LC Cert Irish

Helenm98

Hi

I'm going on to 5th year and I gave to choose if I'm doing higher or ordinary level Irish , I'm struggling in making the choice , I did higher level Irish for JC and luckily i got a C cuz i really suck at Irish so I'm wondering should i do higher level. I know that you're allowed to drop down level but Would it be hard to catch if i gave up HL after a year and try OL?
Guys , what are the difference about OL and HL is there a big gap between them?

I'm so stressed , is HL really hard , well every subject is hard but what i really mean is the stuff learned would be way way hardier than OL stuff ? Please Help me!!

Thanks in advance

flump_master

I sort of know your dilemma, I got a B in HL JC Irish but decided to drop to OL LC at the start of 5th year because of an extra subject. However due to space constraints I was forced to remain in the HL class for the whole of 5th year so I got the best of both

First up the poetry and prose is the same for higher and ordinary. The questions are harder at HL but the subject matter is the same (think summaries vs. deep character analysis) In sixth year HL students go on to study a play (I think the most common is An Triail) and most HL classes will do work on essay writing over the 2 years. The oral is the same for both. Paper 1 for OL is letters and stories, an essay at HL. Paper 2 is prose, poetry and comprehensions for both and an extra question on the play at HL

Personally I found sticking out the year at higher level was one of the best things I did. I left the class with solid spoken Irish, a good understanding of the texts and vastly improved grammar. 6th year OL was a doss after that and I breezed trough the oral and papers. I'd say think about at least keeping HL up for a few months and then making a decision after Christmas. You won't be at any disadvantage, and it might just do you some good

AtomicKoala

I think it'd be wise to stick with HL until 6th year starts - bar the essay writing, everything you learn will be of use in OL Irish. You probably won't be under much time pressure in 5th year anyhow.

Then you can side to drop down, before you start doing An Triail.

Helenm98

flump_master wrote: »

I sort of know your dilemma, I got a B in HL JC Irish but decided to drop to OL LC at the start of 5th year because of an extra subject. However due to space constraints I was forced to remain in the HL class for the whole of 5th year so I got the best of both

First up the poetry and prose is the same for higher and ordinary. The questions are harder at HL but the subject matter is the same (think summaries vs. deep character analysis) In sixth year HL students go on to study a play (I think the most common is An Triail) and most HL classes will do work on essay writing over the 2 years. The oral is the same for both. Paper 1 for OL is letters and stories, an essay at HL. Paper 2 is prose, poetry and comprehensions for both and an extra question on the play at HL

Personally I found sticking out the year at higher level was one of the best things I did. I left the class with solid spoken Irish, a good understanding of the texts and vastly improved grammar. 6th year OL was a doss after that and I breezed trough the oral and papers. I'd say think about at least keeping HL up for a few months and then making a decision after Christmas. You won't be at any disadvantage, and it might just do you some good

Thanks so much , I'll keep what you said in mind , thankx

Calvin

I got a C in HL Irish for the JC and I stuck with doing HL for my LC just gone. Didn't find it tremendously difficult..all I did was learn all the tenses and then just gradually build up on general essay phrases etc. pros/poetry/sraith can easily be rote learned and shortened down.

otpmb

I got a B in higher level irish for the junior cert and a b2 in higher level irish for the leaving cert, to be honest the only reason I got a b2 for the leaving cert was that I had good oral irish and talked continously for my oral.

In my opinion you should take some time to evaluate your skills, have you good spoken irish, are you talkative and chatty these skills would help your oral immensely (which is 40 percent of your irish exam), do you mind learning phrases, small paragraphs, do you have good irish grammar (these skills help your essay writing which is 13 percent of the exam), you got a C in the jc but, you might be capable of doing much better.

For the leaving cert I found the listening to not be much harder than the jc (maybe 1 or 2 difficult questions each year). I found the oral to be nice enough (once you know the basics about yourself and can chatter on about a few abstract topics you're sorted). I found the prose and poetry tedious and long considering they were only worth 1/6th of the marks (but if you don't mind learning phrases and vocabulary this is probably a nice section too), the comprehensions are fine too, you can quote straight from the text and no longer need to change the answers. Essays writting can be okay or horrible some teachers will make you write many essays, others might make you learn off essays, other teachers might prescribe very few essays and expect you to wing it on the day (e.g my irish teacher). Irish grammar is pretty sickening at times and can really screw your grades so try to keep a handle on it from the beginning. The fail rate is much higher for higher level than ordinary level (5 percent v.s 0.3 percent), you should remember this if you feel you could be a D student in irish.

The ordinary level course is much easier and straightforward; essays are the same as junior cert essays except you do 2 instead of 1, comprehensions and listening would also be about the same skill level as junior cert higher level. Poetry and prose section is longer for leaving cert ordinary level but not necessarily more difficult (summary, emotions, style, key points). The oral is common level, examiners aren't told if you are honours or pass but, generally they will realise you are pass level quickly and ask you easy and simple questions.

Generally junior cert honours level is a little easier than leaving cert ordinary level.

Lastly I would advise you to sign up for higher level irish at the start of the year and get to know your teacher, a good teacher you can relate to will make learning any subject easier, if you realise immediately that you won't work well with your teacher (e.g they focus on teaching the course in a way you don't like, like prescribing lots of learning homework instead of written homework), see what your other subjects are like, what grades you feel you could get in them, what points do you need for the courses you want to do in college, think about whether you need grinds, talk to your parents, older cousins and friends who've sat the leaving cert and also talk to career guidance in your school (but don't bitch to career guidance about your teachers, they don't like it).

