Irish Orals *all questions and answers in here please*

Oakbark

With the oral examinations coming up for Irish, i thought people should stick to one topic for all their oral-exam needs. Post your questions and helpful hints in here!

lestats_bride

I had loads of notes but i seem to have lost an irish copy!grrr!!!

I guess the most helpful hint is elaboration.

If your irish isnt very good you should learn how to say lots and lots about the most simplist topic.That way it wont give the examiner a chance to change onto a more difficult topic that you might not have the grammer for.
eg When he asks you about where you live-dont just say "I live here.i like it alot." go for "i love living out here on the country.My house is by the sea.It is so beautiful when the sun is setting and the sea is so blue.Although it is beautiful theres absolutley bithing to do here!There are 3 shops though blah blah blah."

If you do have a good standard of irish then be sure to show it off!Throw in some sayings and some impressive vocabulary.And really really practice of the readings that you will be told to read from!

Gael

I've done the leaving twice and I have an Irish degree and I have a few tips:

Try to avoid using "Sea" as much as possible. It's appropriate to use it sometimes, but many people just use it as a default answer and the examiner knows well you're bull****ting if you do. It's the oldest trick in the book.

My main tip would be to answer a question with a verb, not "Sea". That how Irish grammar works and it'll reflects well on you much better if you do it that way.

i.e. If the question is "An bhfuil...?" You either answer "Tá...." or "Níl...."(not "Sea")

If they ask "An dtuigeann tú?"(Do you understand?), the answer is to say "Tuigim/Ní thuigim"(not "Sea")

Answer "An raibh....?" with "Bhí/Ní raibh....."(not "Sea")

etc. etc.

Caoimhe

I've been told to go in and from the first question they ask just keep talking about everything you can until your time is up. Have all your basic stuff like Mé féin, mo chlann, mo cheantar, scoil, caitheamh aimsire, etc. perfect and prepare a few bits on current affairs. Thats what I'm doing anyway...

Gael

Caoimhe wrote:

I've been told to go in and from the first question they ask just keep talking about everything you can until your time is up. Have all your basic stuff like Mé féin, mo chlann, mo cheantar, scoil, caitheamh aimsire, etc. perfect and prepare a few bits on current affairs. Thats what I'm doing anyway...

yeah that's a good idea. At the same time don't get into a situation where a question they might ask(They might interrupt you!) might throw you.

randomfella

Of course they won't let you sit there and spiel off a whole conversation you've learnt off hence the word "conversation"!!! they will ask you questions about the usual stuff in detail then move on to more challenging questions depending on your ability. They generally gauge how good you are and know what to ask you from the start.

More complicated questions would be,
what would you do if you were principal/taoiseach/minister of .....
whats in store for the irish language? what position does it hold in society?
fadhbanna inniu
they are just a few that come to mind. They is always a logical pattern to the questions, and they won't usually appear from nowhere. For instance the one about what would you do if you were principal, comes after you talk about your school, the rules, etc.
the others probraly come after asking an bhfuil suim agat sa cursai reatha or something like that.

Caoimhe

Actually, if you slip in some modh coinníollach and maybe a bit you've learned about politics or something, you can just talk for 15mins straight without them interrupting you.

Dave Larkin

Our Irish teacher told us a story about a relative of his who did her Leaving Cert Irish Oral a couple of years ago. She went in the exam and talked non-stop for fifteen minutes about several different topics. Whatever she did, she must have impressed the examiner, because she got full marks in the Oral.

Maybe talking non-stop like that would work... but it's up to you how you handle it.

randomfella

Caoimhe i don't know what you mean by the examiner not interrupting you? do u mean you just sit there and talk non-stop for 15 mins without he/she asking you to expand on a point/for you opinion on a topic/change topic?

Dave Larkin

I spoke to my History teacher yesterday, who is also a very experienced Irish teacher. He's the guy who writes the books, Peadar O'Ceallaigh. Anyway, I asked him if you could talk non-stop in the oral and he responded by saying that you have to give the examiner a chance to bring the conversation on to the new topics that need discussing, but at the end of the day, the more you talk, the better.

Cool_CM

according to our teacher, learn how to manipulate the conversation. plus you can bring in your own sliocht sheets with full phonetic pronunciation written above the extracts if you really want to and it doesn't count against you, which is a bit strange to say the least

Scraggs

Cool_CM wrote:

you can bring in your own sliocht sheets with full phonetic pronunciation written above the extracts if you really want to and it doesn't count against you, which is a bit strange to say the least

ur not complainin are ya?!!
i have such difficulty pronouncing sliocht 12[i think] the one mna as an ngnath as title!
so many n's so little control!!

CoffeeFreak

Caoimhe wrote:

Actually, if you slip in some modh coinníollach and maybe a bit you've learned about politics or something, you can just talk for 15mins straight without them interrupting you.

