Leaving Cert Spanish: Fair paper but selfie question a challenge

Leaving Cert students faced a fair higher-level Spanish paper which most would have found manageable, according to Begoña de la Fuente, a Spanish teacher at the Institute of Education.

The most challenging part was an extract about an accident that occurred when someone was taking a selfie, said Ms de la Fuente.

"The vocabulary was quite specific and challenging here. A question on the theme of education and the recession in Spain, however, was nice and topical and the questions were clear and straightforward, with no surprises."

Robbie Cronin, a teacher at Marian College in Ballsbridge said that the higher level paper was fair and that his students seemed to be happy enough with it.

"The highlight for me was a very interesting comprehension piece about the president of Uruguay and how he lived frugally rather than in a big palatial house. It was nicely pitched at a more idealistic age group," said Mr Cronin, who is also a subject representative for the ASTI.

Opinion pieces

Both Mr Cronin and Ms de la Fuente said that the topics for the opinion pieces, including “life can be simple” and “we have to do more for other people” were nice and open and gave good scope to students.

“The opinion piece is always the hardest question and the one the students dread most,” said Mr Cronin. “They will have breathed a sigh of relief on seeing this.”

He agreed with Ms de la Fuente that the question on the selfie accident was too technical and difficult.

Ms de la Fuente said the dialogue piece contained predictable structures, the letter topics were current and accessible and the appearance of the subjunctive will have been welcomed by students as they always put a lot of work into preparing for it, she added.

The ordinary level paper started off with a very difficult topic and students may have been thrown by it, said Mr Cronin.

The Spanish word for “nightmare” in this question might have been unfamiliar to ordinary level students, while another question about manatees struck him as a strange choice.

An article about Madonna’s support of bullfighting touched on a topical issue, but Madonna may not have been the most relevant pop star for junior cycle students, Mr Cronin added.

TRY THIS AT HOME

Q. You are staying with a Spanish family in A Coruña for two weeks while doing a language course.

Leave a note in Spanish for your friend including all of the following points: Say that your phone isn't working and you have to get it repaired today. You had planned to go to dance class this evening but will not be able to go. Ask if they can ring the dance teacher to tell him that you won't be there. You hope to be home by 8.30pm.