How tough is the St. Pats postgrad conversion course interview?

MaryKirwan

I'm applying for the 18 month course in December and I'm getting really worried. I've been studying a lot and reading and listening. Despite feeling like a know a lot more now than I did for the Leaving Cert, I haven't actually SPOKEN to anybody as Gaeilge. I will be, come September when I take a three month course specially designed to prepare you for the Irish segment of the interview. But at the moment I'm extremely nervous.

Can someone give me an idea of how tough the questions and topics are, and give me an idea as to how many places there are vs. the number of applicants if they happen to know?

Thank you!

pog it

Going by the standard of Irish of primary school teachers in the last good number of years it has to be a very easy exam.

So if you put any kind of work in I'm sure you will be top of the class.

deirdremf

MaryKirwan wrote: »

I'm applying for the 18 month course in December and I'm getting really worried. I've been studying a lot and reading and listening. Despite feeling like a know a lot more now than I did for the Leaving Cert, I haven't actually SPOKEN to anybody as Gaeilge. I will be, come September when I take a three month course specially designed to prepare you for the Irish segment of the interview. But at the moment I'm extremely nervous.

Can someone give me an idea of how tough the questions and topics are, and give me an idea as to how many places there are vs. the number of applicants if they happen to know?

Thank you!

Join a conversation group in your local library or wherever in the meantime. What part of the country do you live in? Maybe someone on here would be able to point you towards a particular group.

By the way, it would also probably help your Irish a lot if you did your posting here in Irish rather than in English - it would get you into the habit of thinking how to say things in Irish. Keeping it simple, of course, I wouldn't advise trying to use difficult constructions at this stage.

And for grammar and vocabulary, I always advise people to work their way through Mícheál Ó Siadhail's book "Learning Irish". It'll stand to you.

MaryKirwan

deirdremf wrote: »

Join a conversation group in your local library or wherever in the meantime. What part of the country do you live in? Maybe someone on here would be able to point you towards a particular group.

By the way, it would also probably help your Irish a lot if you did your posting here in Irish rather than in English - it would get you into the habit of thinking how to say things in Irish. Keeping it simple, of course, I wouldn't advise trying to use difficult constructions at this stage.

And for grammar and vocabulary, I always advise people to work their way through Mícheál Ó Siadhail's book "Learning Irish". It'll stand to you.

Bhuel, táim ag tosú cúrsa Gaeilge in Iúil (go dtí Lunasa) ach táim tinn le mo bholg leis. Is cosúil go bhfuil beidh me an duine is measa ansin . Níl ag scríobh ró deachair, ach nuair táim neirbhíseach is cosúil m'insinn le criathar. Déanaim dearmad gach rud a fhios agam. Tá ag éisteacht an rud is deacra. Eh...canúintí throw me off. Anything less than well separated, well spoken words throw me off. Beidh mé ag lorg ar an leabhar, áfach (though?). Go raibh míle maith agat.

pog it

As my French teacher told me in second year never translate directly from English into French (can substitute Irish here too). It sounds bloody awful. Her advice was to learn from what you see written or spoken by good and fluent speakers and to copy them.

Will second that recommendation for 'Learning Irish'. It's the best out there. Then, as you begin to make proper progress, ask on here about what you don't get.