Just keep calm and stick to what you know

Obviously, your main focus at the moment should be on your Oral Exam (40 per cent), and that is what I will focus on in this piece. The Department of Education has said it will be rescheduled to take place as soon as you return to school.

Fáiltiú/Cúig Cheist ( five marks – one minute)

Ainm: be sure you name and surname are as Gaeilge where at all possible; first impressions are important

Aois: be sure you have an urú for 17 and 18 years old but not 16; ‘sé bliana déag d’aois, seacht mbliana déaga d’aois and ocht mbliana déag d’aois

Dáta breithe: You don’t need your year of birth for example “Rugadh mé ar an 3ú lá de Mhárta” is what’s required

Áit Chónaithe: You need two lines – ‘Contae Chiarraí’ is not enough; you need ‘Cill Orglan, Contae Chiarraí’.

Scrúduimhir: Write your examination number on each poem sheet you bring in – you don’t need the pressure of remembering the minute you walk in the door when you are at your most nervous

Léamh na Filíochta (35 marks – two minutes)

Don’t read the poem too quickly. Students have a tendency to do that when they’re nervous. Take a breath at the end of every line, and stay in the moment.

Be careful with your pronunciation. The poems are on the Gaelport channel on Youtube; it’s well worth using this as a resource.

Don’t forget that there are more marks (35) going for reading the poem than there are for answering the poetry question in Paper Two (30). These are very easy marks to pick up; don’t leave them after you. Also, a well-read Léamh na Filíochta will settle you and give you a confidence boost going into the Comhrá section

Comhrá (120 marks – eight minutes)

Have a píosa cainte about ‘mo chlann’ , including any pets. The examiner will not ask you directly about your parent(s)/guardians, so the onus is on you to bring that area of your family up.

Have a píosa cainte about ‘mo cheantar’, perhaps starting with how it got its name followed by the facilities, with particular focus on those facilities that you and other young people avail of. Refer to social problems such as dífhostaíocht (unemployment) also.

Have a piece about ‘ mo scoil’ including a bit of history, the number of students and teachers, the facilities, the rules and a run-through of your school day, examiners like the school day to test the Aimsir Láithreach.

Have a piece about ‘An bhliain seo chugainn’, what you intend to do after the Leaving Cert, it often comes up as a follow-on to your favourite school subjects.

Have a piece about your ‘ caitheamh aimsirí’ including things such as music, sport, social media, basically the things you do to relax outside of school and study time.

‘An samradh’, ‘post páirt-aimseartha’ and ‘an deireadh seachtaine’ are also topics that are regularly broached by examiners. A Modh Coinníollach sentence within your topics is important also. For example, within ‘mo scoil’: “Dá mbeinn i mo phríomhoide chuirfinn ríomhaire ar fáil do gach dalta”

Finally, it’s best to tell the truth in the comhrá; making up things puts you under unnecessary pressure as there is the added stress of getting caught out. This is very often because a student feels they should know something about a topic. Unlike most of your other examinations, it is not an information exam, it is merely a conversation, and if you are not knowledgeable on a particular topic you should say it; for example “níl mórán suim agam sa spórt ach tá suim mhór agam sa cheol”, and then speak of your interest in that topic.

Sraith Pictiúr (80 marks – four minutes)

Similar to ‘Léamh na Filíochta’ don’t fall into the trap of speaking too fast, and be sure to make eye contact with the examiner. Two pieces of information on each picture will suffice to pass, and five or six sentences per picture will get you full marks; that’s 12 sentences per Sraith to pass, and roughly 36 to get full marks. So to begin with, know 12 sentences on each of the 20 Sraith, and develop your knowledge from there, rather than knowing 10 very well and ‘ banking’ on 1 of them coming up.

While learning to describe the pictures, make sure you are using them as a cue for your sentences.

Don’t forget to have three questions prepared for each Sraith. You ask the questions first. Questions such as “I bpictiúr a haon conas atá an aimsir?” and “I bpictiúr a sé, cén fáth go bhfuil áthas ar an mbuachaill?” are often possible as questions, try to make your questions as generic as possible

Sin a bhfuil go fóill, go n-éirí leat ar do thuras foghlama!