YESTERDAY'S Leaving Cert German papers were demanding but fair.

Ms Carmel Kavanagh, a representative of the German Teachers' Association, said students were pleased with the higher-level paper, which did not contain any surprises. This was the first examination of the new syllabus and Ms Kavanagh said a real effort was made to take an integrated approach to the language.

The questions on the first reading comprehension were clear, unambiguous and manageable, said Ms Kavanagh, who teaches in Scoil Caitriona, Glasnevin, Dublin. She had a minor quibble with question 4, which was quite open ended, she said.

The new applied grammar section was quite difficult, she added. The first question on the second reading comprehension was done in the form of a grid which students filled in auf deutsch. This did not go down well, Ms Kavanagh said, and its similarity to a question in the Junior Cert which is answered in English may have confused some students.

The Ausserung zum thema (see sample question) was very interesting, she said. Both sections were about language learning and would have been covered very well for the oral. In the written production, the letter was very long and students could have run into time difficulties, Ms Kavanagh said. However, the alternative question, which dealt with the role of the male in the home, was excellent.

A German teacher, Ms Antoinette Barnes, contacted Exam Times to say her students found the higher-level written paper very long and that the text in the first reading comprehension was a little difficult.

Both ordinary and higher level students listen to the same tape for the aural, but they answer different questions. Ms Kavanagh said that there was no difficulty with the tape.

The ordinary level written paper contained many imaginative questions, she said, and there was a very strong connection between the letter in the written production section and preparation for the oral.

Ms Judith Murphy, a German teacher at Castlerea Community School, Co Roscommon, said that both higher and ordinary level papers seemed to have been fairer than the "mock" papers. "My students were very happy," she said.

However, she said there seemed to have been some confusion with the listening comprehension. "I heard from one school that where there should have been beeps - pauses - there was none. There was some confusion over it - it might have thrown some pupils. It was considered quite difficult as well."

On the higher level paper, she said the reading comprehensions were an awful lot easier than pupils were expecting "even simpler than the sample ones handed out by the Department". On the ordinary level paper, even the grammar questions were relatively easy, she added.