ORALS!!

BarrysTeaBag

Any tips you guys want to share about the orals ? Personally I'm screwed for Irish, our teacher gave us nothing to do with them for Easter or in the last few weeks !! Got no notes either ! anyone want to help leave your tips here, thanks

ray2012

For both Irish and French/German, just try sound as natural as possible when speaking. If you sound fluent while speaking, and have confidence in speaking in the language, you can't do too bad.

Also, for the SP's in Irish, try learning sentences that can be used in many pictures as it will cut down on the amount of learning you need to do. I would advise just to learn phrases/seanfhocails and the specific vocabulary some pictures need. Don't make it too complicated - Keep it relatively simple. Use a nice Modh Coinniolach or a nice phrase to impress anois is arís! But overall, as my teacher says - ''Just say what you see!''

amymak

You've probably heard this so many times, but it is true, the orals go ridiculously quickly.

This is particularly the case in Irish. What with the SP and the poem you only have about seven or eight minutes of actual speaking, which really is nothing.

My main tip is to focus on the simple, personal stuff. (Family, school, holidays, college etc.) If you know those really well and can speak at length about them you shouldn't have a problem. (And you have been doing the topics since primary school.) There's such little time that it's highly unlikely that you'll get to talking for any length about an abstract topic.

Remember, the examiner is probably going to start with a simple enough topic. Then they have to fit it a question in the past, future and conditional.

Last year, I had a ton of abstract stuff prepared and I kept on trying to bring them into the conversation but the guy didn't take the bait and kept to the personal stuff.

Also, have a few filler phrases (dáiríre, chun an fhírinne a rá etc) and practice until you're comfortable throwing them in and they'll ensure that you sound like you have a wider vocabulary and that you're comfortable with the language. Ones like that can be used in the SP as well.

With regard to the SP, again it flies by ridiculously quickly. You only have 30 seconds for each picture and a minute for the questions which is even less than you think. You don't want to lose time from your comhrá and lose marks as a result. If you time yourself, you realise how little time you can waste with emms and umms and you realise that you just have to (as the previous poster mentioned) say what you see.

At least every second day for the Easter holidays I went to my friends house and we practiced the Irish and French oral. It was fantastic for my oral in both languages. You may have learned off a ream of material, but it's entirely different knowing it in your head and actually repeating it back to someone in the form of a conversation. We timed each other for the SP as well. (It took a lot of effort to get me down to time.) It's also the most fun you'll have in studying.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

ray2012

amymak wrote: »

You've probably heard this so many times, but it is true, the orals go ridiculously quickly.

This is particularly the case in Irish. What with the SP and the poem you only have about seven or eight minutes of actual speaking, which really is nothing.

My main tip is to focus on the simple, personal stuff. (Family, school, holidays, college etc.) If you know those really well and can speak at length about them you shouldn't have a problem. (And you have been doing the topics since primary school.) There's such little time that it's highly unlikely that you'll get to talking for any length about an abstract topic.

Remember, the examiner is probably going to start with a simple enough topic. Then they have to fit it a question in the past, future and conditional.

Last year, I had a ton of abstract stuff prepared and I kept on trying to bring them into the conversation but the guy didn't take the bait and kept to the personal stuff.

Also, have a few filler phrases (dáiríre, chun an fhírinne a rá chun na fírinne a rá etc) and practice until you're comfortable throwing them in and they'll ensure that you sound like you have a wider vocabulary and that you're comfortable with the language. Ones like that can be used in the SP as well.

With regard to the SP, again it flies by ridiculously quickly. You only have 30 seconds for each picture and a minute for the questions which is even less than you think. You don't want to lose time from your comhrá and lose marks as a result. If you time yourself, you realise how little time you can waste with emms and umms and you realise that you just have to (as the previous poster mentioned) say what you see.

At least every second day for the Easter holidays I went to my friends house and we practiced the Irish and French oral. It was fantastic for my oral in both languages. You may have learned off a ream of material, but it's entirely different knowing it in your head and actually repeating it back to someone in the form of a conversation. We timed each other for the SP as well. (It took a lot of effort to get me down to time.) It's also the most fun you'll have in studying.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I always made that mistake with 'chun an fhírinne a rá' and my teacher never noticed it until last week. 'Fírinne' is feminine, so in the tuiseal ginideach it will take 'na' and then won't take a 'h'.

Eurovisionmad

Much like the posters about me, have your personal stuff well prepared, I was talking to an oral examiner recently and she said that her brain tends to be so mashed from listening to so many people talk about the same things that as long as you come in and make a reasonable first impression and start off well she knows you should be getting high enough marks anyway! Confidence is key though, even if you have something learned off word-for-word don't recite it back as a drone, put on a proper Gaelgoir or French/German accent, put emphasis where it needs it, even use hand motion to emphasise a point, you may end up looking like a total tit during it but the chances are that you'll never see that person ever again so how bad!

