LC HL Irish Oral

karkar athlete

Hi,

I am taking LC higher level Irish this year as an external student. I am currently in college but need it to go back into Primary Teaching when I finish my current degree because I got a D3 back in 2011. I am doing it all on my own and I have only started to look at some of the Irish over the weekend as I had a lot of college work up to now but I have the two weeks off for Easter so I have a bit of time at the moment. I have my irish oral on the 26th of April.

I am wondering has anybody else here ever done an Irish oral as an external student and what kinda questions do they ask??

The other question I have is you go in and have the reception (i.e. name, address, exam number etc) then read the poetry (do we bring in our own copy with pronunciations etc on it or do they supply it???) next the pictures (can you select 5 of them to study rather than all 20 like the previous sliocht's) then general conversation.

Thanks for any help at all

aimzLc2

Hey, i wasn't an external student but yea you can bring in your own copy of poetry so you can write your own stuff on them, they will pick one at random ,give you a minute to look over it before reading , then the picture question, you need to know 20! they put 20 in a pocket and you just pick one out at random! they will ask you 3 questions about it after and you ask them 3 questions. The general conversation goes by very fast , they only have time to ask a few topics

ray2012

I'm not an external student either, but just to add that the questions you may get asked for being an external student may be :

• Why are you repeating Irish?
• How you find repeating/the new Irish course compared with the old?
• How you study for Irish, and how you find the subject?
• If your parents/friends support your decision to repeat?
• What did you do after your previous leaving cert?
• Would you repeat again if you didn't get a C3?

They may be a few questions that you could get asked.

karkar athlete

Thank you so much for the reply clears a few things up and for the suggestions for questions that I could be asked probably wouldn't have thought about all of them. Unfortunately my Easter hasn't gone to plan so far as I have been in bed with the flu all week so still haven't got to do anyway work on it.

However in relation to the reading of the poetry part for the poems where me need to read out two or three verses, do we pick them or the examiner selects what verses to read.

David1994

karkar athlete wrote: »

Thank you so much for the reply clears a few things up and for the suggestions for questions that I could be asked probably wouldn't have thought about all of them. Unfortunately my Easter hasn't gone to plan so far as I have been in bed with the flu all week so still haven't got to do anyway work on it.

However in relation to the reading of the poetry part for the poems where me need to read out two or three verses, do we pick them or the examiner selects what verses to read.

The examiner generally will just tell which verses he/she wants you to read.
If he/she does not state which verses to read, just read the whole poem

Leaving Cert Student

The poem is a very handy q. The sraithpictiuiri really arent all that bad too once you study them a fair bit... the comhrá is where its at!

borrch

What's the difference between higher and ordinary level irish oral? Is OL marked easier? It would seem a bit unfair if they're marked the same...

11Charlie11

borrch wrote: »

What's the difference between higher and ordinary level irish oral? Is OL marked easier? It would seem a bit unfair if they're marked the same...

No they are marked the same. The examiner doesn't know if the student is higher or ordinary but I think they are able to tell after the first few questions.

borrch

But hows is a OL student suppose to get any marks? Obviously their irish is alot less. Im doing OL and id be happy to just pass, but i'd rather be compared to another OL student because obviously i'm crap compared to a HL student. To be honest i'd be extremely happy if i could walk away with 20-25% out of 40%. But i'll only get that if i learn the poems & pictures well. I'm F***ed if they ask any question that's not about family, school, hobbies, college etc

11Charlie11

borrch wrote: »

But hows is a OL student suppose to get any marks? Obviously their irish is alot less. Im doing OL and id be happy to just pass, but i'd rather be compared to another OL student because obviously i'm crap compared to a HL student. To be honest i'd be extremely happy if i could walk away with 20-25% out of 40%. But i'll only get that if i learn the poems & pictures well. I'm F***ed if they ask any question that's not about family, school, hobbies, college etc

That's generally all they really ask .. There isn't much time for the general conversation

ray2012

HL and OL will be marked the same, as the above poster said. But after the first questions, the examiner will usually identify which level you are, and will more than likely ask easier questions if he realises you are an OL student.

