Do i need a third language?

sirboby

First of apologies if this is not in the right forum as this topic could also relate with leaving cycle.

When i started 1st year, i was in the first year in my school to not require to take a third language and Business but i took German anyway as i was told i needed it to get into college and I took Business as i thought I would be good at it and it would be just nice to have. I am very good at business and science and excel in Maths, i am doing all honers subjects for the upcoming junior cert except for Irish when i just dropped down to pass recently as our teacher was horrible and really should not of been teaching at an honors level but also because i have never been that good at languages. After the mocks we are going to have to pick our subjects for 4th and 5th year, my school is allowing us to do 7 subjects.

Do i need to take German again in leaving cycle, i have looked around the courses i like and none of them require a third language and i would much rather do something im good at/like to get better points as i know my points from Irish will not be great. I am nearly positive i will do something to do along the lines of Computer Science.

Right now i am doing:
H: Math
H: English
O: Irish
H: German
H: Science
H: Business
H: History
H: Geography
H: Art
C: C.S.P.E

For leaving cycle i plan on doing DCG even though its recommended to have done TG in the JC, but after talking it over with teachers and past students i am confident i will be able to pick it up and do well.

I plan on doing Physics as I really enjoy it and it all seems to make sense to me.

I Probably will do Accounting as i Like it.

Then theres the forth slot, after the compulsory Irish, English and Math there is one slot left. I dislike Geography, I dont mind History, i dont really think i should do Art for Leaving cert, then theres German which im really hoping to avoid. I could do another Science or even another business but i have no idea.


Sorry if this is a bit of a mess but any inputs would really help.

emersyn

Unless you are 100% confident that you are going to go into a specific Computer Science course somewhere that doesn't require a third language, I would really recommend keeping German up even if you feel that you aren't very good at it. If you don't take it you're shutting yourself out of so many options when you still have over three years left in school. This is a good resources for subject choices

Bazinga_N

I dropped my third language after Junior Cert because I hated it and I was 100% certain that I didn't need it for any of my courses. Then 5th year came (I did 4th year first) and I had to take it back up because I had completely changed my mind on my course. Now in 6th year I've no idea what I want to do anymore but I'm very glad I have my third language just in case!

Look I know it's annoying but it's a lot better to have it than not have it. You'll find a number of people will be doing ordinary level in your language by the time the Leaving Cert comes around because they're only using it for matriculation rather than points. You could do it at ordinary level too and it wouldn't take much too much of your time/effort. My advice would be to just keep it on and have your other subjects as a backup.

Maybe if you really don't like German, you could try taking up Japanese for the Leaving Cert. It's only expected to be taken up in TY so you wouldn't need any Junior Cert experience. If you live in Dublin, Cork or Sligo (not 100% sure on this one) the government offers free classes on a Saturday I think! Maybe check that out.

Best of luck either way!

spurious

Schemes such as Erasmus can be handy if you have another language.

CathalRyano

If you hate languages, don't do it, in my own opinion. I'd recommend doing the subjects you like and you'll probably be fine in terms of courses anyway. You could. of course, do the ordinary level german exam by getting grinds outside school while doing the 4 options you like in school. As long as you get a d3 you should be fine for most courses that require a language. A lot of people in my school go for this option.

Cakerbaker

Depending on what you want to do after school you may need a third language. Some Universities like Trinity, UCD, UCC and a few others have it as an entry requirement for many courses that don't necessarily require a language. Might be worth checking that out before making your decision.

carefulnowted

I think you should keep your language for safety's sake, you can always drop down to OL if it becomes too much work.

You mentioned that you like maths and physics, would you consider doing Applied Maths outside of school? It's a relatively short course and there's loads of material online to teach yourself. That would give you a back-up in case you struggle with your language. Just a suggestion! Best of luck.

shluachra

You should do OL German in school along with OL Irish and just put in enough effort to pass. That presumably will give you 5 HL subjects. You could then do a subject like business, economics, or applied maths outside school at HL to boost your points.

sirboby

Yea we learned in school yesterday that if there is enough numbers(there should, its a big school) we will be able to do applied maths twice a week at lunchtimes if we choose to, id love to do it.

Im still strongly considering not doing german for senior cycle as none of the courses im looking at need it.

Anyway im doing TY next year so i have another year to decide.