The Higher Level Leaving Cert Spanish exam is made up of an oral examination (25% or 100 marks), a listening comprehension (20% or 80 marks), and written exam (55% or 220 marks).
The oral examination usually lasts approximately 15 minutes. It can be the most daunting section of the Leaving Cert Spanish exam, but being well prepared with vocabulary and verbs will go a long way to laying the groundwork. Treat it as a conversation rather than an interrogation and try to get as much practise as possible at speaking Spanish in advance of the exam.
The oral examination consists of two distinct parts:
Section A is General Conversation and is worth 70 marks. Section B is a Role-Play worth 25 marks. The General Conversation lasts a minimum of ten minutes while the role-play takes 3-4 minutes.
The Examiner assesses students on their pronunciation fluency, range of vocabulary, grammatical accuracy and communicative competence.
Top Tips:
i) Do not follow a “rote learning” method i.e. learning paragraphs off by heart. It is advised that the oral exam takes the form of a natural conversation. Some candidates, in reproducing learned off material, concentrate so hard on recalling the information that pronunciation and communication suffer.
ii) Prepare the role plays well in advance of the exam.
iii) Access Spanish media e.g. www.rtve.es/noticias/telediario-4/ . This affords students the opportunity to listen to a variety of accents discussing daily current affairs in Spain. This, in turn, helps develop pronunciation.
The listening part of the Leaving Cert Spanish exam takes place on the day of the written paper and lasts 40 minutes. It is worth a total of 80 marks. Instructions are given to the candidate on the front of the paper. The excerpts are played 3 times. All questions are to be answered in English. There are 7 excerpts as follows:
The Leaving Cert Spanish written paper is worth 220 marks and you have 2 hours 30 minutes to complete the paper.
Section A
Section A is worth 70 marks and you should take about 55 minutes to answer this section. You can choose between Prescribed Literature (5 questions on the prescribed book La Aventura de Saíd) or the Journalistic Text.
There are 3 texts in Journalistic Text section. A large text followed by 4 extended questions and two smaller texts with two or three short questions on these.
Text 1: 4 questions Estimated time: 45 mins
Question 1: Answer in English. Questions refer to the paragraphs. This question is testing the candidate’s understanding of the text.
Question 2: Answer in Spanish. Candidate is given a sentence which corresponds to a sentence in the text. The paragraph is given and the answer should be sought there.
Question 3: Answer in English. The candidate is given several sentences in Spanish and must explain the meaning in English within the context of the paragraph.
Question 4: Answer in Spanish. The candidate is given a couple of sentences from a paragraph and must then express the idea in alternative way in Spanish. You are given a choice but must only do ONE. Read both very carefully before choosing!
Text 2: 3 questions Estimated time: 5 mins
All questions:The candidate is asked to find specific information in the news item. Answer questions in English
Text 3: 1-2 questions Estimated time: 5 mins
All questions require the candidate to give specific information in English.
Section B
Opinion Text 100 marks Estimated time: 55 mins
The candidate is given a large opinion text. Note there will be many phrases throughout the text in inverted commas. Keep these in mind as you read through the text. There are 5 questions.
Question 1: Candidate is given 5 sentences/phrases in Spanish and must find equivalent meanings in the text. The paragraph number is given. 15 marks
Question 2: Candidate is given 3 long sentences in Spanish and must explain their meaning in English. 15 marks
Question 3: Candidate is give 5 words and must find a synonym in the text. 5 marks
Question 4: Candidate is required to give a brief summary to response to short questions on the text. 15 marks
Question 5: Opinion piece. The Candidate is required to give their opinion on a topic related to the text. It must be 80-150 words approximately. 50 marks
Section C
You should leave about 40 minutes for this section. You can choose between Dialogue or Letter (30 marks) or the Diary or Note (20 marks).
If you choose the Dialogue you are given guidelines in English but must write the dialogue in Spanish. The content of the dialogue is unpredictable. There are approximately 5-6 pieces of dialogue to write. Candidates are essentially being examined on their use of grammar and structure. It is advised that you use simple Spanish paying attention to correct verb forms. The most commonly used tenses are the present, present perfect and preterite.
In the Letter candidates are asked to write a letter following specific guidelines in English. Do not deviate from the guidelines and go off on a tangent. Re-read the guidelines if you feel you are going off the point and perhaps tick off the guidelines on the paper as you complete each one. Like the dialogue it is advised that you use simple Spanish paying attention to correct verb forms. The tenses most commonly used here are the present and present perfect.
In the Diary Entry candidate are asked to write a diary entry. 4 guidelines are given in English and it is advisable to be a bit creative when writing your entry all the while using simple Spanish. You must write the date on top and sign off at the bottom. The tenses most commonly used are either the preterite or the present perfect.
The Note is similar to the diary entry in that candidates are asked to write a note using the guidelines given. Do not deviate from the guidelines and use simple, concise Spanish. Make it realistic by writing the time and date. The tenses most commonly used are the present, present perfect and the future.