But yeah, it is supposed to be extremely difficult, almost impossible, for an OL student to get an A in the oral part of the exam. To get that, they'd have to be of a really high HL standard! Quite unfair really.

borrch

Is that the departments why of trying to encourage more HL irish students? My biggest fear of the LC is failing irish. I am truly crap at it, but i love all the sciences. There's such a big difference to OL french/german etc compared to OL irish. But then i've been very unlucky with the irish teachers i've had. Everyone of them were terrible, it's a pity because it is a lovely language.

Gumbi

ray2012 wrote: »

HL and OL will be marked the same, as the above poster said. But after the first questions, the examiner will usually identify which level you are, and will more than likely ask easier questions if he realises you are an OL student.

But yeah, it is supposed to be extremely difficult, almost impossible, for an OL student to get an A in the oral part of the exam. To get that, they'd have to be of a really high HL standard! Quite unfair really.

This isn't true at all. It's actually really easy to get full marks in this section, especially as its not marked to a curve.

ray2012

Gumbi wrote: »

This isn't true at all. It's actually really easy to get full marks in this section, especially as its not marked to a curve.

I mean it's extremely difficult for OL students to get full marks in the oral. They are being marked in comparison to HL students. They'd need a fairly high standard to get full marks (be the level of a high standard HL student). And if they were of such a high standard it doesn't make sense them being in OL.

Gumbi

ray2012 wrote: »

I mean it's extremely difficult for OL students to get full marks in the oral. They are being marked in comparison to HL students. They'd need a fairly high standard to get full marks (be the level of a high standard HL student). And if they were of such a high standard it doesn't make sense them being in OL.

Not really. As said, the examiner doesn't know whether a student is HL or OL. Most students rote learn for the oral anyway, all the examiner needs is to hear enough quality vocab and grammar to give a good mark. OL students can do quite well in the oral.

ray2012

Gumbi wrote: »

Not really. As said, the examiner doesn't know whether a student is HL or OL. Most students rote learn for the oral anyway, all the examiner needs is to hear enough quality vocab and grammar to give a good mark. OL students can do quite well in the oral.

Obviously students in an OL class aren't going to learn (or at least spend much time learning and getting used to) the saorbhriathar or the modh coinnolach for example. A HL class' vocabulary is going to be higher than that of an OL class, I'm sure. I know in the OL class in my school, they are told to just get 3 lines per picture in the Sraith picture, in comparison to the HL class being told to get 6. Just say there are 30 students in the OL class, some may be there as HL Irish takes up too much time, but other students are there as they find HL far too tricky and difficult. I again highly doubt they'll be taught much about complicated grammar, as in the conditional tense or the saorbhriathar (as I mentioned above). If you were a HL student, the examiner would be listening out for these tenses, and if you don't have them, your answer will more than likely not sound as high-standard in comparison to a HL student who is constantly using them at ease.

I am not saying that students in OL can't get an A in the oral, but it would be extremely difficult, in my opinion. If the student can understand all the grammar and use a wide range of vocabulary, why would he/she be doing OL? If you can understand that much in HL you're bound to do well. Yeah I understand there are students that may drop down as they have 6 HL subjects or whatever, and they are the people most likely to get an A, but still quite unlikely as they will be learning what the OL class is learning, and again, what I think wouldn't be to the same standard at all to a HL class.

I suppose some students may get lucky if they rote learn everything, and the examiner only asks questions they've learned. But that would be quite unlikely IMO, as I know they are trying to cut down hugely on 'learned-off blocks' of material.

Gumbi

ray2012 wrote: »

Obviously students in an OL class aren't going to learn (or at least spend much time learning and getting used to) the saorbhriathar or the modh coinnolach for example. A HL class' vocabulary is going to be higher than that of an OL class, I'm sure. I know in the OL class in my school, they are told to just get 3 lines per picture in the Sraith picture, in comparison to the HL class being told to get 6. Just say there are 30 students in the OL class, some may be there as HL Irish takes up too much time, but other students are there as they find HL far too tricky and difficult. I again highly doubt they'll be taught much about complicated grammar, as in the conditional tense or the saorbhriathar (as I mentioned above). If you were a HL student, the examiner would be listening out for these tenses, and if you don't have them, your answer will more than likely not sound as high-standard in comparison to a HL student who is constantly using them at ease.

