Irish at UCD having done ordinary level for Leaving Cert. Please help.

hkeane

Hi guys, this is my first post on boards.ie so if it's in the wrong place or anything please let me know. don't shoot the noob

Anyway my question is towards anyone doing Irish at UCD

I have been told by college sources that it is possible to do Irish at UCD through the BA even if I do ordinary level Irish for the leaving cert next June.
Obviously they told me that I would have to do certain modules, all through Irish of course, before I could take my place with people who got a B3 or higher in Higher level.

My question is if any of you reading this have done Irish as I wish to do?
I know it would be hard work but i'm willing to do it. Is it hard (i know its not easy) to adjust to the new level of Irish expected of you.

I have also posted this post on other colleges, eg NUIM.

I know it can be done, but what is it like from a students perspective?

El Siglo

hkeane wrote: »

Hi guys, this is my first post on boards.ie so if it's in the wrong place or anything please let me know. don't shoot the noob

Anyway my question is towards anyone doing Irish at UCD

I have been told by college sources that it is possible to do Irish at UCD through the BA even if I do ordinary level Irish for the leaving cert next June.
Obviously they told me that I would have to do certain modules, all through Irish of course, before I could take my place with people who got a B3 or higher in Higher level.

My question is if any of you reading this have done Irish as I wish to do?
I know it would be hard work but i'm willing to do it. Is it hard (i know its not easy) to adjust to the new level of Irish expected of you.

I have also posted this post on other colleges, eg NUIM.

I know it can be done, but what is it like from a students perspective?

What I would and I suspect others here reading would like to know is, why bother doing Irish at all if you're only doing ordinary level? I'm not a fan of the CAO points or Leaving Cert nonsense (which it is) but I would assume that the jump from secondary, like all subjects is a fair one. I know a chap from Letterkenny, fluent Irish speaker and he still has trouble with the subject.

Gingy

It depends hkeane on how much work your willing to put in. As El Siglo says, you would probably be better off doing a subject your better at, but it is doable. They offer a first year module 'Buncloch na Gaeilge' for people who got less than a B in higher Irish, a few weeks of that and you should be able to catch up.

Go n-éirí leat ar aon nós.

HavingCrack

Op, being brutally honest here, if you weren't able to handle Irish at Leaving Cert Honours level you'll really struggle with university Irish which is a much higher step up again. I'd seriously re think doing Irish even if you're allowed in.

snickerpuss

I did Irish in UCD from 2004-2007 and we were told we should have at least a B3 in Honours. I'm fluent having gone to a Gaelscoil and I still found it hard at times, particularly with essay writing. All classes are completely as gaeilge and doing things like medieval Irish poetry/literature, linguistics or Irish language journalism is hard enough being fluent to be honest. It's something I would really think about.
I wanted to do French when I started but had to accept I just didn't have the standard.

hkeane

My standard of Irish isn't bad. I choose to do ordinary level so I could put more of an effort into Maths as I was sure I wanted to do science at the time. I had considered moving back up to higher level last december, but there were various factors involved in the decision to stay in ordinary level. As it is I've being doing extra work in it anyway as I think it's important to not have wasted 12 years of learning it.

I am willing to put in the work but as has been mentioned its the transition that I'm inquisitive about.
I haven't settled on definitly doing Irish but at the moment it's not something I have ruled out either. It's between languages or science so I'm really exploring every option as a possibility.

Thanks again for the replies.

El Siglo

I would email a lecturer in UCD and ask about the course. I don't think that Irish education is such a waste by not carrying it on to university and if you're so keen on it, I'm sure the Cumman would more than welcome you into membership and not only can you enjoy the language but also have good craic with other people there. I know people that have gone into language courses in UCD and it has soured their opinion of the language (i.e. the stuff they loved the language for was ignored and replaced with something entirely esoteric). If you work hard you'll be okay but to be honest, scraping through an Irish degree is by no means an easy feat.

Gae

Is ordinary level Irish radically different to honours level? When I did the LC, if I remember correctly, the course was the same but the questions on the ordinary level paper were easier. If that's still the case, you should definitely consider going back up to honours level.

You say your Irish isn't bad and you're willing to put in the work. Why not do that now? Put in the extra work at this stage, prove your Irish is good enough, and meet the entry requirement. If you're not able to do that, then you shouldn't really do Irish at University level because you will just line yourself up for a few years of misery by playing 'catch-up' the whole time.

As someone else pointed out, there are lots of other ways to keep your Irish up without having to study it to degree level. There's the Cumann in the college, lots of clubs and societies outside college, and lots of venues you can use the language. I know a lot of Irish speakers, many of them didn't study Irish in college.

Also, if you decide to do honours and the school won't let you, just keep in mind that if you want to sit the honours paper on the day, they can't stop you. (but don't do that unless you're prepared and confident you can get a good mark)

hkeane

The HL paper has a novel of some sort on it and many essays like you'd find in french and german as opinion questions. Just on general stuff such as discrimination and unemployment. I'm considering at least making a stab at the HL paper and trying my best. If worst comes to worst I could take the OL paper on the day. At the end of the day if I can't do it I can't do it.
I'm certainly not interested in four years of stress "playing catch-up"

The Cumann.. why didn't I think of that? Fairplay to you, on the ball.

I'm definitely going to take all the advice on board. Thanks again for all the replies.

simons104

I got a C1 in my LC Irish and found Irish in UCD absolutley rock hard, ended up dropping out

conor.hogan.2

I got a c3 in higher level and came out with a 2.1 in irish plus I actually did slightly better in it than history.

