote: »

Ok then. So, if you were all to pick again, what would you choose?

id do biology,geography,home ec and french

love french and biology.
geography i dont do but the course isnt bad and i used to love home ec but couldnt do 8 subjects.

ChristinaIndigo

^ Thanks so much.
I have some serious thinking to do. I want my last two years of school to be as enjoyable as possible.

ChristinaIndigo

Can anyone give me a quick run through of what exactly is required of you for the art exam?
I know there's an art history exam but I'm more worried about the drawing.
What exactly is it you have to do?

ChristinaIndigo

Oh! And also possibly an average on how much homework 5th years would have nightly?
Am trying to prepare myself...... :rolleyes:

spurious

ChristinaIndigo wrote: »

Can anyone give me a quick run through of what exactly is required of you for the art exam?
I know there's an art history exam but I'm more worried about the drawing.
What exactly is it you have to do?

I am an oul' one and took LC Art a couple of years ago as it was a subject I had an interest in, though due to subject combinations I couldn't take it for my original Leaving (1980). 'In my day' we chose subjects according to what we were interested in. The last thing we were thinking about was any exam.

In the Leaving, we had to do a still life, a life drawing, a design option (probably the posters you are talking about) and a written Art History exam.

I know there is a craft option instead of design and there is an imaginative composition option instead of still life. There may be others.

ChristinaIndigo

spurious wrote: »

I am an oul' one and took LC Art a couple of years ago as it was a subject I had an interest in, though due to subject combinations I couldn't take it for my original Leaving (1980). 'In my day' we chose subjects according to what we were interested in. The last thing we were thinking about was any exam.

In the Leaving, we had to do a still life, a life drawing, a design option (probably the posters you are talking about) and a written Art History exam.

I know there is a craft option instead of design and there is an imaginative composition option instead of still life. There may be others.

There's just so much emphasis now on college etc that if I'm going to pay fees (which are more than likely going to be introduced) then I want my money spent on a good course. If I don't get the points then I'm rightly screwed.
It's a ton of pressure so I really want to be sure I'm making the right choices.

Thanks so much for the info.

I'm really worried about the whole idea of having to make a poster on the spot. Did a poster for JC and it turned out really well - so much effort went into it though and I'm hating the thought of having to make an average quality one in a short space of time.

Thank you for the help

spurious

You don't make the poster on the spot. You get the design brief a while in advance - possibly a week, can't remember - and you bring in your design notes with you. It's only the actual drawing of the poster that is done on the day.

As regards points for courses, there are very few courses that there is not another way into if you do not get the required points in the first place. The proposed re-introduction of fees would possibly reduce the numbers entering college and thus the requirements would drop. The main thing is not to make your decisions based on things that might or might not happen.

HQvhs

ChristinaIndigo wrote: »

Can anyone give me a quick run through of what exactly is required of you for the art exam?
I know there's an art history exam but I'm more worried about the drawing.
What exactly is it you have to do?

If you want info on the exams, this is useful: http://www.examinations.ie/

That'll keep you occupied with breakdowns of grades stats for every subject by level, gender etc.

But, more importantly, pick a subject based *entirely* on what you're interested in. If you like history, pick it! if you like Spanish, pick it! If you like art, pick it!

For instance, I love art, and I'm interested in economics, but in my school they were blocked together. So, I chose economics because I figured I can always continue doing art outside school.

Seriously, if you pick "easy" subjects because a high % of people get A's in them, you'll be missing out on so many opportunities to do what you like, and to discover what you really want to do when you leave school.

The above poster is spot on. You're in TY, I guarantee you'll change your mind between now and the LC. You don't know what'll happen between now and then. So, the safest and most sensible option is to base your choices on your interests. For instance, people say HL maths is horrible, but I enjoy it. And there are others who say Spanish is an easy subject, but I find it much more difficult than maths.

ChristinaIndigo

Aw, thank you so much!
That's something I love about being Irish - no matter how little you know someone, people are still willing to give honest & helpful advice.

Thank you!