I am not saying that students in OL can't get an A in the oral, but it would be extremely difficult, in my opinion. If the student can understand all the grammar and use a wide range of vocabulary, why would he/she be doing OL? If you can understand that much in HL you're bound to do well. Yeah I understand there are students that may drop down as they have 6 HL subjects or whatever, and they are the people most likely to get an A, but still quite unlikely as they will be learning what the OL class is learning, and again, what I think wouldn't be to the same standard at all to a HL class.

I suppose some students may get lucky if they rote learn everything, and the examiner only asks questions they've learned. But that would be quite unlikely IMO, as I know they are trying to cut down hugely on 'learned-off blocks' of material.

There is a base standard, and that standard is low. There is no curve. That's why a high mark in the oral is very achievable for an OL student.

David1994

Gumbi wrote: »

Not really. As said, the examiner doesn't know whether a student is HL or OL. Most students rote learn for the oral anyway, all the examiner needs is to hear enough quality vocab and grammar to give a good mark. OL students can do quite well in the oral.

Yes but often a bit of fluency and comfort in speaking the language is needed for a high grade. I am not saying that ordinary level students cannot do this but I know a lot cannot, purely because they do not like Irish and rarely study it.

I personally think it is ridiculous for the marking to be the same...Like there is a big difference between an ordinary level student doing really well in the oral and then a higher doing really well. There would also probably be a big difference in marks awarded, which is very unfair.

Gumbi

David1994 wrote: »

Yes but often a bit of fluency and comfort in speaking the language is needed for a high grade. I am not saying that ordinary level students cannot do this but I know a lot cannot, purely because they do not like Irish and rarely study it.

I personally think it is ridiculous for the marking to be the same...Like there is a big difference between an ordinary level student doing really well in the oral and then a higher doing really well. There would also probably be a big difference in marks awarded, which is very unfair.

But there isn't, as I explained.

ray2012

Gumbi wrote: »

There is a base standard, and that standard is low. There is no curve. That's why a high mark in the oral is very achievable for an OL student.

A low standard to get 50% maybe, yeah. But to get a high mark (in OL or HL), you'd need to sound fluent and the conversation would have to flow naturally almost. Your answers would have to lack many mistakes grammatically and your vocabulary would have to be fairly good. A 'high standard' from an OL students point of view may be far different from that of a HL students point of view.

Just repeating what I said in the last post, I could never see an OL class getting the same standard of grammar/vocabulary as a HL class. An ordinary level student getting an A is possible, without doubt, but I wouldn't class it as 'easy' at all.

Moody_mona

I always thought the common marking scheme was so that higher level students still had the opportunity to change level at any stage after the oral?

ray2012

Moody_mona wrote: »

I always thought the common marking scheme was so that higher level students still had the opportunity to change level at any stage after the oral?

Yes it is. Whatever mark the student got in the oral will be the same mark he/she still gets, even if he/she dropped down to OL.

inthezone

I have a slightly odd question that I'm hoping someone can answer for me regarding the sraith pictiúrs!

When it comes to asking the examiner three questions about the picture sequences, does it matter if the question allows the examiner to say exactly what's shown in the picture or can they make up an answer? I don't know if I phrased what I mean well, but say for example, the sequence about selecting the student of the year. Could you ask how many students were in the hall, even though it's not specifically clear? Or would you have to ask something that gives a more definitive answer like 'how was whatever her face feeling?'

I hope someone can shed some light on this, I'm a little anxious over it

ray2012

inthezone wrote: »

I have a slightly odd question that I'm hoping someone can answer for me regarding the sraith pictiúrs!

When it comes to asking the examiner three questions about the picture sequences, does it matter if the question allows the examiner to say exactly what's shown in the picture or can they make up an answer? I don't know if I phrased what I mean well, but say for example, the sequence about selecting the student of the year. Could you ask how many students were in the hall, even though it's not specifically clear? Or would you have to ask something that gives a more definitive answer like 'how was whatever her face feeling?'

I hope someone can shed some light on this, I'm a little anxious over it

You are supposed to give questions that have definite answers, as in "What was the time in picture 5" if it shows the time in that picture. You are not supposed to ask opinion questions. My teacher said that some teachers may not take marks off and they may accept your questions, but some others will dock marks if the answers aren't obvious in the picture.

You can nearly use the same 3 Q's for every picture, don't make it too complicated. :pac: It doesn't matter how simple your questions are, if you ask them correctly, you get the 10 marks.