I'm liking the sound of that!! So, they'd probably start with something easy like mé féin or mo chlann, and you could have it all prepared from there? I suppose it'd have to sound sort of natural though, so there are links between the topics and you're not just jumping from subject to subject...
Do all examiners definitely let you do this? Because I know with french, some examiners let you do that, but last year's one interrupted people who tried to do that....

Scarinae

Dave Larkin wrote:

Whatever she did, she must have impressed the examiner, because she got full marks in the Oral.

How did she find out her oral marks? I thought the oral marks were the one thing you can't find out?

Also, does anyone know any of the nathanna cainte that can be flung in to get extra marks? Any suggestions would be much appreciated as I think I'm starting to freak out about the orals

randomfella

N'fheadair....
Chun an fhirinne a instint/a ra
Nil moran eolas agam faoin sin
Is ceist mhor e!
nil aontaim go hiomlan leat
And the classic Nil fhios agam.
THeres plenty more, these are just a few basics.

CoffeeFreak

Fishie wrote:

How did she find out her oral marks? I thought the oral marks were the one thing you can't find out?

According to my teacher, some examiners might tell say generally how you did...Well, she said one examiner told her when a student got full marks in the oral. I don't think they're supposed to do that though...

Question: I'm gonna do the non-stop talking thing....can anyone suggest exactly what subjects I should cover? Pretty please? *panics*

dimerocks

the pope!!

Lantis

Fishie wrote:

How did she find out her oral marks? I thought the oral marks were the one thing you can't find out?

That's the key part of it. You work out your oral mark based on the rest.

Scraggs

[i apologise in advance for bad grammar!!!]
can anybody email me some notes or anything on the problems of drink/drugs/smoking?
mas e do thoil e!! ta fadhb mor agam faoi lathair d'fhag me beagnach gach leabhar gaeilge sa scoil inne agus ta an scoil dunta anois. beidh me a chead duine don scrudu ade luain!! iosa chriost!!

sci0x

If you get the "Exam & Career Guide" Part 6 of Volume 25 has an excellent few pages of Irish questions and answers, i've them learned off perfect, coz im crap at Irish and need to learn things off to say things properly. One thing I found in my pre was how unconfident and how unclear a lot of what I was saying was. So make sure to speak loud and clear even if its wrong id say, it looks better if you sound confident.

johnnyq

sci0x wrote:

If you get the "Exam & Career Guide" Part 6 of Volume 25

Where would u get ur hands on dis, is it a magazine or sometin ur school gets?

randomfella

Some topics i'm preparing vocab on and i'll (try) talk about are

mo chlann - links with holidays,
Mo cheantar - aiseanna, stair, fadhbanna sosialta - drugai, foireann peil aitiul
Scoil - aiseanna, play for school football team, subjects i do, my favourite agus cen fath? tar eis scoil agus what i want to do.
an papa
Where i went mo laethanta saoire agus all about it.
Problems in ireland -> coras slainte, praghas na tithe, imirce, ciniochas, an tuaisceart.
hobbys - football, simpsons and michael collins (don't know how i'll work that one in )

few other topics that i can't recall now aswel, ive got quite a broad vocab but i always think in terms of words, and not the verb so the verbs usually let me down. So a tip i'd give is always think of the verb go hairithe when they ask a ceist. It sounds bad when all u say is sea and ni hea.

Yea that tip about being confident is really important, if your too nervous and don't get the stuff you learnt off out then you won't get the mark you deserve. Fairly obvious tip ach dont forget to lie if u have it prepared. As in if you don't have a post part aimseartha well say u do, make sure u have it all prepared though or u could just say no but i had one sa samhraidh. Tis' all common sense to most of you's anyway i presume.

Is Spin 1038fm in irish? what is this?

Shyster

Just remember for the oral that its not "is ceist maith e" cos ceist is feminine so its:
"is ceist ana mhaith i sin....." then keep talking about how fantastic ur examiner is for thinking of that question and say stuff like:
Nior dheineas riamh dianmhachnamh ar an abhar sin, caithfidh mé a admháil, ach i ndáirire is fadhb ana phráinneach i (baininscneach again)........and so on....

Just be friendly and keep talking!! Good luck!

sci0x

You might have em in ur school library. I receive though myself through the school. School orders em for is.

the smiley one

I'm not sure if you can get VERY high marks doing the whole imgoingtotalknonstopsoyoucantinteruptmeandaskmestuffidontknow thing BUT, What you need to make sure about (if you r aiming high) that anything you mention you can talk about, for example if the examiner asks you about the third world and you say: "is abhar an-conspoideach e faoi lathair. Cuireann se idir naire and deistin orm an bhealach ata na daoine sin faoi daoirse in dtir fein. Nil cothrom na feinne ar bith faighte acu i lathair na huaire" the examiner could then say "agus an gceapann tu go bhfuil easpa cothromaiochta ag baint lenar sochai inniu?" So basically they can pick up on any little thing you say! Also if they ask you a question don't be afraid to fully answer it e.g. "ca bhfuil tu i do chonai?" istead of saying "an gealach" say "Ta me i mo chonai ar an ngealach. Nil a lan aiseanna le fail ann; nil ach siopa amain san ait iomlan........." EXPAND!

sci0x

Also its good to not sound like you have things learnt off by heart, which is what im practisicing, coz i've everything learned off. So when they ask a simple question like "Inis dom faoi d'áit cónaithe" they wont know what hit them :P.