Liquidsunshine

It really depends on the type of person you are! History is different for Leaving Cert then juniour cert. It goes into a lot more detail and alot of marks go for how you structure your essays and info so it really takes alot of planning. You'll have a lot of dates and places and people to remember and unless you learn them thoroughly you can get penalised if you mix them up. Also you have to do certain tics in your exam, even if it may be a certain part of history you find hard to learn or don't particularly like. I personally struggled with the Treaty Question last year but did well on the others whereas other people aced the Treaty essay and did badly on other questions. One piece of advice if you do pick history is when picking your research topic pick something original and put in the effort to make it sound interesting for the examiner, it'll stand to you in the exam and take some of the pressure off.
Art is really good, because generally for the exam its easy enough to get a general idea of what will come up, its not as hit and miss as other subjects and you can focus more on certain topics rather than trying to cover everything, which will take a lot of pressure off you as well. The practical is not scary at all, as long as you dont leave everything to the last minute. I'm not sure if things are being changed for the art exam or not but last year our exam comprised of graphic design ( including prep and development sheets) Still life, Life drawing and the written exam. The graphic design you get a brief for the week beforehand and have to sort out the prep and dev sheets during that week and then bring them in to the exam when you're going in to do your final piece. If you do a practise run before you will be able to tell how tight for time you will be and this will help you see if there are any components you could make simpler so you aren't rushing the finished piece.
Anyway hope that helps and sorry its so long!!!

ChristinaIndigo

You people really are all lovely

I hope that when I've done my LC I'll come back to this site and try helping out some confused students sort out their subjects.
The joy of the internet - it really can help

Thank you all!

More advice is welcome :P

ironictoaster

Biology and Geography are two most interesting subjects out there in my opinion. I recommend both! I couldn't recommend history requires way too much effort!

ChristinaIndigo

I haven't done Science at JC level and although I'm aware that many students in my position do take up Biology - it's not really a subject that majorly appeals to me.

The Art & History combo I'm still finding difficult to justify but I'm still leaning towards it.

Liquidsunshine

yeah the but depending on what you're intersted in theres no more work in history than any other subject. Honestly the best advice is to pick subjects that you find interesting, eg: pick french because you want to learn french not because someone told you it was handy. It could end up that it was really easy for them and you could end up getting d's all year.
History can seem daunting but if you break it dwn properly its not too bad. It all comes from essay planning and learning as you go along not leaving it all to the night before the exam! but thats the same with nearly any subject you pick!
Anyway, i've really gotta stop writing such long replies :P

ChristinaIndigo

Liquidsunshine wrote: »

yeah the but depending on what you're intersted in theres no more work in history than any other subject. Honestly the best advice is to pick subjects that you find interesting, eg: pick french because you want to learn french not because someone told you it was handy. It could end up that it was really easy for them and you could end up getting d's all year.
History can seem daunting but if you break it dwn properly its not too bad. It all comes from essay planning and learning as you go along not leaving it all to the night before the exam! but thats the same with nearly any subject you pick!
Anyway, i've really gotta stop writing such long replies :P

You don't happen to do art too do you?
I'm going to go with History on the advice that tons of people are giving me "because I like it".
So, now history is okay, just the Art AND History combo could prove tricky.

ChristinaIndigo

Still trying to get a rough idea of how much homework leaving cert's get nightly?

zonEEE

I was always good in jc history getting As all the time but when i hit leaving cert its a big change, was scraping ds in the essays, they require a lot of work. Think of it has higher English(leaving cert that is) with a **** load of information. History teacher recommended me to do pass as i could get a A in it and hes right, pass is really easy.

ChristinaIndigo

strongr wrote: »

I was always good in jc history getting As all the time but when i hit leaving cert its a big change, was scraping ds in the essays, they require a lot of work. Think of it has higher English(leaving cert that is) with a **** load of information. History teacher recommended me to do pass as i could get a A in it and hes right, pass is really easy.

Thanks for replying.
Well, I'm starting off taking higher level everything - same as JC so I suppose if I did need to drop down then it wouldn't be the end of the world.

How much homework in hrs would you be getting on average?