German

German is offered as a choice subject in First Year. Students complete the three year syllabus as outlined in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills to Junior Cycle, developing their skills in communicative competence, language awareness, socio-cultural knowledge and intercultural awareness.

In Transition Year the focus is on fostering the student’s communicative skills in the target language together with exploring the German culture and it’s people through the mediums of film, literature, debating, dialects, festival and traditions as well as the opportunity when available to acquire an additional recognised qualification in “Fit inDeutsch” and Goethe Zertifikat A2 “Fit in Deutsch”. These examinations will be taken outside of classroom time and run by the Goethe Institute on the levels A 1 and A2 (CEFR) and are very suitable to motivate students, give them a sense of achievement and increase their oral skills in the target language.

Results orientated
The German Department is at all times results orientated by maximising the best potential of each individual student at varying levels of ability.

Language Assistant
The Department has also established an excellent relationship with the University of Karlsruhe near Stuttgart whereby we welcome a student intern to join us for part of the academic year. The assistant participates in language lessons and also gives individual time to students in Leaving Cert year in their preparation for the Oral exam.