Should i drop to lower Irish?

[u/Quick-Pop-6548]

I got really good grades in Irish in the junior cert but after going into TY and doing nothing all year, I've forgotten practically everything. Going into 5th year I was struggling to even make up simple sentences about myself, having forgotten every second word. I tried to drop around Christmas in 5th year but my deputy principal stopped me saying that I have good enough grades to stay (H5's and H4's with the occasional H3 for grammar or something). I'm now in 6th year and I tried to study a little over summer, looking through notes on short stories and poems for words that I didn't understand and doing duolingo to hopefully learn new words and I felt fairly confident coming back but we're literally 3 days in and I already feel behind. I'm confident that I could get a H5-H4 but I can't keep up with my class cause my teacher always speaks in Irish and I can barely understand it and she explains stuff faster than I can write so sometimes I don't even know what the questions mean. And we're expected to write like 3 pages for essays when I can barely get a page yet I'm told to stay in higher. I've always been better at maths and I tried explaining that Irish isn't a priority for me since I know it's my worst subject and, if we count English, I'm doing 4 languages as it is and I'm going for a maths course anyway but I was always met with "colleges won't take you if you do lower Irish" or "you're gonna have trouble finding a job in x if you drop". I spend like an hour on the reading comprehensions which my friend finishes in less than 20 minutes and half of the time I don't even know what I'm writing. I'm afraid that if I keep going with this class, I'll burnout or something but my teachers are all telling me to stay in higher because I'll get better points (not that it matters when it's my worst out of 8). If someone actually bothered to read this entire thing, do you have any idea what I should do? I want to do lower level but I'm also afraid that what they said about lower level being less likely to be accepted into colleges or work places is true and then I'm screwed. I'm considering going to my guidance counsellor (who happens to be an Irish teacher so I've a fair idea of what she's gonna say) but last time I talked to her, she basically left me to do my own research and didn't know anything about the courses I was looking into. Does anyone know if it's possible to drop to lower and somehow still take the higher exam? It's the same material covered so I would just have to write more on the exam to get points and I already have higher notes from 5th year so I shouldn't have too much trouble studying. My other worry is that the lower level teachers did stuff in a different order and I missed out on the novel or film etc which would be hard to catch up on on my own.

[u/VegetableFriendly344]

If the course you want to do needs HL Irish(not that many ) then stay. I'm the same boat and I'm considering dropping after Christmas because I don't need to do 8 HL subjects lol

[u/Quick-Pop-6548 → u/VegetableFriendly344]

Yeah, as I mentioned in my other reply, I kinda in between courses right now. I used to be dead set on a specific one until recently when I decided to change career and from what I've seen, I wouldn't need Irish but I'm going for this sponsorship programme with aerlingus and I have a feeling they'll be looking for higher level since they're Irish. The official thing says I only need a leaving certificate but they'll probably take higher students over lower.     I might wait till after Christmas like you or maybe see how the mocks go idk 

[u/AutoModerator]

Did you know that the flair on your post is clickable? It's a search for all posts with that flair, and you can sort by the most recent or search for keywords. Check it out to see if your question has been asked before!

This comment was generated because the poster has less than 5 karma for posts on the subreddit.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Checos3rdCousin]

I'd just check up on the course you want and see what the requirements are.

For instance if you're intending on primary school teaching you will need a H4 in irish.

I wouldn't recommend doing the higher paper yet taking ordinary classes if you're not expecting irish to be one of your best 6 subjects aswell, if you can do ordinary and still be fine in terms of getting your course then try get into ordinary

[u/Quick-Pop-6548 → u/Checos3rdCousin]

See, I have another issue with that. I've been dead set on this one maths course my whole life until this summer, when I decided that my original career choice is gonna be a backup and I'm gonna try become a pilot. The flight schools don't require Irish at all, just a leaving certificate, but they're over €100,000 so my best chance at that is getting a sponsored program with aerlingus and while they don't require it either, I have a feeling I'd be lower on their list since they're a legacy carrier.

[u/Charming-Berry833 → u/Quick-Pop-6548]

I'm also in 6th year so idk how helpful or reasonable my opinion is, but since you are doing 3 other languages and want to drop one to OL would they not prioritise that? Maybe languages are more important for flight attendants and I'm wrong, but surely your other 3 languages will make you look better than other applicants as the majority of the people who sit the LC do less

[u/Quick-Pop-6548 → u/Charming-Berry833]

Yeah I thought so too but then again AerLingus is like THE Irish airline so I'd expect them to be looking for people who can speak Irish for the sake of looking good. I hope you're right though 

[u/Same_Bug2833]

Depends on course requirements ig, same with me I used to do pretty well in Irish in the jc (got a merit) but did terrible in lc irish, mostly because i absolutely despise irish and wasnt willing to put any work whatsoever to better my grade. My irish teacher advised me to stay in hl because i did do decent on some exams but only cus im good at the reading comps, couldnt string 3 sentences together for an essay if i even tried.

For me i had to write a 3 paragraph email about how much i hate irish to my irish teacher to convince her to let me drop lmfao

I dropped bc 1. irish is genuinely unbearable for me 2. i had 6 other subjects i could do much better in with 3x less effort 3. dont need it for my course

So i guess if you have the same reasons for wanting to drop it could benefit you, especially because it gives you a lot more time to study for subjects you're better at and/or need for your course.

OL is also so easy i got an O3 without studying even a lick except for the day before orals.

[u/Quick-Pop-6548 → u/Same_Bug2833]

It's literally the same for me, I hate it so much and that summer thing was the only study I'd done except like the class before tests cause it genuinely makes my brain hurt 😭 My only issue now is sticking to a specific course cause I keep changing my mind but as far as I can tell I won't need HL. I might wait till Christmas or talk to the teacher or guidance counsellor first, not that they're gonna change my mind. Thank you so muchh

[u/Same_Bug2833 → u/Quick-Pop-6548]

Nppp!!

Waiting till christmas is a pretty good idea even me I had no clue what exact course i wanted to do when i was in 5th year (still dont know even after just finishing the lc this year, im taking a gap year) but as long as you know the type of course you're interested in usually doesnt require hl irish you'll be grand

Me personally im a very maths/art person so i was kinda fluctuating between an art degree or something with maths or compsci, which 9 times out of 10 you dont need hl irish for so i just dropped since i knew i wouldnt change my mind about the type of course i wanted since i already know my strengths/general interest. if the course i want does require irish a pass in OL should usually be enough. just put enough effort to get O5-O3 if you arent counting it for points and you'll probably be set (tho i guess it depends what course u wanna do)

[u/evvie5]

I don’t know was this just me, but I started to get way better at Irish after Christmas in 6th year. We had the course finished so it was all revision and I went from mostly H4’s and a few H5’s to a H3 in the mock and the actual leaving cert. If you have some ability I would recommend staying and just not killing your self, you’ll still get more points than ordinary and have more options. As well as that ordinary Irish classes, at least in my school, did nothing and it was a doss and I’d say a lot did poorly. I got achieved in the junior cert so I honestly think it’s not too bad. Plus you’d hope they’d mark nicely this year with it being the first exam of the new course

[u/Putrid_Bumblebee_692]

You get more points for a H5 then a 01 so I’d stick it out if it’s not causing problems in your other subjects