LEAVING CERT GERMAN:GERMAN STUDENTS ended a long week of exams on a high, with papers that should not have posed any problems for students who had put the work in, teachers said.

“If a candidate knew his or her grammar and had a reasonably wide vocabulary, they should have had no problem at higher level,” said ASTI subject representative Pierce Purcell. “The ordinary level paper was particularly nice.”

The exam was not without its problems, however.

For the most part, the recording for the aural was fine. “The first part was an interview with a journalist, which was fine,” said Purcell. “The second part was a conversation which was slightly easier than previous years. The third part was another conversation but here I thought the speakers were speaking far too quickly.”

Students seemed to agree with this analysis, although the fourth part of the recording, which was a news item, was deemed fine.

The higher level written paper was challenging in parts but it was overall thought to be manageable.

Orla Ní Shúilleabháin, German teacher at the Institute of Education said, “Both comprehensions were accessible, allowing even the weaker students scope to achieve marks.” She pointed out, however, that some of the vocabulary used was testing.

“Not knowing certain words shouldn’t have been too off-putting for students though,” said Mr Purcell.

“The second comprehension was about an outdoor cinema but the questions were in English, so students would have been able to glean some information from those.”

Another reading comprehension extract dealt with a man who inherited a farm from his grandmother.

In what has become a common theme in this year’s Leaving Cert, those students who were relying on prepared material were disappointed yesterday.

“The written part of the paper required students to think on their feet,” Ms Ní Shúilleabháin said. “The choice of topics on the paper was very broad and unpredictable. The short essay required very specific vocabulary in places. There was no scope for pre-prepared topics.”

In what was a “welcome change” from previous years, according to Ms Ní Shúilleabháin, there was something in the grammar section for students of all ability levels.

“The letter followed the usual format that it does every year. It required students to write to their German pen-pal expressing their opinions about different topics. It was a fine exam in general,” Mr Purcell said.

Just over 7,000 students study German at Leaving Cert level each year, making it the most popular foreign language after French, which attracts close to 30,000 students.

Spanish is becoming ever more popular among students but with fewer than 4,000 sitting the Leaving Cert exam, it may be some time before it catches up. Most students studying German sit the higher level exam with just over 2,000 opting to study the subject at ordinary level.

Ordinary level students would have been very happy.

“I thought the ordinary level paper was actually relatively easy,” Mr Purcell said. “The aural recording for the higher and ordinary level students is the same so they may have had difficulty with the third part of that recording but the written paper was fine.”

Comprehensions were described as fair. “They were well laid out,” Ms Ní Shúilleabháin said. “And they related to relevant topics.” The written section was also welcomed as being “consistent with previous years’ exams”. “Students were very happy with it,” Mr Purcell said.