Also, as my teacher would tell us, lead the conversation, so many people come out of the oral crestfallen that the examiner didn't ask him/her something in the módh cóinnnialach or on X, Y or Z, but the point is you can do it yourself, if you see a chance to bring in something that you've learned off, no matter how strenuous the link is it doesn't really matter, there's no points going for relevance (within reason!) it's all about exhibiting good Irish/French. Like lets say that the examiner asks on road accidents, causes of road accidents could be alcohol, there's a chance to get that in, why people people drink then could be exam pressure and you can go on and on like that!

Slow Show

ray2012 wrote: »

I always made that mistake with 'chun an fhírinne a rá' and my teacher never noticed it until last week. 'Fírinne' is feminine, so in the tuiseal ginideach it will take 'na' and then won't take a 'h'.

I won't pretend to be an expert on the TG or anything like it so feel free to correct me, but I wouldn't have said that 'firinne' is in the Tuiseal Ginideach there. EDIT: Never mind, a quick Google has informed me that chun takes the genitive form. Odd...

Also yeah I'd seriously recommend speaking Irish/French/German/Swahili etc. to friends/siblings as much as possible, it's the stuff you say then that you'll actually say in the real thing, and it's where you'll realise and correct your mistakes, especially if the person you're talking to is better than you!

Canard

I was about to post what Slow Show just said, that's an odd thing, I never, ever knew that...none of my teachers, even the ones who were close to native, ever gave us anything but "chun an fhírinne". o_O

http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/translation/topic82461.html this forum has a funny layout but it seems to say something about the verbal noun (which, iirc, is "a rá") not taking the genetive.

I guess the Teach na nGealt would be the best place to find out for sure. :P

Eoin247

I would imagine that the orals are the most intimidating part of the LC. It's on the spot unlike papers where you have time to think. I'm gona do a fair bit of French work, and much less irish( a subject I find painfully boring and unrewarding).

In my experience with the french mock oral, it helps to read common questions and how they are phrased. I did alright in mine except at one point I was hit by a question that put me off track.

CookieMonster.x

Slow Show wrote: »

I won't pretend to be an expert on the TG or anything like it so feel free to correct me, but I wouldn't have said that 'firinne' is in the Tuiseal Ginideach there. EDIT: Never mind, a quick Google has informed me that chun takes the genitive form. Odd...

There are certain rules for the TG an one of them is that the words chun, cois, trasna, timpeall and dála take the TG. I've always said chun and fhirinne a ra though and have never been corrected and have seen it in books!

Eurovisionmad

I've come to accept that no matter how hard I try, I'll never get the TG, I suppose I'll just have to hope for the best with it!

ray2012

Same, I've always said 'chun an fhírinne a rá', but last week my teacher corrected me (for the first time!) and said it was 'chun na fírinne a rá' ... I was like "that doesn't sound right!" But yeah, I'm not 100% on that either, I'm just going by what she said.

Leaving Cert Student

CookieMonster.x wrote: »

There are certain rules for the TG an one of them is that the words chun, cois, trasna, timpeall and dála take the TG. I've always said chun and fhirinne a ra though and have never been corrected and have seen it in books!

I would have though this "chun" refers to "towards" and not "to" which it means in the phrase "chun an fhírinne a rá".
I have seen the phrase like this countless times in textbooks too so I feel a little skeptical... just doesn't sound right, I might very well be wrong!

HugsiePie

ray2012 wrote: »

Same, I've always said 'chun an fhírinne a rá', but last week my teacher corrected me (for the first time!) and said it was 'chun na fírinne a rá' ... I was like "that doesn't sound right!" But yeah, I'm not 100% on that either, I'm just going by what she said.

I'm in HL Irish and I haven't a clue what your on about! (Yes, táim uafasach ag gaelige)

Jade.

HugsiePie wrote: »

I'm in HL Irish and I haven't a clue what your on about! (Yes, táim uafasach ag gaelige)

Thought I was the only one reading this thread and feeling completely lost :P

11Charlie11

If it makes ye feel any better my teacher refuses to teach us essays so we did one before the mocks and that's it! Apparently there is no point doing them cause "they can ask anything!" And I'm doing honours!

I can't string together a sentence in Irish I got 21/100 for the essay

ray2012

Leaving Cert Student wrote: »

I would have though this "chun" refers to "towards" and not "to" which it means in the phrase "chun an fhírinne a rá".
I have seen the phrase like this countless times in textbooks too so I feel a little skeptical... just doesn't sound right, I might very well be wrong!

