Leaving Cert French Through Irish

thereisacar

Hi, I'm sitting the leaving cert in 2019 and I don't attend a Gaelcholáiste however I would really like to sit the French exam through Irish (as the bonus marks could really help) I know I can do it in the school as I've spoken to my French teacher about it, I'm definitely not fluent but have been getting H1s in Irish consistently and plan to learn off French listening vocabulary throughout the year in both English and Irish. I was just wondering would anyone have any insight, does my plan sound realistic or is it far too difficult? Also I've attempted one listening comprehension and have noticed in the marking scheme that although what I'm saying does make sense and is fairly correct, it doesn't match the marking scheme word for word? Would I get the marks for it?

For example:
Question: what does Isabelle do with her weekends?


I wrote: téann sí ag siúl sna sléibhte

Marking scheme: dul ar siúlóidí sna sléibhte

Also does spelling need to be perfect to get the marks? Thanks for any insight, unfortunately I can't get too much help off my French teacher as she doesn't teach Irish.

mtoutlemonde

thereisacar wrote: »

Hi, I'm sitting the leaving cert in 2019 and I don't attend a Gaelcholáiste however I would really like to sit the French exam through Irish (as the bonus marks could really help) I know I can do it in the school as I've spoken to my French teacher about it, I'm definitely not fluent but have been getting H1s in Irish consistently and plan to learn off French listening vocabulary throughout the year in both English and Irish. I was just wondering would anyone have any insight, does my plan sound realistic or is it far too difficult? Also I've attempted one listening comprehension and have noticed in the marking scheme that although what I'm saying does make sense and is fairly correct, it doesn't match the marking scheme word for word? Would I get the marks for it?

For example:
Question: what does Isabelle do with her weekends?


I wrote: téann sí ag siúl sna sléibhte

Marking scheme: dul ar siúlóidí sna sléibhte

Also does spelling need to be perfect to get the marks? Thanks for any insight, unfortunately I can't get too much help off my French teacher as she doesn't teach Irish.

Well considering that students sitting LC French perform badly at aural comprehension, you are doing yourself no favours. Are you sure there are marks for answering through Irish? I think that only applies to students in Gaeltacht areas or those who register with Irish as their first language. Will you be registering to sit all you exams through Irish? You are aware that you can't just decide that you take the Irish version on the day. You can not be an à la carte Irish speaker - you can't use it to your own advantage otherwise all candidates would do the same. Can you answer question confidently though Irish? Is your first language Irish? I don't teach Irish so don't know the answer to the above but yes the marking scheme is king for fairness of all candidates. I think I've answered your question but can't understand why your teacher couldn't.

Canard

I disagree with almost all of the above post. Students perform poorly in the aural section, but your answer is perfectly fine OP, and as long as you know the words in Irish then it will make no difference: you'll either understand the French, or you won't. I corrected JC HL French this year and the marking schemes just use the infinitive as it's the most "basic" form that students might write in a rush, so your answer is more than adequate. You also have the advantage of having the Irish printed alongside the English on the exam, rather than two separate versions.

Contrary to what the above poster says, you don't have to live in a Gaeltacht area to register to sit your exams through Irish? If you did, we wouldn't have Gaelscoileanna in Dublin. I know siblings where one did them through Irish and the other through English, it's entirely dependant on the school, not the area.

Whatever about being an 'a la carte speaker', I've heard of people doing exactly what you're thinking of doing and my only thought was that I wished I had thought of it! I'm sure we'd all have liked to be able to do all of our exams in Irish, but it's not realistic with how it's taught, so by all means use it to your advantage where you can. Everyone would do the same, but people getting low grades in Irish obviously can't sit an exam through it. OP has said they get H1s, so...

Look into it anyway, but know that there will inevitably be the risk of not knowing some words in Irish on the day. I don't know how severe they are on using English but I would imagine very, so you'd need to check with someone who knows for sure. Also, it depends how good you are at French - the higher your grade, the fewer marks you gain, so in the end it may not be worth it. Just something to bear in mind.

spurious

I don't think you can choose to do just one exam through Irish. Check that.

mtoutlemonde

spurious wrote: »

I don't think you can choose to do just one exam through Irish. Check that.

I don't think so either and the paper has to be ordered so the exam secretary needs to know also.

mtoutlemonde

Canard wrote: »

I disagree with almost all of the above post. Students perform poorly in the aural section, but your answer is perfectly fine OP, and as long as you know the words in Irish then it will make no difference: you'll either understand the French, or you won't. I corrected JC HL French this year and the marking schemes just use the infinitive as it's the most "basic" form that students might write in a rush, so your answer is more than adequate. You also have the advantage of having the Irish printed alongside the English on the exam, rather than two separate versions.

Contrary to what the above poster says, you don't have to live in a Gaeltacht area to register to sit your exams through Irish? If you did, we wouldn't have Gaelscoileanna in Dublin. I know siblings where one did them through Irish and the other through English, it's entirely dependant on the school, not the area.

Whatever about being an 'a la carte speaker', I've heard of people doing exactly what you're thinking of doing and my only thought was that I wished I had thought of it! I'm sure we'd all have liked to be able to do all of our exams in Irish, but it's not realistic with how it's taught, so by all means use it to your advantage where you can. Everyone would do the same, but people getting low grades in Irish obviously can't sit an exam through it. OP has said they get H1s, so...

Look into it anyway, but know that there will inevitably be the risk of not knowing some words in Irish on the day. I don't know how severe they are on using English but I would imagine very, so you'd need to check with someone who knows for sure. Also, it depends how good you are at French - the higher your grade, the fewer marks you gain, so in the end it may not be worth it. Just something to bear in mind.

OP said that he did not attend a Gaelscoil.

Canard

mtoutlemonde wrote: »

OP said that he did not attend a Gaelscoil.

Yes, but theoretically there's nothing stopping him from registering for the exam(s) through Irish in a centre that can facilitate it. I'm pretty sure that's what the people I've heard about did, but as I didn't do it myself I don't know exactly how it works.

mtoutlemonde

Canard wrote: »

Yes, but theoretically there's nothing stopping him from registering for the exam(s) through Irish in a centre that can facilitate it. I'm pretty sure that's what the people I've heard about did, but as I didn't do it myself I don't know exactly how it works.

Nor me I have never heard of anyone doing this.

spurious

I asked an EAM, he said it's all exams through Irish or none.

Bazinga_N

That's strange. A girl I repeated with sat most of her subjects in Irish as she originally attended a Gaelcholaiste but sat Biology through English as she took it up new when repeating (in the English school). Definitely wasn't an issue for her, so I'm unsure why it'd be a problem the other way around - I guess to stop people from benefitting from achieving the bonus marks in certain subjects but not most?

Also: https://www.examinations.ie/?l=en&mc=ca&sc=im
doesn't seem to mention anything about do it for one or do it for none here. Seems a bit silly they would have that kind of system in place considering the whole point of the bonus points is to encourage Irish-language education. Regardless of how few or many subjects people might be willing to sit, for every extra paper sat through Irish it should be sign as a positive thing?