Leaving Cert as Gaeilge (Bonus Marks for Irish)

graceknowsstuff

Hi, I'm eh, new here. I searched the forums and internet, this doesn't seem to be a very discussed topic.

Anyways, the whole Bonus Marks for Irish thing - do you have to do EVERY subject in Irish for that to apply, or could you just ask for a paper 'as Gaeilge' for one or two subjects? I thought that it was the latter but my Irish teacher seemed pretty sure it was all or Irish or none.
It doesn't really say here, but I took from that that you could pick and choose but not really sure.
It's more of a fleeting thought rather than something I really want to do, but I'd like to know! Has anyone here done any Leaving Cert papers in Irish or considered it? Thanks.

Conor108

No idea!

But I've alway wondered if I just ticked 'Did it Irish' on a maths (no/few actual words to write) would you get extra marks? Or would they give you the paper in Irish

Mary007

Coughs... Hi

I also wondered about that but you should be able to do it for just individual papers?

GLUEY

It's all or none I believe.

almostnever

AFAIK, you have to do them all through Irish or none at all. Could be wrong though,the only people I know who did the Leaving Cert through Irish are friends of friends.

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

syklops

Its all or nothing.

My mother did it all in Irish when she was at leaving and got her extra points. The only problem is, to this day, she only knows the irish words for mathematical and scientific words. I can see problems arising for people getting to college and having to relearn maths/science jargon in english.

Also, if you dont know the irish equivalents and write down the english words in say the Maths paper, you will drop marks.

I would only recommend doing it all in Irish if you are already in a Gaelscoil.

Its a daft idea anyway.

**Timbuk2**

I think it's a daft idea. The extra points that you get are probably not worth the effort of doing the subjects through Irish. The thought of writing a Geography essay in Irish is pretty horrific.

MathsManiac

It's not all or nothing - you can pick and choose which subjects you do through Irish. You have to make sure you indicate it when you're applying, as otherwise no Irish versions of the paper will be sent to the school.

Also, if you're taking the paper through Irish, you are entitled to get an English copy of the paper too. (You won't get it automatically - the superintendent gives it to you if you ask for it.)

rainbowtrout

MathsManiac wrote: »

It's not all or nothing - you can pick and choose which subjects you do through Irish. You have to make sure you indicate it when you're applying, as otherwise no Irish versions of the paper will be sent to the school.

Also, if you're taking the paper through Irish, you are entitled to get an English copy of the paper too. (You won't get it automatically - the superintendent gives it to you if you ask for it.)

+1

However, if you think you can take a shortcut and ask for an Irish paper that requires the answers to be written onto the paper (many of the Ordinary Level ones are done like this, or short answer questions on Higher Level) and answer the Irish paper in English, you will not get the bonus. Answers must be in Irish.

10% of the marks you are awarded in the subject are added on if you do it through Irish, up to a score of 70% ( I think), then it's a sliding scale downwards for the bonus as you go into the higher grades from 70-100%.

So if you score 50% in Geography through Irish you will get 5% added on as your bonus. It's not an automatic 10% for everyone.

Jammyc

I thought it was 10% of the marks that you missed out on that you get? Maybe I'm wrong tho. Ill go have a look


Yeah, I was wrong.

Examinations Website wrote:

Bonus marks at the rate of 10 per cent of the marks obtained will be given to a candidate who obtains less than 75 per cent of the total marks in the case of the following subjects:- Latin, Greek, Classical Studies, Hebrew Studies, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Physics and Chemistry, Biology, Science, Business, Economics, Economic History, Agricultural Science, Agricultural Economics, Home Economics, Music, Business Studies, History and Appreciation of Art, Civic, Social and Political Education, Religious Education, Arabic, LCVP Link Modules - written component only.

Bonus marks at the rate of 5 per cent will be given to a candidate who obtains less than 75 per cent of the total marks in the case of the following subjects:- French, German, Italian, Spanish, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Accounting, Engineering, Construction Studies, Materials Technology (Wood), Metalwork, Technology, Typewriting, Russian, Japanese.

Bonus marks at the rate of 3 per cent will be given to a candidate who obtains less than 75 per cent of the total marks in the case of the subject Art, Craft, Design (Junior Certificate).

Above 75 per cent the bonus will be subjected to a uniform reduction until the candidate who scores 100 per cent gets no bonus.

No bonus will be given in the case of the following subjects:- Technical Graphics, Technical Drawing, Leaving Certificate Art (other than History and Appreciation of Art).

For the purpose of the award of bonus marks, Mathematics, Paper I and Paper II, will be treated as separate subjects.

missypiggy

I did my entire lc through Irish and I would definitely recommend it. However I always went to Irish schools so for me I think it would have actually been more difficult to do my exams in English.

syklops wrote: »

I can see problems arising for people getting to college and having to relearn maths/science jargon in english.