Scraggs

ok i need help asap mas e do thoil e!!
how do you pronounce the modh c? mar shampla bheinn, thabharfainn agus ar eile.
ta fadhb mor agam leis sin!! i'm first amarach and i need help badly!!

go raibh maith agat.....

randomfella

thabharfainn - hoorfing
bheinn - vain

Shyster

it kinda depends where ur from, otherwise it'll sound a bit funny...? like we dont pronounce the "f" but other places do etc... good luck!

Rebel Chick

Hey
I would learn some stuff about the pope and charles and camilla's wedding cause some people in my school got asked that today.

Scraggs

Rebel Chick wrote:

I would learn some stuff about the pope and charles and camilla's wedding cause some people in my school got asked that today.

yeah for definite learn those EVERYONE in my school who had it today was asked either of those!!

if you look through your exam papers on one of the years theres a comprehension on the pope which i found useful

sarahg_angel69

no one i my school got asked bout the pope or the wedding unless we brought it in ourselves in the conversation...ill say it agen tho...we had the nicest examiner eva!!!

sci0x

Had my orals. Went excellent. Was so easy, he asked me everything I had prepared and a few questions for which i wasn't both those went ok too

*Angel*

You might wanna learn some stuff to say about the new minimum wage.

Dinxminx

I can't speak a word of irish and I'm in honours. And when I say not a word I mean I can't put a sentence together. My teacher's insane and terrible, and I'm the only person in my H. irish class not doing grinds and I SUCK!!!

My oral's on Tuesday.

I'm f*cked.

sci0x

Dinxminx calm the hell down firstly. Like you I hadn't a word a few days bfore the xam and im not exaggerating either. First step is to start learning paragraphs off of the most common things asked including, your area, your family, school, what you will do when you leave school, social problems in your area and all that. I learnt off these and wasn't asked hardly anything extra and got on fine.

Droogie

Shít... how do ya say "2004" and "1988" in Irish? :eek:

Droogie

Droogie wrote:

Shít... how do ya say "2004" and "1988" in Irish? :eek:

dhá mile is a ceathair agus mile naoi céad ochtú a ocht.

Droogie

Gabh Raibh maith agat a Kenny007... Tá tú an lifesaver

Dinxminx

Thanks sci0x, I'm just the worst procrastinator in the world so that's kinda why I'm freaking out. I just can't seem to make myself learn the stuff!

sci0x

Yeah im exactly like that, which is why i make out a timetable and stick to it. Otherwise I find myself doing nothing.

yowsaa

Our teacher told us a savage poem to remember the mo chonnillach goes a lil like dis "Hing Ha Huck" , Mo chonilloch
fainn = hing
fa = ha
fadh = huck !!!!!

now does ne 1 hv ne ting on the prince charles wedding ting or terrorism im very stuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: n my orals 2mo!!!

Camogie Playa

hamiis
hucks
haidis

Ya we know that one too. Its really handy

*Angel*

OMG I got the nicest examiner today, first of all he let me choose a sliocht (5th) and then although I couldn't remember any vocab (or Irish) during the exam it was more like a conversation than an exam (I know it's meant to be that but it usually isn't). He really tried to find stuff I could talk about and helped me out, I still probably got a bad mark (my Irish sucks) cos I spoke a bit of english and french in it aswell. Still he was a great examiner!

sci0x

Was anyone daring enough to enquire what mark the examiner gave them?

*Angel*

sci0x wrote:

Was anyone daring enough to enquire what mark the examiner gave them?

No chance, I nearly did for the French one though. I'm guessing you didn't ask either?

sci0x

Course i asked, there was no one way i was leaving the room with having some idea of how i got on. I asked how did I do and she said "grand, no more bother to you". TBH I'd be suprised if I didnt get an A2 if not an A1. I didnt make one grammatical mistake and i kept talking bout whatever she asked and didnt have any problems understanding her accent. It was more of a conversation though rather than her asking me questions and i answering

*Angel*

sci0x wrote:

Course i asked, there was no one way i was leaving the room with having some idea of how i got on. I asked how did I do and she said "grand, no more bother to you". TBH I'd be suprised if I didnt get an A2 if not an A1. I didnt make one grammatical mistake and i kept talking bout whatever she asked and didnt have any problems understanding her accent. It was more of a conversation though rather than her asking me questions and i answering

Good for you!