European languages for leaving cert?

Question

Not like French or German but I'm talking about languages like romanian, Polish, Dutch, Danish etc. Can you take them up for the leaving cert without having done them for them junior? Like, Would any of the new languages that the LC does be at a junior cert level? like could it be for people who've only been studying it from transition-6th year or does it HAVE to be prepared in a way that you would have to study it for 5/6 years? Thanks.

Answer 1

The languages of the EU states can be taken as a Junior and Leaving Cert exam, but they are non-curricular subjects. This means that there is no syllabus and nothing to learn off before the examination.

The papers are designed for native speakers only - if you are not from the country of the language, you cannot take the exam.  The reason they are on offer is to rebalance the disadvantage faced by non-native English speakers who are in school in Ireland, who have to do the same English exam as those who have been learning English since birth, and who usually don't have the option of taking Irish.

The papers consist of three parts, comprehension and two essays (the same format for all languages). They are 2 hours long. It is possible to take the exam for the LC if you haven't done it at JC, but like I said, you MUST be a native speaker of that language.