Although I didn't have this problem myself (I'm studying English), I know people who found english maths terms confusing when they first went to college. They seemed to get used to it pretty quickly though.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I think it's a daft idea. The extra points that you get are probably not worth the effort of doing the subjects through Irish. The thought of writing a Geography essay in Irish is pretty horrific.

That's a pretty narrow minded opinion I think! Like I said, for someone who has always learned through Irish it's the most natural thing, the extra points are just a bonus!

Just to clarify, the bonus points are 10% of the marks you DIDN'T get...eg if you score 60%, you will get an extra 4% to raise your mark to 64%. However I think if you score 90% or higher it no longer applies.

MathsManiac

missypiggy wrote: »

Just to clarify, the bonus points are 10% of the marks you DIDN'T get...eg if you score 60%, you will get an extra 4% to raise your mark to 64%. However I think if you score 90% or higher it no longer applies.

That is not the case, as can readily be seen from the information on the SEC website, already quoted by Jammyc in the previous post.

If you score 60%, you'll get 6% added in a subject that attracts 10%.

Of course, it's not done on the percentage, it's done on the mark. Suppose there's a subject that's marked out of 400 and gets the bonus at the rate of 5%. Then, for marks up to 300 (which is 75% of 400), the bonus is a straight 5% of what you got. If you scored 240 marks (60%), you would get 5% of 240, which is 12 marks, giving you 252 out of 400 (66%). If the calculation doesn't go evenly, the mark is rounded down. (E.g., if you 239 marks, your bonus would be only 11 marks even though 5% of 239 is 11.95.)

If you get more than 75% the "sliding scale" kicks in. Examiners get a table telling them how many marks to award, to save them having to work it out, but it's easy enough: you subtract your mark from the total, and get three times the percentage of that. So, if it's a 400 mark paper attracting 5%, and if you got 340 marks out of 400, (which is more than 75%) you subtract 340 from 400, giving 60), and then get 15% of that, which is 9 marks, giving you a final total of 349.

Some of the marking schemes have all of the above information in them, but not all of them do. For an example of one that does, see the last page of the 2009 higher level maths scheme: http://www.examinations.ie/archive/markingschemes/2009/LC003ALP000EV.pdf

graceknowsstuff

syklops wrote: »

Its all or nothing.

My mother did it all in Irish when she was at leaving and got her extra points. The only problem is, to this day, she only knows the irish words for mathematical and scientific words. I can see problems arising for people getting to college and having to relearn maths/science jargon in english.

Also, if you dont know the irish equivalents and write down the english words in say the Maths paper, you will drop marks.

I would only recommend doing it all in Irish if you are already in a Gaelscoil.

Its a daft idea anyway.

Yeah, it was my mother having done it that had me thinking.
However, she told me she only did one or two subjects through Irish? Not really sure, maybe there was that choice yeeeears ago when she went to school!


Anyways, thanks for clearing that up; I wasn't overly bothered as the only subjects I COULD do through Irish I will, hopefully, score high enough in, anyways! It was just, as I said, one of these things that occurred to me (I don't usually trust what my teacher says)!

gemxpink

I think it's a really good thought. I'd love to do it through Irish but Home Economics would be dreadful!

emememem

was in a gaeltacht school, you can pick whichever subjects you want to do through irish. most people in our school did the science subjects through english and everything else through irish.

i'd suggest doing maths and whatever languages.
if you dont go to an irish school i wouldnt advise you to do history or anything like that! its tough!!
you will get both an irish and english copy of the exam paper

oh and we were always told its 10% of the mark you didnt get. if it was 10% of the mark you did get you could end up with 110%
its really annoying when people think we just get 10% extra or when they give out, it is harder to do learn subjects through irish.

Corkfeen

I'm in an irish speaking school and you get used to doing exams etc through irish fairly quickly. I'm contemplating doing my entire biology paper in english (don't mind losing bonus) simply because the terminology drives me nuts. All other subjects are grand in irish. Wouldn't reccomend someone trying it out if they don't learn their subjects through irish.

grrrrrrrrrr

syklops wrote: »

Its all or nothing.

My mother did it all in Irish when she was at leaving and got her extra points. The only problem is, to this day, she only knows the irish words for mathematical and scientific words. I can see problems arising for people getting to college and having to relearn maths/science jargon in english.

Also, if you dont know the irish equivalents and write down the english words in say the Maths paper, you will drop marks.

I would only recommend doing it all in Irish if you are already in a Gaelscoil.

Its a daft idea anyway.

There are people repeating in my school this year who did the entire leaving in irish last year and they are finding it extremely difficult in english!! they keep saying the irish words in class. this'll be a balls when they go to college!

Just a point to remember!

and i tink its a daft idea too! if you expecting a high B or A in subjects then dont bother!!

do the poll on the other thread in this forum about banning irish! just to get yeer opinions!

ChristinaIndigo

I don't think I'd even attempt it if I had fluent Irish......

