Living and studying in Dublin can be lots of fun,  but for students there are some other things to think about as well – exams!!

Many of you are taking FETAC courses here at Abbey College, but there are also some useful English language exams to take if you want to learn English in Dublin.

• IELTS
  

This popular exam can be used to prove your English level for studying at universities in Ireland, the UK, Canada, Australia,  New Zealand and some American colleges. You can also use it for immigration purposes. There are two kinds of IELTS exam: Academic English and General Training. Find out which one you need as the courses are totally different! Both exams test speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Take IELTS in Dublin at the Applied Language Centre, Daedulus Building, University College Dublin, Dublin 4.  Academic Exam Dates: 22nd August, 5th September, 26th September. General Exam Dates: 22nd August, 5th September, 26th September Exam fee 182 euro

• Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE
  

These three exams are for students at Upper-Intermediate, Advanced and Very Advanced levels. They are recognised around the world by businesses and schools and are a very useful way of marking your English level. They each have five parts – Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening and Use of English.

Take Cambridge exams in Dublin at the Applied Language Centre, Daedalus Building, University College Dublin, Dublin 4.  Oral Exam Dates:  FCE 21st August to 28th August. Written Exam Dates FCE 27th August.  Please check the UCD site for other dates. Exam Fee 150 euro (FCE) 160 euro (CAE) and 170 euro (CPE)

• TIE ( Test of Interactive English)

This is a new Irish exam from ACELS. The Irish Department of Education and Science recognise it as do Italy( credito formativo) and Greece (as an English exam). The exam has two parts – writing and speaking. And three tasks: Carry out a short project/Read an English book/Follow a news story in the papers and/or on TV and radio/

Dublin centre: any TIE centre or TIE Examinations LTD, 45 Leeson Street Lower, Dublin 2  Exam Dates: on demand  Exam Fee: 70 euro for adults

Check back next week when we will look at more English language and Business exams.

Weekend Tip

Join the Urban Circus at Wolfe Tone Park on Jervis Street from tomorrow from 12.00 to 19.00. Music, juggling, acrobats and lots of good food:)

Don’t forget Monday is a Bank Holiday!! No school for you so you could leave the city. Head west for the Galway Races or down to Waterford for the Spraoi Festival.

The Dublin Colours

Which exams do you want more information on?

Do you know where these photos were taken?

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WEEKEND TIP

The Kings of Concrete is a breakdancing, grafitti, and skateboarding festival : ) Two days of fun at the Civic Office Amphitheatre on Wood Quay, near Christchurch Catherdral.

And the Carlsberg Comedy Festival started yesterday in the Iveagh Gardens.  It’s not too late to get tickets for the funniest people around!

Which photos don’t you recognise?

Kilmainham Gaol Dublin

Last week a group of students from 2 different classes went on a trip to Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin with their teachers Colm and Bernette.

The trip was a chance to learn a little about Irish history for the international students. But luckily for the students, it’s not used as a prison anymore so they were safe! They did however see the setting of the sad but romantic story of Grace Clifford and Oliver Plunkett which they had studied in class.

This is how Colm saw the day:

• Our guide, Orla, was very nice and friendly, she was excellent at engaging the students, and I think they really got a sense of the place from her.
• The prison has been used as a setting for several movies, such as Michael Collins In the Name of the Father and the TV show The Tudors. Some of the students recognised the place from what they had seen.
• I have been to Kilmainham maybe 6 or 7 times, and the great thing about the gaol is that the tour is always different.  The tour is always fascintating as the place is just full of so many stories. Every time I go, the tour is different and you are bound to see something new, and learn something you hadn’t known about the place.

And at the end of the day, Colm got to see the cell where his own grandfather had been imprisoned during the War of Independence in the early 1920s. He says: ‘ Orla took me upstairs to the cell and I was able to see his name written on the wall where he had been kept with three other men. It was a strange feeling to stand in the room where my mother’s father had been imprisoned – a man I  had never met – and try to imagine the thoughts he must have had while locked up in that very room.’

Can you see your friends?

Abbey College Students Kilmainham Dublin

Or maybe they are here?

Abbey College at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin

Weekend Tips

Sunday evening, try the Brazilian Samba Rock Band at the Odeon club on Harcourt Street. Entrance is free before 21.00 and 5 euro afterwards.

And if you want to stretch the weekend out, try Bewley’s Cafe Theatre on Monday evenings for free jazz sessions with lots of other gigs taking place there on Satudays and Sundays.

Get your tickets now for next weekend’s Comedy Festival in the Iveagh Gardens!

Is there an historical place like Kilmainham Gaol in your country which you would recommend to visitors?