For example my 3 questions for almost (if not) every picture are :

1) Cad a tharla i bPictiúr a ..
2) Cad a deir Seán i bPictiúr a .. (where he has said something in speech bubbles)
3) Cad a bhí (e.g an phríomhoide/Jimmy) ag déanamh i bPictiúr a ...

inthezone

ray2012 wrote: »

You are supposed to give questions that have definite answers, as in "What was the time in picture 5" if it shows the time in that picture. You are not supposed to ask opinion questions. My teacher said that some teachers may not take marks off and they may accept your questions, but some others will dock marks if the answers aren't obvious in the picture.

You can nearly use the same 3 Q's for every picture, don't make it too complicated. :pac: It doesn't matter how simple your questions are, if you ask them correctly, you get the 10 marks.

For example my 3 questions for almost (if not) every picture are :

1) Cad a tharla i bPictiúr a ..
2) Cad a deir Seán i bPictiúr a .. (where he has said something in speech bubbles)
3) Cad a bhí (e.g an phríomhoide/Jimmy) ag déanamh i bPictiúr a ...

Awesome, thanks! The reason why I asked was because my teacher told me we can't ask questions that you have already described the answer to during the first part of it, and I tend to not have any questions left to ask after I've described everything, but then I heard my friend say they changed it so that we now can ask questions we've already covered the answers to Is this true?

ray2012

inthezone wrote: »

Awesome, thanks! The reason why I asked was because my teacher told me we can't ask questions that you have already described the answer to during the first part of it, and I tend to not have any questions left to ask after I've described everything, but then I heard my friend say they changed it so that we now can ask questions we've already covered the answers to Is this true?

Your teacher seems to be talking rubbish! :rolleyes:
You can ask any question (if you've covered it or not in your description), just be sure that answer is in the picture like I've said in the other post.

karkar athlete

Hi everyone again,

well my preparation for this oral has been less than perfect and haven't done much at all, finally looked at half the SP and dánta the other day. I have my oral next Friday so still a bit of time.

Anyway my main question here is about the SP. I am wondering what kinda questions do the ask like are they picture specific or general about the whole sequence. And is it they ask three and then after you answer all of them do you just start asking them questions???

aimzLc2

karkar athlete wrote: »

Hi everyone again,

well my preparation for this oral has been less than perfect and haven't done much at all, finally looked at half the SP and dánta the other day. I have my oral next Friday so still a bit of time.

Anyway my main question here is about the SP. I am wondering what kinda questions do the ask like are they picture specific or general about the whole sequence. And is it they ask three and then after you answer all of them do you just start asking them questions???

They are usually not difficult questions! they will probably be based on the pictures , what time is it in picture 3? where were they going?etc You ask your 1 question they answer, you ask a second they answer you ask a third they answer then they will do the same The questions were probably the easiest bit of sp for me! i thought they would be harder

tubs12

Hi guys

I am an external student going back repeating my Irish and to say that I am dreading the oral is an understatement.
I was just wondering has anyone else gone back and repeated the Irish and what were your experiences.
I was wondering will the examiner just focus on why I am repeating the Irish or will it just depend on the examiner?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated?

charmedxox

tubs12 wrote: »

Hi guys

I am an external student going back repeating my Irish and to say that I am dreading the oral is an understatement.
I was just wondering has anyone else gone back and repeated the Irish and what were your experiences.
I was wondering will the examiner just focus on why I am repeating the Irish or will it just depend on the examiner?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated?

HI tubs12,
in in the same boat,frieked out at the moment over the orals!!they cant come quick enough. Have you got a date yet?my examiner hasn't contacted me yet and its adding to the stress!
I suppose its gonna depend on the examiner what they ask but my grinds teacher reckons they will def ask why your back doing the Irish again, if your workin, what you do. She also thinks that if there's stuff you want to talk about drop it in where you can and the examiner would be happy to discuss normal day to day stuff rather than the usual school rules and all that that a normal leavin cert student would be rattling off!here's hoping eh ;-)

tubs12

Hi Charmedxox

Ya i think the reason why you are doing Irish will definitely come up.
I received the letter but got no confirmation as to when the oral will be.
I was wondering will we be sent a second letter for confirmation of the time and date
Fingers crossed it goes well and i hope we both get a nice examiner