Rote Learning vs. Active Learning!

Cupertinokiid

So it all really comes down to this at the end of the day :P what do people think is a better system to maximise their points in the leaving cert. I know for me in subjects like Irish and german it will be rote learning all the way! The way languages are thought in schools is a joke! Most people have been doing Irish since primary school, thats at least 15 years of it, and still they cant string together a simple sentence!! What do other people think about this issue? I'm baffled :P

spurious

Depends what you are learning. Some things lend themselves to rote learning, some don't.

It's not a one size fits all thing.

Not sure what the issue has to do with the state of Irish.

Sunny!!

depends on the subject

for example geography and business are just rote learning

but for all sciences, even biology it you need to be active and understand it!

Cupertinokiid

Well yes we can all go through every subject and say it has rote learning somewhere in it but what im really trying to get at is that unlike maybe Biology or Business ,Irish and German/French have very little relevance after the LC, and the rote learning in languages is of no use because you will not be able to use your little essay answers to have a normal convo abroad to a large extent....and as for Irish...its just there like. Then theres me trying to see the point in learning it, its like an unstoppable force against an immovable object, and I just dont see the point, really does shows the flaws in the education system here, although i will admit it is fair in many respects however like everything else it has its faults, I suppose my main point here is that rote learning and languages are a bad combination! Its like giving a Chinese man an essay in english about politics and expecting him to have a conversation in Ireland solely using whats in that essay, even though he probably doesnt understand most of it and just learns it off, its madness really when you think about it and that is basically what they are doing to us! :P

ConorCBS

Cupertinokiid wrote: »

I suppose my main point here is that rote learning and languages are a bad combination!:P

Well yes. You are actually supposed to learn how to speak the language, not just learn off a few essays.

And whatever about Irish, I can't see how German and French have little relevance after the LC?

Cupertinokiid

ConorCBS wrote: »

Well yes. You are actually supposed to learn how to speak the language, not just learn off a few essays.

And whatever about Irish, I can't see how German and French have little relevance after the LC?

well essentially what you are doing with German/French is the exact same as what your doing in Irish, learning off just enough to get you through an exam, but you still wont be able to have a conversation with a a person abroad as you will not have spoken a language enough to derail from the Oral, which you will also have learnt off! its like a never ending trail of pointlessness, why learn a language at all if we can't speak it after 6 years?...again madness!

Canard

Errrr, did you ever consider rooting out a basic grammar book for Irish and learning it properly? It's not a teacher's job to teach you past, present and future tenses if you've been learning the language for 8 years.

And if you learn the French and German languages rather than essays, you won't have trouble with it. The exams absolutely do not encourage rote-learning - you can't even predict them. Fair enough I'm studying French in college now, but I was definitely able to have a conversation in it in 6th year and I never sat down to learn off essays, not even once.

It depends on your approach to it. Try and enjoy languages, they're actually useful in a rather broad sense.

Slow Show

Cupertinokiid wrote: »

well essentially what you are doing with German/French is the exact same as what your doing in Irish, learning off just enough to get you through an exam, but you still wont be able to have a conversation with a a person abroad as you will not have spoken a language enough to derail from the Oral, which you will also have learnt off! its like a never ending trail of pointlessness, why learn a language at all if we can't speak it after 6 years?...again madness!

I dunno, I'd say it depends on the person really, I think I and other people in my class would be able to get along reasonably well talking to a French person. I mean we wouldn't be discussing philosophy or anything but like je me debrouillais (lol if that's wrong). I think when it comes to languages, you can't just rely on your time spent in class to dictate how much learning you do. I think it'd be very hard to do very well in a language without having some interest outside of it - watching films, TV shows, reading books, all in that language. I can't really talk seeing as I only really got into doing this this year but it does help!

Anyway to answer the original question, I think once you understand the actual concepts, it's all good. People say Biology is all rote learning but actually making the small effort to understand what you're actually learning is surely easier? I'll have to admit that I do rote learn a little bit for Irish though, I like to think that the fact that I understand what I'm committing to memory counts for something but I don't know really.

Mr. Rager

Sure, Biology can be all rote learning if all you're looking for is a C or B. But I think someone aspiring for an A1 would really need to understand it.