If you want to do it you will get through it no bother but I think they recommend a c3 in higher level but thats only a recommendation.

I did it as a joint major in arts and there was only two modules on grammar that counted (2 and 3 year) but obviously you're grammar has to be decent or you loose marks on essays and exams even if its not a grammar module.

Seanchai

hkeane wrote: »

Hi guys, this is my first post on boards.ie so if it's in the wrong place or anything please let me know. don't shoot the noob

Anyway my question is towards anyone doing Irish at UCD

I have been told by college sources that it is possible to do Irish at UCD through the BA even if I do ordinary level Irish for the leaving cert next June.
Obviously they told me that I would have to do certain modules, all through Irish of course, before I could take my place with people who got a B3 or higher in Higher level.

My question is if any of you reading this have done Irish as I wish to do?
I know it would be hard work but i'm willing to do it. Is it hard (i know its not easy) to adjust to the new level of Irish expected of you.

I have also posted this post on other colleges, eg NUIM.

I know it can be done, but what is it like from a students perspective?

I failed ordinary level Irish in the LC. :eek::eek: Going into 2nd year Irish next September. 1st year was very tough, but I got through so obviously I was delighted at my own personal transformation. Success is always relative.

As it's years since I did 1st Year, I'm starting an Irish course with GaelChúltur this February and will return to Corca Dhuibhne for a couple of weeks this summer. Most of all, before starting next September every spare moment will be dedicated to getting thoroughly familiar with the grammar and practising my essay writing. UCD produce some great self-made grammar books which are well-worth getting your hands on as they are clear and concise. I think the idea above to do the 'Buncloch na Gaeilge' module would be very wise. Also, it would be well worth your while emailing Kathleen Clune, the secretary of Roinn na Nua-Ghaeilge. She's very approachable and helpful. She can advise you much better on the supports available and which lecturer to talk to.

Of course, if you haven't made the switch yet, have RnaG on all the time just to familiarise yourself with the language. I actually found it relatively easy to follow all the lectures because I was so familiar with hearing Irish spoken on the radio. I also went to the gaeltacht and kept that contact in Corca Dhuibhne and that was enormously helpful throughout first year. I cannot emphasise this enough. I was on the phone almost every second day.

It's all about motivation for me. I know after getting through 1st year, and making that huge leap in my standard of Irish, that I can continue to improve hugely and get a high 2.1 by 3rd year. It's going to take a huge effort, but if I wanted a doss arts degree I would have done something less challenging. There is a huge number of social clubs, night courses, conversation classes, drama, trad soc and other clubs to meet people and practice my Irish now. That's a massive support system. When people see you're working at it and you're improving there's a lot of meas and goodwill towards you. From this February I'm going to use them more, and because I'll be more on top of the grammar, I'll feel much more confident speaking Irish. Confidence breeds confidence.

Summary: it's hard work, but very, very doable!

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat.

Iwasfrozen

Or you could just not bother. Your choice. lol.

Seanchai

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Or you could just not bother. Your choice.

Or you could just stop bringing your loserdom hatred for Irish into every thread. Your choice. :rolleyes:

hkeane

Seanchai wrote: »

I failed ordinary level Irish in the LC. :eek::eek: Going into 2nd year Irish next September. 1st year was very tough, but I got through so obviously I was delighted at my own personal transformation. Success is always relative.

As it's years since I did 1st Year, I'm starting an Irish course with GaelChúltur this February and will return to Corca Dhuibhne for a couple of weeks this summer. Most of all, before starting next September every spare moment will be dedicated to getting thoroughly familiar with the grammar and practising my essay writing. UCD produce some great self-made grammar books which are well-worth getting your hands on as they are clear and concise. I think the idea above to do the 'Buncloch na Gaeilge' module would be very wise. Also, it would be well worth your while emailing Kathleen Clune, the secretary of Roinn na Nua-Ghaeilge. She's very approachable and helpful. She can advise you much better on the supports available and which lecturer to talk to.

Of course, if you haven't made the switch yet, have RnaG on all the time just to familiarise yourself with the language. I actually found it relatively easy to follow all the lectures because I was so familiar with hearing Irish spoken on the radio. I also went to the gaeltacht and kept that contact in Corca Dhuibhne and that was enormously helpful throughout first year. I cannot emphasise this enough. I was on the phone almost every second day.

It's all about motivation for me. I know after getting through 1st year, and making that huge leap in my standard of Irish, that I can continue to improve hugely and get a high 2.1 by 3rd year. It's going to take a huge effort, but if I wanted a doss arts degree I would have done something less challenging. There is a huge number of social clubs, night courses, conversation classes, drama, trad soc and other clubs to meet people and practice my Irish now. That's a massive support system. When people see you're working at it and you're improving there's a lot of meas and goodwill towards you. From this February I'm going to use them more, and because I'll be more on top of the grammar, I'll feel much more confident speaking Irish. Confidence breeds confidence.

Summary: it's hard work, but very, very doable!

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat.

Thanks for the reply. It's really encouraging to hear that it can be done.
I listen to french radio and it really helps with my french. The RnaG idea is genius. Completly slipped my mind.

May I ask how you got a place on the course having failed it in the leaving cert?

Thanks again. To everyone. I think even if I don't do irish at college I've been given a few good ideas to not forget at least all the irish I have learned up to now.