I'll ask my teacher when we go back cause I'm skeptical too cause it doesn't sound right! :P

yournerd

SCREWED FOR FRENCH

BarrysTeaBag

What does "chun na firinne a ra" even mean ? Im in honours havent a clue what ye are on about ....

Dropping No Eaves

BarrysTeaBag wrote: »

What does "chun na firinne a ra" even mean ? Im in honours havent a clue what ye are on about ....

It's true to say.

weirdspider

11Charlie11 wrote: »

If it makes ye feel any better my teacher refuses to teach us essays so we did one before the mocks and that's it! Apparently there is no point doing them cause "they can ask anything!" And I'm doing honours!

I can't string together a sentence in Irish I got 21/100 for the essay

My teacher was like this last year. Absolutely outrageous to say such a thing when its the question with the heaviest marks on the paper. I'd advise you to go through Fiuntas if you use it, take a copy and go through all the sections of the ceapadoireacht part of the book, even the little mini comprehensions and pull out as many useful sentences/phrases and learn them off. Then flick through your papers and find any relevant titles and without looking back do the essay. If your teacher is in any way decent they should correct it.
If you don't use Fiuntas I'd advise getting some kind of revision book and take vocab from there. I have the Less Stress one and its quite good. There are probably better ones out there though.
Also, try to perfect your grammar. Use all the different tenses you can and try to widen your verbs and vocab as much as possible. Use seanfhocails like you use idioms in French.
Lol I just checked your post and you didn't even ask for help... Just thought I'd write this anyway as I was in a similar situation last year. Why don't teachers understand that the essays really are the most important component of the paper!

yournerd

If anyone needs help with irish PM me

ray2012

yournerd wrote: »

If anyone needs help with irish PM me

I have one problem, and I've been confused with it ever since I remember!
You know, you'd say "tá brón orm" and "tá mé brónach", well I'm just wondering how you'd say something like "There is a sad theme/atmosphere" .. Would it be "Tá téama/atmaisféar brónach ann'' ?

Brónach = Sad
Brón = Sadness , right? They always confuse me :P

borrch

ray2012 wrote: »

I have one problem, and I've been confused with it ever since I remember!
You know, you'd say "tá brón orm" and "tá mé brónach", well I'm just wondering how you'd say something like "There is a sad theme/atmosphere" .. Would it be "Tá téama/atmaisféar brónach ann'' ?

Brónach = Sad
Brón = Sadness , right? They always confuse me :P

I'd say it should be brónach because your using it as a adjective . General -ach is added when the word is used as an adjective or noun. Hope this helps.

Leaving Cert Student

Tá an brón le haithint sa dán seo.

borrch

Leaving Cert Student wrote: »

Tá an brón le haithint sa dán seo.

OK, that sounds way better

yournerd

ray2012 wrote: »

I have one problem, and I've been confused with it ever since I remember!
You know, you'd say "tá brón orm" and "tá mé brónach", well I'm just wondering how you'd say something like "There is a sad theme/atmosphere" .. Would it be "Tá téama/atmaisféar brónach ann'' ?

Brónach = Sad
Brón = Sadness , right? They always confuse me :P

Tá atmaisfear bronach ann.
Baineann an sceal seo le teama bronach.

ray2012

Thanks for the help!

ChemHickey

To clear things up, it's chun *an* fhírinne a rá as you are not using the TG in that sense.

Eg:

"Chun an fhírinne a rá, tá cáca milis níos fearr ná prátaí"- To tell you the truth, cake is better than potatoes.

"Bhí mé ag insint na fírinne nuair a dúirt mé go bhfuil cáca milis níos fearr ná prátaí" - I was telling the truth when I said that cake is better than potatoes.

yournerd

In ait chun na fírinne a rá is feidir i ndairie pire a ra

ray2012

ChemHickey wrote: »

To clear things up, it's chun *an* fhírinne a rá as you are not using the TG in that sense.

Eg:

"Chun an fhírinne a rá, tá cáca milis níos fearr ná prátaí"- To tell you the truth, cake is better than potatoes.

"Bhí mé ag insint na fírinne nuair a dúirt mé go bhfuil cáca milis níos fearr ná prátaí" - I was telling the truth when I said that cake is better than potatoes.

Chun an fhírinne a rá does sound right but I thought if you used 'chun' along with some other words they take the TG?

Leaving Cert Student

ray2012 wrote: »

Chun an fhírinne a rá does sound right but I thought if you used 'chun' along with some other words they take the TG?

But that is when "chun" means "towards" I think. In this sense it doesn't.