Why must Irish be compulsory??

partyatmygaff

RadioClash wrote: »

What's a dead subject when it's at home? One where you take an irrational dislike for it? Then take on an extra subject or two by choice and blame the former subject for the workload?

In sixth year, what I would have called a dead subject is a subject that I didn't realistically see myself using after school or more importantly needing for points. Nothing to do with like or dislike of the subject.

To repeat myself, I don't dislike Irish. What I do dislike is the fact it is compulsory.

WillieFlynn

spurious wrote: »

Irish is compulsory because it is the first official language of the country.

Should it be compulsory? I don't know, not with so much irrational hatred towards the subject, I suppose.

Most of the comments against Irish or more commonly against compulsory Irish to LC, are totally rational.

They range from not wanting to do a language which hasn't been part of their culture for generations, not being particularly good at it and having to take extra LC subjects to make up for that, preferring to do a different language instead, etc., wether you agree with them or not is another issue.

One of the biggest problems with the Irish (and English) course for LC, is that they are two subjects in one; the language and literature. And have two exams, where as most LC subjects only have one. That alone would turn students off the subject.

spurious wrote: »

Can you call a person 'educated' who can only converse in one language?
Can you call a person 'educated' who knows nothing of their country's history or geography?
Can you call a person 'educated' who makes basic grammar and spelling errors in their first language, or does not read books for pleasure?
Slightly thinking out loud here.

Funny that when this argument is used, Maths and science are often left out.

LordSutch

RadioClash wrote: »

What's a dead subject when it's at home?

Well Irish is pretty dead when its in my home, we converse in English, we watch english speaking TV, we watch English speaking DVDs, and we listen to Englisah speaking Radio, same goes for the neighbours, come to think of it 'personally' I don't know of any house where Irish is spoken in the home. No doubt Irish is spoken more at home over in the West.

QueenOfLeon

DepoProvera wrote: »

No, you don't understand. Some people may not have a natural aptitude for the compulsory subjects and therefore have to take other subjects to achieve the A1s they need for their chosen course. Thankfully I'm not in that position, but surely you can see the logic in this?

<snip>

DepoProvera, please familiarise yourself with the rules of boards.ie and the Leaving Cert forum charter. Personal attacks will not be tolerated and any more remarks like your previous ones will result in a ban.

Luker365

We'll speaking as a student in secondary school who most certainly will not be able to attend college in Ireland because of that useless, dying, frustrating, scary ****ing language. I struggle so badly with irish I can barely achieve 20 percent in any exam. My leaving cert is next year and I'm doomed to fail irish. And before you say it, no I don't have this problem with any other subject including French which I am in higher level and achieving mostly a' sand b's. In this country you need to pass irish to get into college no matter the course which is absolutely ludacris. It really angers me when people say it should be compulsory, it has absolutely no value in our society. We learn the language for 14 years and never use it again, but we need it for 3rd level education? Something is seriously wrong

eyescreamcone

Irish is not mandatory for a lot of third level courses.
See TCD and institutes of technology in particular

robman60

Luker365 wrote: »

We'll speaking as a student in secondary school who most certainly will not be able to attend college in Ireland because of that useless, dying, frustrating, scary ****ing language. I struggle so badly with irish I can barely achieve 20 percent in any exam. My leaving cert is next year and I'm doomed to fail irish. And before you say it, no I don't have this problem with any other subject including French which I am in higher level and achieving mostly a' sand b's. In this country you need to pass irish to get into college no matter the course which is absolutely ludacris. It really angers me when people say it should be compulsory, it has absolutely no value in our society. We learn the language for 14 years and never use it again, but we need it for 3rd level education? Something is seriously wrong

One thing I can identify as wrong is your attitude to begin with. I had an identical attitude to you until third year and then I realised I was the problem, not the subject. Not pontificating, but try actually making an effort and there's no way you'll fail ordinary level. Ask yourself this question: If you had such a terrible attitude to other subjects, would you succeed in them? Just think carefully about that and you may realise that there's more to this "problem" than the language of our country.

These posts will probably be deleted due to you bumping such an old topic, but perhaps you'll realise you need to direct your blame elsewhere.

Aspiring

Luker365 wrote: »

We'll speaking as a student in secondary school who most certainly will not be able to attend college in Ireland because of that useless, dying, frustrating, scary ****ing language. I struggle so badly with irish I can barely achieve 20 percent in any exam. My leaving cert is next year and I'm doomed to fail irish. And before you say it, no I don't have this problem with any other subject including French which I am in higher level and achieving mostly a' sand b's. In this country you need to pass irish to get into college no matter the course which is absolutely ludacris. It really angers me when people say it should be compulsory, it has absolutely no value in our society. We learn the language for 14 years and never use it again, but we need it for 3rd level education? Something is seriously wrong

I was just like you. Scraped a D in the junior cert, got to the leaving cert and much of the same until I moved class and really started looking at the paper seriously. Irish is easier than ever. Most of the comprehension answers could probably be found by someone who doesn't even speak Irish simply by matching the words up with the question. The essay titles are so broad and varied you can drag anything you've learned off into them. The oral is merely practice, learn off the Sraith Pictiur, and just practice answering questions. You just need to realise how easy Irish is if you really think about it. I realised this too late unfortunately, I am now in 6th year but have went from a D junior cert grade to high C honours standard now, hoping to get a B in the real thing. If you start working now you could probably get an A! Honestly, the problem is not the subject it's peoples attitudes. Your friends say "I hate Irish" and so it catches on and people all think the same. It's really not that difficult at all and can be enjoyable

Mr Pseudonym

eyescreamcone wrote: »

Irish is not mandatory for a lot of third level courses.
See TCD and institutes of technology in particular

+UL and DCU.

I feel for eyescreamcone, though. I was in that position a few years ago (I decided to stop going to Irish class), but, it was sorta handy, because it forced me to focus on getting into Trinity!