career change- repeating irish

twinklestar123

hi all,

i have some questions,i have just turned 26 and i have a permanent job salary mid thirties,job is very safe regarding the recession, but i feel now i want to something else in life.i am thinking of my quality of life if i deciide to have afamily when im older, in 4-5 years time as i do a lot of htravelin and long hous in work, i know im crazy but i tend to think ahead. i would love to do the hibernia course post grad in teaching the only thing is i have all the requirments apart from hons irish. i got a c3 in ord irish in my leaving. is there any advise you can give me , would it be crazy now studying for the leaving cert for next year, and would it be hard to get the c3? any advise please i woud really appreciate x:o

JohnMearsheimer

No, of course it's not crazy. You are just expanding your options. I'm also 26 and I repeated leaving cert Irish in June this year 8 years after I sat the ordinary level paper.

Working fulltime and studying is tough, even if it is only one subject. Most times I would be completely drained after work and I'd have to spend the evening writing an essay on social problems in Ireland or something like that. You will certainly need motivation to get through it. I found the classes similar to college in that you will be trusted to be working away and learning yourself. There will be no teacher standing over you making sure you are working.

On the plus side you will be surprised how much Irish you will have retained. It's just buried in your mind. It will come out again. As my Irish got better I did enjoy turning on TG4 or reading Foinse and having a vague idea what they we on about. If you go through with it you will get great satisfaction from it. Even if I don't get my C3 on Wednesday I'll be happy that I gave it a bash.

As for leaving a secure job, that's something you will have to grapple with yourself. I finished college last year and have only been able to secure contract work since. I thought doing Irish and applying for teacher training would leave me in a better position than I am now, even with the embargo and the intense competition for the teaching posts available. Good luck with it if you go through with it!

twinklestar123

hi joe, thanks for your advice. i got a irish book at weekend and it's kind of flowing back to me. i got a c2 in ord though, what did you get?. did you study every night, and did you get grinds? if i do repeat it is for hibernia as i have higher english and ord maths so all i need is the c3. i like my job that i work in but i am just thinking of when im a bit older!!

twinklestar123

ps let me know how you get on wednesday. i hope you get te result you need

JohnMearsheimer

twinklestar123 wrote: »

hi joe, thanks for your advice. i got a irish book at weekend and it's kind of flowing back to me. i got a c2 in ord though, what did you get?. did you study every night, and did you get grinds? if i do repeat it is for hibernia as i have higher english and ord maths so all i need is the c3. i like my job that i work in but i am just thinking of when im a bit older!!

That's a good start anyway, you will be surprised the amount of Irish you will remember. I got a B3 in ordinary level back in 2002. Nope, didn't study every night. Trying to get homework done one week was hard enough. For study I tried to follow school holidays and of course did the obligatory crammng the week of the LC. I didn't go for grinds as I felt I didn't need them, just had an hour long class once a week after work.

twinklestar123 wrote: »

ps let me know how you get on wednesday. i hope you get te result you need

Thanks twinklestar, will do.

JohnMearsheimer

Well I got a C3 in Irish...just about enough