This course is aimed at those who will be doing the Irish language interview for the Professional Masters in Education (Primary). The course focuses on the main topics of conversation that arise in the interview and participants are given an opportunity to improve their speaking skills and add to their vocabulary.

This course aims to provide participants with information that will enable them to:

• start their interview well – this will put the interviewee at their ease and impress the interviewers;
• use verbs correctly
• give comprehensive answers, at a high standard, to questions which are frequently posed in the oral exam;
• give grammatically correct answers;
• read written passages accurately;
• make use of the wide range of online facilities now available through Irish.

The course is suitable for those who have studied Irish at school, perhaps a good number of years ago, who understand a great deal of the language, but have had few opportunities to use it in recent years. Although the emphasis is on developing speaking and listening skills, students also have the opportunity to read and write the language. Grammar is taught in context, as it is required.

Author

This course was written by Helen Hegarty.

Course units

There are 9 units in Intensive Preparatory Course - Professional Masters in Education (Primary) Interviews, each of which concentrates on a distinct topic. Here are the topics dealt with in the course:

• Unit 1: The Structure of the Interview
• Unit 2: Background and Where You Live / The Family
• Unit 3: The Working Life
• Unit 4: Holidays and Travel / Languages
• Unit 5: Education and the Teaching Profession
• Unit 6: My Lifestyle
• Unit 7: Speaking about the Past
• Unit 8: Speaking about the Future
• Unit 9: If I were the Minister for Education ...

Guide to using the course

We think the best way to teach a language is through that language; all the instructions in this course are therefore in Irish but you can click on the ‘Taispeáin Fotheidil’ / ‘Show Subtitles’ button in the top right-hand corner at any time to access English translations. You can also click on the plus sign beside individual sentences to see the English version of those sentences.

All the exercises in the course are interactive. Once you have completed an exercise, you can click on the ‘Seol’ (Send) button and receive feedback immediately. You are told which answers were correct and which were incorrect, you are given the correct answers and a score.

At the beginning of each unit, you are told what aspects of the language are the focus of that unit.

In order to move from one screen to another all you need to do is click on the icon, which appears on the right-hand side, at the top and bottom of each screen. You can also click on any line of text under the words ‘PLEAN AN AONAID’ on the left-hand of the screen in order to access another part of the unit.

On the last page of each unit, an leathanach scoir, you are given an overview of the work that you have done in that unit and your total score for the unit. You are given several choices as well: to continue to the next unit, to go back on the unit that you have just completed, or go back to the very beginning of the course.

When can I begin the course?

Immediately! Students study the course independently of a teacher. This means that you can improve your Irish in the office or from the comfort of your home, at your own pace, and at whatever time suits you.

What happens if I have a question?

Write it on the forum! You’ll be able to contact other learners through this discussion forum. You can send messages, ask and answer questions, and express ideas there. Members of the Gaelchultúr team keep an eye on the forum, so they’ll be able to answer any tricky questions.