French - #JC2017 - Luke Casserly

Luke Casserly - St. Mel's CollegeI've done pretty well in French since first year so I wasn't overly worried about todays paper.It all started with the listening which I always find pretty tricky. An annoying echo in the hall made it even trickier. I think I coped well though! Section A and B were very easy but it got a little bit harder from there!Overall, the comprehensions were nice and I feel I done very well in them, but there were a couple of very hard questions in the last few extracts which I ended up having to guess.The written expression went good. I. flew through the note but stumbled with a couple of the points in the letter. I threw in a few nice phrases which I hope saved me!I'm happy with how French went and I'm looking forward to seeing the result!#StateExams2017

French - #JC - Diego Brule

Diego Alonso Brule Galleguillos - Coláiste EindeIf there's one thing I love more than learning sciences, it's learning languages. There's something about it, that makes learning languages so interesting. Maybe it's because of the culture they carry, maybe it's the fact of being able to speak more than one language, or maybe because you think flirting will be easier in other languages.Anyways, French for me was quite simple. Grammar and vocabulary wise it's very similar to Spanish, which made the reading comprehension and written section very simple. But, Listening to it, always has been my nightmare. And of course, the exam has to start with this.Luckily though, this year's listenings were probably the easiest listenings that have come up so far (I've done all the exam papers for this too). Or maybe it's because I stayed up late last night listening to Emmanuel Macron's speeches in French?The rest of the exam was a breeze. Reading comprehension, and written. There was only one question that I can remember that asked for a word that I had absolutely no idea what it meant. But apart from that, the rest of the test went pretty good.I have to point a funny thing about this exam though, our exam centre has around 35 students, but only 6 of us did French. It's safe to say the examiner was disappointed, as she is a French teacher in her school.For the JC I'll be doing Spanish and French, hopefully for the LC I'm able to sit Italian as well! #StateExams2017

Leaving Certificate French

Liam - Higher Level 

Questions that I did. 1(b) , 2(a) and 4(b).Overall, I thought today went okay. I was delighted with the two reading comprehensions! The questions were okay to understand and  even if they weren't, a good read through would help you there.I was banking on a récit because I really like them. Who doesn't love writing stories in French! Moral of my story , "trust those emails that say you've won a competition you don't remember entering!" Journal in time was grand too and then I did the obesity opinion question.Now it's time to talk about that absolute atrocity  that we call the listening comprehension. Sorry SEC but our fluency in the French language is equal to that of a brick. I'd say French monoglots would have difficulty understanding that one too, but sure at least it's done.If you think about it, the French LC subject is like a balanced scale, if your reading comprehensions turn out to be easy, or even doable, you can always count on the listening test to just kick you right back to no mans land! 

Craig - Higher Level 

French wasn't too bad this year. I was awfully disappointed there was nothing on pollution though, and racism came up in a very odd form - celebrating the joys of multiculturalism. Instead I took on obesity, the question on education and the journal in time regarding a camping experience.I'm very meh about this paper, had it had other choices I think I could've jumped up at least two grades, which is sad but it's the luck of the draw - the leaving cert!  

Ellen - Higher Level 

What a beautiful, beautiful paper. Even though none of my predictions (COP21, Euros & refugees) came up, I really couldn't have asked for better. The reading comprehensions were easier than normal I felt, and even the listening was grand! I was a bit worried going into the exam as I had never done le récit before but the essay on the importance was nice, so I needn't have worried. The journal in time and demand d'emploi were equally doable and in the end I did the letter, as well as the final question on obesity. 1916 made a surprise appearance, especially after expecting it in other subjects and being disappointed!But really I can't say a bad thing about that paper!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Junior Certificate French

Chloe - Higher Level 

Wow. This was such a nice paper in my eyes!So firstly we tackled the listening, there wasn’t any really challenging vocab here although I honestly haven’t a clue what collided with that truck and I also wasn’t sure where Christopher was being collected, but other than that I thought it went well for me!Next was the reading comprehensions. For the mock I remember spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to find the answers but today I was relieved when I was finding answers quite easily. I thought the back to school comprehension was the trickiest and I also didn’t know what the guys mother worked as for the very last comprehension, I honestly have never seen the word ‘usine’ before and I actually thought it was a typo of the word ‘cuisine’ so I wrote down that her mother worked in a kitchen (I know, I know). Other than they were quite simple I thought!Then came the postcard and letter. My postcard went really well but my letter was a bit dodgy in places just with stringing a few of the sentences together but other than that it was okay and I think I used a good range of phrases and vocab here!Overall French went so well, I was expecting a more difficult paper but thankfully this was definitely a kinder year.All the best for science tomorrow guys! 

