An awkard situation and study hours...eek

Seloth

Right since its 6th year I have to kunckly down,but I dont want to destroy myself either and I have a rather awkward situation.

Pretty much I'm hoping to do government in UCC and its only around 340(I'm pretty sure its less though) but I'm going to aim for 400 anyway just incase.

Now heres the problem,I'm shocking at Irish,so bad infact for the 5th eyar summer tests I handed up a blank page.I'm one,if not the worst in my class as well.I did take up grinds but they werent as helpful as I thought((The guy was great mihgt I add)).

Also,I decided to drop spanish for Japanese when I was in 4th year,However unlike my former school which I left after 4th year they do not have a japanese teacher and so I had to attend saturday classes,which I dropped just before christmas(Its hard to explain but with the stress of the school I switched too,I needed a full two day weekend).I still did Japanese myself but admingly not much:(

Thats pretty much the situation,I go to one of those private leaving cert schools that specialise in 5th and 6th year,there are after stchool study halls and free after school extra classes if you need help with a subject(Yeah there gridns but with 10 other people heh)Also I'm ment to be getting a DCD/Dyspraxia test but if thats not the situation then I really do need help with my languages.

So any ideas on how long I should as I'm only aiming for so much and tips with the language situation,I know tis is kidna thrown together but its how I am at the moment with the LC.While I'm sure I could attain the points,I'm quite worried about the languages.

Thanks for any help ye can give

thedizzler

Hey Seloth,
Sorry to hear you're having problems! I have to start by saying I know nothing about Japanese, or it's exam at Leaving Cert level. But I do know you need a modern foreign language for most courses at third level (definitely check this out for your specific course though, don't stress yourself out for nothing!)
Irish can be off-putting, as it's a broad course, taking into account the play, the poems, stories, and elusive stair na gaeilge. The good news is, most modern foreign language courses are not like that. I know definitely for French, it tends to be a constant paper, and with the right technique it's not too much of a headache at all. You do need to put in the work, however, and get the head down and start focussing now. I won't get too specific, I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for, but I'd say find someone, be it a teacher, a family member or an extracurricular class that can help correct your mistakes, then start learning. 5 minutes on 5 topics for the oral, lots of linking sentences, the recurring written questions, and download an MP3 of your chosen language and get listening to it on the way into school every morning. You have time and ressources, an honour is well within reach. Feel free to PM if you want specifics!
All the best!

Seloth

Thanks

Good thing about Japanese is that its equivlent to doing a JC paper in the leaving.

thedizzler

Well that's definitely a positive! Also, it's obviously a less popular choice, so less people pushing the standard higher. (I reaped the rewards of this myself for Latin!) Still and all, the best advice is to get yourself into a regular class and knuckle down for the next year.
Best of luck!