Half the words you'd need for something like Geography could be so confusing because, realistically - more than half of them would never have been needed in conversational Irish.

God knows what way the questions would come up! lol!

Really can't see why people attempt it.....

Fair play though if you go for it. Really not my cup of tea though!

xxxxx

Fad

syklops wrote: »

Its all or nothing.

My mother did it all in Irish when she was at leaving and got her extra points. The only problem is, to this day, she only knows the irish words for mathematical and scientific words. I can see problems arising for people getting to college and having to relearn maths/science jargon in english.

You basically relearn everything in college if you do technical subjects like maths or science, irrespective of what language you used to gain entrance into college with.

Leaving Cert does not provide an adequate foundation.

jreanor

I realize this thread is a sold as the hills but I couldnt find any information on it. Just to let everyone know the Irish bonus isnt all or nothing. I dont go to an Irish school and I sat my Maths exam as Gaeilge this and will be doing the same for Applied maths. The superintendent just gives you both Irish and english papers.

Some useful information here also:
http://www.examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=ca&sc=im

bidy

I did all of mine through irish and because i'm from donegal our irish isn't really the same as whats in the irish books...so we learn from english books ans just sorta translate in our heads or some f the teachers write irish notes. but its not that bad! i did geography and history in irish aswell as everything else.

citizenerased1

Conor108 wrote: »

No idea!

But I've alway wondered if I just ticked 'Did it Irish' on a maths (no/few actual words to write) would you get extra marks? Or would they give you the paper in Irish

exact same :L

i was so tempted

Legend45

gemxpink wrote: »

I think it's a really good thought. I'd love to do it through Irish but Home Economics would be dreadful!

home economics through irish is a pure NIGHTMARE i'm from the gaeltacht and whoever wrote that book must've learnt irish on a far far away planet

i go to a gaelscoil and our teachers basically told us that they may say they give the marks but in all honesty, it makes no difference because they dont care if its english or irish?therefore i never took any notice if i did actually get any bonus marks?...i'd be super happy if i did!

pog it

graceknowsstuff wrote: »

Hi, I'm eh, new here. I searched the forums and internet, this doesn't seem to be a very discussed topic.

Anyways, the whole Bonus Marks for Irish thing - do you have to do EVERY subject in Irish for that to apply, or could you just ask for a paper 'as Gaeilge' for one or two subjects? I thought that it was the latter but my Irish teacher seemed pretty sure it was all or Irish or none.
It doesn't really say here, but I took from that that you could pick and choose but not really sure.
It's more of a fleeting thought rather than something I really want to do, but I'd like to know! Has anyone here done any Leaving Cert papers in Irish or considered it? Thanks.

Good woman Grace, I hadn't a clue this existed!

jreanor

citizenerased1 wrote: »

exact same :L

i was so tempted

My Applied Maths teacher says her students have been doing it successfully for years. You just get both Irish and English papers.

I think she said its not enough just to tick the box. You have to write on the application we got in May. Just so that it goes to an Irish speaking examiner. Not sure about this though. Just ticking is worth a try if you havent applied to do it.

JRooster

is it really all or nothing? im so disapointed! i just finished today and i did them all in irish except for one

Indigo Sunrise

It's not all or nothing. I'm doing one subject in English too and I know many others doing the same. The bonus marks for Irish are calculated separately for each subject so it doesn't matter if you're doing one in English.

JRooster

Indigo Sunrise wrote: »

It's not all or nothing. I'm doing one subject in English too and I know many others doing the same. The bonus marks for Irish are calculated separately for each subject so it doesn't matter if you're doing one in English.

that's what i thought...thanks for that, nearly cried

xemmsx

I seriously think its well deserved though.. I mean even though I've been going to an all irish speaking school my whole life its still way harder to do the LC in irish.. We basically have understand it in english and in irish and then learn it in irish.. its learning it twice really.. no offence to anyone but the idea of doing the LC in english would be like a break for my head!! hahaha:D:D

still wouldnt change for the world I love being fluent in fairly unknown language.. it can come in very handy if you what i mean :cool:

MavisDavis

xemmsx wrote: »

I seriously think its well deserved though.. I mean even though I've been going to an all irish speaking school my whole life its still way harder to do the LC in irish.. We basically have understand it in english and in irish and then learn it in irish.. its learning it twice really.. no offence to anyone but the idea of doing the LC in english would be like a break for my head!! hahaha:D:D

still wouldnt change for the world I love being fluent in fairly unknown language.. it can come in very handy if you what i mean :cool:

This might be a bit off-topic, but I don't think bonus points for Irish is fair. You've been going to an Irish speaking school your whole life, I've been going to English speaking ones - why do you deserve more marks than I do?

Nobody is making you do the Leaving through Irish and most of the people who attempt it live in the Gaeltacht and speak Irish as their first language. English is my first language - where are my bonus marks?!