The appliance of signs overcomes all

An unusual language test held yesterday afternoon tested Leaving Cert Applied students' knowledge of sign language.

Ms Maura Buckley, a teacher in St Mary's School for Deaf Girls, Cabra, Dublin, said the first part of the exam involved an interview with an interviewer who was deaf and a fluent signer. "The girls found this part fair. Part 2, the written paper, was lovely."

She said: "The paper was easy for our deaf students because they are only too familiar with sign language and very much aware of deaf issues. If hearing students were given the paper, comments might be different . . . in our school it was a wonderful opportunity to do the course because the LCA requires a language."

The mathematical applications paper, taken by LCA students yesterday morning, was voted difficult by the students of the Liberties College, Dublin. Their teacher, Mr Ciaran O'Connell, said it was more testing than in previous years.

Question 1, which included the circle and triangle, was "tricky", while the compound interest section of question 2 was difficult.

European languages were examined yesterday afternoon. Ms Theresa Byrne, a German teacher in Larkin College, Dublin, said the German paper was "quite predictable" apart from a weather report from the Internet. It was very much based on the whole year's course, she added. Question 6, the menu question, was quite difficult.