Leaving Cert Irish HL

Laylaxx

Hi, I'm doing my leaving cert next year and was wondering if anyone has advice on studying Irish. I'm doing ok in all my other subjects but I'm really afraid Irish is going to bring me down points wise and I can't afford to move down because I already do pass maths. Being honest I didn't do much last year and my teacher was pretty hopeless so that didn't help either but is it too late? How often should I be studying and any past pupils have advice? Thanks

Hey, I got an A2 in HL Irish this year and I'll just give you a few tips on what I did.
First off, I wouldn't consider myself good at Irish at all. It was the biggest shock of all my results.
Anyway;
1. Prepare for your oral above everything else. It's worth 40%. To tackle the Sraith Pictuir learn key vocab for each. Don't try learn it all off as you WILL forget it. For the conversation, know your strong points. I knew alcoholism and anti social behavior really well so I always mentioned that I liked going to clubs. I didn't know cyber bullying so I didn't mention the time I spent online (even though it is a hobby). I would ask your teacher to do a mock oral with you after school once a month.
2. Don't panic over the stories or the poems. They are worth so little marks.
3. Learn how to construct a sentence. Learn vocab. That's how to approach any essay questions. Learning essays off is again, pointless.
4. Practice tape and a comprehension each week. You will not see these before the exam and they are worth ~35%.

These are the main things I can think of but if you need anything else just P.M me.

HPMS

Hey, I got an A1 in Irish this year, a grade which I had always hoped I would get! So I'll give you a run down on what I did.

Prepare for the oral above anything else. It's 40% which is soooo easy to get. All you need to do is;

1. Know the sraith pictiur really well, like the previous poster do not learn them off by heart because chances are you WILL forget them! What I did was remember vocab for each, it's the easiest way. In each picture I'd always have the same approach...I'd start with the same corner and each thing in the picture kind of triggered the vocab in my brain...does that make sense?

2. Don't neglect the poetry reading. For me, it was easy marks but I still read over them from time to time making sure my pronunciation and expression were spot on. Please, don't throw away those 35 marks!

3. Finally, the conversation - learn off things to say for each topic. Know the easy topics really, really well. When you go in you should know what to say straight away if they ask you about your family, hobbies, school, etc. Don't neglect the conversation! Sometimes the sraith pictiur can take priority over the conversation since they seem like much more of a burden but in reality the conversation is worth more marks!

4. For the written paper, learn some seanfhocal, and nice vocab for topical essays. There isn't really much else you can do for Paper One. Knowing your grammar is essential though - the majority of marks go towards grammar so if you're not sure of what you're saying, don't say it at all. Keep it simple if you are not sure.

5. For Paper 2, the poetry and pros arent worth many marks so if you aren't gunning for an A, don't stress yourself out over them. I just knew a summary of each of my stories, and the techniques used in each of my poems (I did the extra poetry instead of An Triail). Once I had a summary of each story, I could adjust the summary to any question given to me. Same with the poetry, I always answered the questions using a technique seen in the poem. Know your poets too, easy 10 marks.

6. Listening; I spent a lot of time in the Gaeltacht over the years so this, along with the oral, came easy enough to me. In addition though, I listened to Raidio na Gaeltachta, watched TG4 (not that often) and did all the past paper listening questions.

Hope I helped! If you need any extra help, PM me. I'm happy to help!

Laylaxx

Both great answers, thanks for the help

Cookiemonkey

Hey does anybody have good notes on the poem an gheibheann or colscaradh ?!

louiseB900

Hey, does anyone have any tips on how to write an irish essay on "imirce"? Would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

d1234

louiseB900 wrote: »

Hey, does anyone have any tips on how to write an irish essay on "imirce"? Would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

If it was me, I would....
- If it's a debate use a formal introduction. However, for essay writing create a nice start such as introduce the topic well, what is it and why?
- Then, create a few points, even in english on another page and keep to them for instance, one point could be on the celtic tiger and the effects it has, the governments attitudes towards immigration and what they are doing to tackle it, what life in Australia, Canada etc is like for those (working in mines, cafes) and perhaps your own opinion. - You could also do role plays or cases, such as 'This is Joe. He is 25 and holds a degree in Architecture, but like so many has become the victim of our youth and also immigration. He is very successful in his career as a bartender, even though he is earning the minimum wage and works endless hours'
- Don't forget to throw in a few nice seanfhocal and nathanna cainte to spice things up!
- Make up statistics as well - makes your points stronger!

Good luck!

louiseB900

Thank you so much for your reply. I'm a mature student repeating Irish and finding it hard to write a good standard essay so your advice means so much. Thank you!