If you feel higher level irish is for you but need some help most schools give out a few scholarships each year for irish colleges (you have to write an essay on why you want a scholatship and possibly sit a short interview) the GAA can give out loads of scholarships too (this does depend on where you live though) and sometimes all you need to do to get a GAA scholarship is show up for one game in a season and warm the bench for an hour.

Troxck

I was like you, had to decide doing Higher or Ordinary Level, I got a C for JC HL Irish and to me that was a struggle so I decided to do the Ordinary Level course for the Leaving Cert. I only decided this because the remaining six of my subjects were quite strong at HL (I'm able to get As and Bs in these subjects) and I felt HL Irish would be a drag in my time. I'm glad I decided to do OL since I won't be stressing over it. You study a very similar course to those doing HL just at a much more accessible level. (Same poems, stories and Sraith Pictiur) so if you decided to do Higher Level in 5th but decided you'd prefer to do Ordinary Level in 6th, you wouldn't be at a loss. For me the course is at the same level as Junior Cert HL, the essays we had to learn for 5th Year summer test were the same I learnt for my Junior Cert. The reading comprehensions are very similar, if not easier than Junior Cert HL.

If you're certain you don't need Irish at HL and you're string in your other subjects, consider it. I would recommend at least attempting it for 5th Year.

Helenm98

Calvin Leong wrote: »

I got a C in HL Irish for the JC and I stuck with doing HL for my LC just gone. Didn't find it tremendously difficult..all I did was learn all the tenses and then just gradually build up on general essay phrases etc. pros/poetry/sraith can easily be rote learned and shortened down.

Are the poetries and an Triail hard enough?

Helenm98

AtomicKoala wrote: »

I think it'd be wise to stick with HL until 6th year starts - bar the essay writing, everything you learn will be of use in OL Irish. You probably won't be under much time pressure in 5th year anyhow.

Then you can side to drop down, before you start doing An Triail.

Is An Triail difficult ? Are the questions simple enough ? Can it be learned off by heart?

xLisaBx

We did gafa, it was handy enough. I wouldn't say LC honours is much harder than JC honours, all grand if you hold your nerve for the oral

Helenm98

otpmb wrote: »

I got a B in higher level irish for the junior cert and a b2 in higher level irish for the leaving cert, to be honest the only reason I got a b2 for the leaving cert was that I had good oral irish and talked continously for my oral.

In my opinion you should take some time to evaluate your skills, have you good spoken irish, are you talkative and chatty these skills would help your oral immensely (which is 40 percent of your irish exam), do you mind learning phrases, small paragraphs, do you have good irish grammar (these skills help your essay writing which is 13 percent of the exam), you got a C in the jc but, you might be capable of doing much better.

For the leaving cert I found the listening to not be much harder than the jc (maybe 1 or 2 difficult questions each year). I found the oral to be nice enough (once you know the basics about yourself and can chatter on about a few abstract topics you're sorted). I found the prose and poetry tedious and long considering they were only worth 1/6th of the marks (but if you don't mind learning phrases and vocabulary this is probably a nice section too), the comprehensions are fine too, you can quote straight from the text and no longer need to change the answers. Essays writting can be okay or horrible some teachers will make you write many essays, others might make you learn off essays, other teachers might prescribe very few essays and expect you to wing it on the day (e.g my irish teacher). Irish grammar is pretty sickening at times and can really screw your grades so try to keep a handle on it from the beginning. The fail rate is much higher for higher level than ordinary level (5 percent v.s 0.3 percent), you should remember this if you feel you could be a D student in irish.

The ordinary level course is much easier and straightforward; essays are the same as junior cert essays except you do 2 instead of 1, comprehensions and listening would also be about the same skill level as junior cert higher level. Poetry and prose section is longer for leaving cert ordinary level but not necessarily more difficult (summary, emotions, style, key points). The oral is common level, examiners aren't told if you are honours or pass but, generally they will realise you are pass level quickly and ask you easy and simple questions.

Generally junior cert honours level is a little easier than leaving cert ordinary level.

Lastly I would advise you to sign up for higher level irish at the start of the year and get to know your teacher, a good teacher you can relate to will make learning any subject easier, if you realise immediately that you won't work well with your teacher (e.g they focus on teaching the course in a way you don't like, like prescribing lots of learning homework instead of written homework), see what your other subjects are like, what grades you feel you could get in them, what points do you need for the courses you want to do in college, think about whether you need grinds, talk to your parents, older cousins and friends who've sat the leaving cert and also talk to career guidance in your school (but don't bitch to career guidance about your teachers, they don't like it).

If you feel higher level irish is for you but need some help most schools give out a few scholarships each year for irish colleges (you have to write an essay on why you want a scholatship and possibly sit a short interview) the GAA can give out loads of scholarships too (this does depend on where you live though) and sometimes all you need to do to get a GAA scholarship is show up for one game in a season and warm the bench for an hour.

Thank you very Much , thank you !!

otpmb

Helenm98 wrote: »

Thank you very Much , thank you !!

Glad I could help you can PM me if you need anymore help.