Philip - Higher Level 

As I said french is my worst subject but I don't think I did too badly on this paper. The listening was pretty much the same level as others I've done. For the most part the same goes for the comprehension, except for the one about the people who had their house broken into, which I struggled with. In the postcard and letter it's difficult to know how you did and despite not knowing some words that were needed I think I twisted it in well enough, like putting church in instead of cathedral.Finally the letter. Luckily for me I hadn't been relying on an informal letter and this letter was also general enough. Overall I don't think I did badly in this paper but, especially in French, I don't like saying how I did before I get the results.Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate French Oral

Ellen O'Rourke - Higher Level French Oral

Word of advice: Eat a good breakfast on the day of the exam. It sounds like such a clichéd, teacher-y thing to say, but trust me, I learned the hard way. I thought I'd get into the spirit of things with a pain au chocolat and a cup of really strong coffee to start the day. Bad idea. I was starving all day and all I wanted to do was stress eat. On top of that, when my palms were sweating and heart was hammering in the run up to the exam, I put it down to nerves - but it was probably just the caffeine! Next time, I'll go for porridge s'il vous plaît.I put lots of pressure on myself in the weeks leading up to the exam - I need at least a B in French for the course I want - until someone said something which made me see it in a whole different way: 'the most important thing to have is confidence'. It's true - 50% of the marks are going for communication and pronunciation, which can't be learned from a book, and can easily go down the drain if you're a bit wobbly on the day. I began to relax a bit then, and trust all the work that I've put in over the last few years. To prepare, I wrote paragraphs on everything from l'uniforme to l'avenir, recorded myself saying them, and listened to it tous le temps. I don't even remember learning it, it just sort of osmosis-ed in and I was able to spiel it all off on the day. There was a number of benefits to this- I knew I had my grammar and phrases on point because they came straight from my notes, but there were also a few pitfalls; whenever she asked a question that I hadn't prepared, it sort of threw me off my flow, and then when I didn't get through all the stuff I had prepared, I became frustrated with myself. Not the best way to learn a language, I know now, but it worked. The other way to do it is completely wing it, which worked insanely well for one of my friends. While her french is not parfait, she made the examiner laugh and had general banter, which will get her a high grade no doubt.I did my document on my trip to France which I found immensely helpful. I had all the vocab on la gastronomie, le paysage, les differences etc and was able to recite word for word what I had prepared for a solid three minutes. This led to some questions on the importance of languages including "est qu'il y a beaucoup de débouchés pour les jeunes?" which really stumped me. I panicked and said "oui c'est trés important", which seemed to get me off the hook (I later was informed by my French friend that déboucher can mean to open up, uncork, or very very rarely, job opportunities...).It's finally over – it’s so strange to think, all those years of studying and travelling and speaking in French – not to mention pages and pages of notes (sorry rain-forest!) – and it all comes down to a ten minute conversation with a stranger.It could have gone better I feel, but then again it could have gone worse. Il faut voir la vie en rose - comme on dit en francais.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. If you are interested in becoming an ISSU Exam Blogger, contact info@issu.ie with your name, school year and mobile contact details.

Junior Certificate French

Jane - Higher Level

I was 4 and half hours into my history cram session this morning when I looked up at my exam timetable and realized, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, that it was French in the morning and history in the evening.I really did my best to look over my letter vocab as efficiently as I could, and because I thought I had two hours of a break before hand, I didn't get a chance to look at any other vocab. I went into the exam pretty stressed because of all this. While I have no great love for the language, I do have a great love of my French teacher, she's such a fab woman and I really really didn't want to let her down. The only reason I do well in French is because I want to get good grades and I confess, part of that is so she'll be happy with me.So anyway, I sit right next to the tape in my exam centre and the 2015 JC French listening comprehension comes on. It's not so bad. I understood the majority of the French, and think I got most answers right, save for maybe one or two. Next was the reading. Again, I liked it, it was easy enough, although I did have the heartbreaking feeling of; I should know this. Then the French note came up. Ugh. I would have preferred a postcard because my note dragged me down a bit in my pre. I thought the letter was grand. I could apply the paragraphs I'd learnt to it. Though the question part where they asked "ask her if she will work for the summer" was hard, I just kind of winged it. Most of the French candidates had left the building by the time it was 12 o'clock, but I never leave early, it's just against my beliefs! I think if you get 2 and a half hours for an exam, you should use them and so I did, and had to ask for extra paper to finish my letter.I'm pretty disappointed coming out of JC French. I feel the work I had done in the past three years, the hundreds of words I had learnt off as vocab, the studying for my letters, hadn't been shown. At the end of the exam, I sat there thinking how much I would have loved to have done continuous assessment for my Junior Cert French. Quel Dommage!

Art - Higher Level

Beginning with the aural, I was surprised how long it took, in comparison to Irish. Forty minutes! Anyway, I thought part A, B and C of this were pretty manageable if I remember correctly, with the exception here and there. Part D was pretty tough I thought. Part E was alright again. Unbelievably, we were informed of the mistake at the end! Overall, I thought the listening was a bit harder than I expected and might have brought my overall grade a bit down.I then did the writing questions to regain a bit of self esteem. I found the letter to be very good and was delighted the holiday in the summer appeared. I used as many useful phrases as possible. The note was manageable too if my memory serves me right. I thought these questions went well.The reading comprehensions were a bit of a mixed bag. Mostly, I thought they were good but I have to say I dropped a few marks here and there. I was a bit surprised I could understand the later ones as well as I did, because I'm usually poor there. Though I can't really be certain how well I did. Overall I was happy with how French went, and I just want to leave it at the back of my mind for the summer.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.