Calvin

Hey, just a question, are quotes absolutely vital for the stories and poetry essay section of paper 2? My teacher insists that these are necessary and I'm just wondering could we get by without having quotes?
Thanks.

d1234

Calvin Leong wrote: »

Hey, just a question, are quotes absolutely vital for the stories and poetry essay section of paper 2? My teacher insists that these are necessary and I'm just wondering could we get by without having quotes?
Thanks.

Hi - yes rather interesting question indeed!

Poetry - Firstly, I think that they will give you the poem on the page (they have done in HL for the last few years) so as regards to quotes for it, I don't really see the need. However, what I have noticed over the past 2 years is that 33% of the marks are going for info. on the poet. I would really focus on that!

Ainm an fhile = 1 mharc
Saol an fhile = 4 mharc
Saothar an fhile = 2 mharc


Regarding the stories, I suppose it's a good idea to know a few quotes, but also to know a good bit on the story/drama/prose itself. I usually would give my own opinion and answer the question that's being asked. However, that's my style and works well for me, but mightn't be for others. The marking scheme is 25m for content and 5m for Gaeilge. If you're doing 'An Triail', I would advise a few, key quotes to support your points. The marking scheme for that is 35m info. (facts & optinion) and 5m Gaeilge. Here's more info on that:

Iarrtar ar na hiarrthóirí plé a dhéanamh ar an ráiteas agus eolas / tuairimí a léiriú sa fhreagra agus usáid a bhaint as samplaí cruinne,téagartha ón téacs. Déantar an freagra a mheas mar aonad agus an t-eolas a mharcáil as 35 marc agus an Ghaeilge san iarracht a mheas as 5mharc. Ní mór don scrúdaitheoir an mionbhriseadh marcanna seo a léiriú sa fhreagarleabhar.

Good luck!

Calvin

d1234 wrote: »

Hi - yes rather interesting question indeed!

Poetry - Firstly, I think that they will give you the poem on the page (they have done in HL for the last few years) so as regards to quotes for it, I don't really see the need. However, what I have noticed over the past 2 years is that 33% of the marks are going for info. on the poet. I would really focus on that!

Ainm an fhile = 1 mharc
Saol an fhile = 4 mharc
Saothar an fhile = 2 mharc


Regarding the stories, I suppose it's a good idea to know a few quotes, but also to know a good bit on the story/drama/prose itself. I usually would give my own opinion and answer the question that's being asked. However, that's my style and works well for me, but mightn't be for others. The marking scheme is 25m for content and 5m for Gaeilge. If you're doing 'An Triail', I would advise a few, key quotes to support your points. The marking scheme for that is 35m info. (facts & optinion) and 5m Gaeilge. Here's more info on that:

Iarrtar ar na hiarrthóirí plé a dhéanamh ar an ráiteas agus eolas / tuairimí a léiriú sa fhreagra agus usáid a bhaint as samplaí cruinne,téagartha ón téacs. Déantar an freagra a mheas mar aonad agus an t-eolas a mharcáil as 35 marc agus an Ghaeilge san iarracht a mheas as 5mharc. Ní mór don scrúdaitheoir an mionbhriseadh marcanna seo a léiriú sa fhreagarleabhar.

Good luck!

Thanks man! Hate having to learn about a poet's life, but sure..that's the LC!

For the poetry quotes, my teacher always advised quoting it because the poem is given on the page so it's no extra effort. The reason behind quoting is just showing the examiner that you understand the poem and also shows them the part of the poem you are basing your answer on.

Calvin

Mhm, I'm just thinking about the stories now. I've done a few essays on them already and I'm struggling to find any semi-decent quotes in some of them.

rosie1997

Hi I'm doing my leaving cert this year and I'm really worried about Irish! I'm not great at it and my teacher is terrible! I thought I was doing ok until I realised how little we have done on essays and the oral. I just want some advice on how to learn essays, I have notes from previous leaving certs for the oral and those notes are brilliant! Anyone have any advice?:O

Calvin

rosie1997 wrote: »

Hi I'm doing my leaving cert this year and I'm really worried about Irish! I'm not great at it and my teacher is terrible! I thought I was doing ok until I realised how little we have done on essays and the oral. I just want some advice on how to learn essays, I have notes from previous leaving certs for the oral and those notes are brilliant! Anyone have any advice?:O

I don't know if it's the best advice, but for the essays I just learned off general phrases/vocab that I could use in most essays and learned off a small bit of the more specific vocab for each section. The same applies for the pros and poetry. For the oral, I pretty much just focused on the sraith and had a small few phrases learned off but I also had the modh coinniolach learned to perfection. Hope it helps, good luck!