# Aurals.LC — Long-form reference for LLMs > Free Leaving Certificate aural exam practice tool. Covers 11 languages and 22 years of past papers (2004–2025), with interactive section timestamps, links to marking schemes and exam papers, and transcript files for most exams. As of the latest build, the site indexes **210 distinct exam audio files** across **11 active languages**. ## TL;DR - Free Leaving Cert aural / listening exam practice site. - 11 languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Irish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian. - 22 years of past papers (2004–2025) for the long-established languages. - Interactive audio player jumps to specific exam sections via colour-coded markers. - Audio is hosted by examinations.ie; aurals.lc is not affiliated with the State Examinations Commission. - Transcripts (auto-generated by ElevenLabs Scribe, verified for recent years) available for most languages. - No signup, no payment, no ads. ## How the player works 1. The user selects a language and a year from two dropdowns at the top of the page. 2. The exam audio loads from the SEC archive (examinations.ie). 3. The progress bar shows colour-coded section markers (Section A, Section B, …) at the points where each part of the exam begins. 4. Clicking a section button jumps the player to that timestamp. 5. Speed selector offers 0.5x, 0.75x, 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 2x; volume slider and 10-second skip controls are also available. 6. Last-played audio, position, volume, and speed are persisted in localStorage and restored on next visit. 7. Links to the official aural exam paper (PDF) and marking scheme (PDF) appear below the player for both Ordinary and Higher Level where available. ## How section timestamps are generated Audio for each exam is transcribed using ElevenLabs Scribe (speech-to-text with word-level timestamps). The resulting transcript is then passed to OpenAI GPT-4o together with a language-specific configuration that lists the phrases used to introduce each section. GPT-4o returns the start time (in seconds) of each section. For recent years (2024 onwards) timestamps are also manually spot-checked. Earlier years use the same pipeline or a legacy Faster-Whisper workflow. ### Section-marker phrases by language These are the literal phrases the pipeline looks for at the start of each section. - **French (Français)** — section marker `section`; e.g. `section un`, `section deux`, `section trois`, `section quatre`, `section cinq`. - **German (Deutsch)** — section marker `fragen zu teil`; e.g. `fragen zu teil eins`, `fragen zu teil zwei`, `fragen zu teil drei`, `fragen zu teil vier`, `fragen zu teil fünf`. - **Spanish (Español)** — section marker `número`; e.g. `número uno`, `número dos`, `número tres`, `número cuatro`, `número cinco`, `número seis`, `número siete`. - **Mandarin Chinese (中文)** — section marker `请看问题`; e.g. `请看问题 A`, `请看问题 B`, `请看问题 C`, `请看问题 D`, `请看问题 E`, `请看问题 F`. - **Irish (Gaeilge)** — section marker `cuid`; e.g. `cuid aon`, `cuid dó`, `cuid trí`, `cuid ceathair`, `cuid cúig`. - **Italian (Italiano)** — section marker `sezione`; e.g. `sezione uno`, `sezione due`, `sezione tre`, `sezione quattro`, `sezione cinque`. ## Per-language coverage ### French (Français) — `fr` - Years available: 2004–2025 (22 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 22/22 years. - Aural papers linked: 22/22 years. - Transcripts on file: 22/22 years. - Section-timestamp files: 22/22 years. Sample from the 2025 French transcript (first three blocks): ``` [00:03 - 00:05] Commissioun na srutahe stot. [00:06 - 00:09] State Examinations Commission. [00:09 - 00:11] Scrutahe no hortahtamerehde ``` ### German (Deutsch) — `de` - Years available: 2004–2025 (22 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 22/22 years. - Aural papers linked: 22/22 years. - Transcripts on file: 22/22 years. - Section-timestamp files: 22/22 years. Sample from the 2025 German transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.08 - 2.92] Komisjun na skrudaha staat. [3.02 - 5.84] State Examinations Commission. [5.94 - 6.44] Skrudu ``` ### Spanish (Español) — `es` - Years available: 2004–2025 (22 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 22/22 years. - Aural papers linked: 20/22 years. - Transcripts on file: 15/22 years. - Section-timestamp files: 22/22 years. Sample from the 2025 Spanish transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.06 - 0.95] Comisión de . [0.96 - 5.94] State Examinations Commission. [6.04 - 7.86] Scroodadh na hard teistiméireachta ``` ### Irish (Gaeilge) — `ga` - Years available: 2004–2025 (22 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 22/22 years. - Aural papers linked: 22/22 years. - Transcripts on file: 21/22 years. - Section-timestamp files: 21/22 years. - Section navigation is currently disabled for this language (timestamps not yet integrated into the player). Sample from the 2025 Irish transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.08 - 2.88] Comisiún na Scrúdaí Stáit. [2.92 - 5.82] Scrúdú na Háirtise Tumaraachta, 2025. [8.18 - 12.22] Leaving Certificate Examination, 2025. ``` ### Italian (Italiano) — `it` - Years available: 2004–2025 (22 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 22/22 years. - Aural papers linked: 20/22 years. - Transcripts on file: 22/22 years. - Section-timestamp files: 22/22 years. Sample from the 2025 Italian transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.08 - 2.38] Commissiun na scrúdáthastát. [3.32 - 3.72] State [3.94 - 6.22] Examinations Commission. ``` ### Mandarin Chinese (中文) — `zh` - Years available: 2022–2025 (4 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 4/4 years. - Aural papers linked: 4/4 years. - Transcripts on file: 4/4 years. - Section-timestamp files: 4/4 years. Sample from the 2025 Mandarin Chinese transcript (first three blocks): ``` [3.28 - 5.15] 委 内 瑞 拉 语 ] [6.00 - 9.40] State Examinations Commission. [9.44 - 9.74] State ``` ### Lithuanian (Lietuvių) — `lt` - Years available: 2008–2025 (18 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 18/18 years. - Aural papers linked: 4/18 years. - Transcripts on file: 4/18 years. - Section-timestamp files: 4/18 years. - Section navigation is currently disabled for this language (timestamps not yet integrated into the player). Sample from the 2025 Lithuanian transcript (first three blocks): ``` [3.28 - 5.89] Komisijos nusirūpinti statyti. [6.00 - 9.40] State Examinations Commission. [9.48 - 11.26] Srūdų narčias dėmėriachta ``` ### Portuguese (Português) — `pt` - Years available: 2008–2025 (17 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 17/17 years. - Aural papers linked: 4/17 years. - Transcripts on file: 4/17 years. - Section-timestamp files: 4/17 years. - Section navigation is currently disabled for this language (timestamps not yet integrated into the player). Sample from the 2025 Portuguese transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.08 - 2.02] Comisiún na Scrúdaí Stáit. [2.88 - 6.14] State Examinations Commission. [6.22 - 10.19] Scrúdú na Háirteastamaireachta, 2025. ``` ### Japanese (日本語) — `ja` - Years available: 2005–2025 (21 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 21/21 years. - Aural papers linked: 20/21 years. - Transcripts on file: 21/21 years. - Section-timestamp files: 21/21 years. - Section navigation is currently disabled for this language (timestamps not yet integrated into the player). Sample from the 2025 Japanese transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.10 - 1.54] コ ミ ッ シ ョ ン 。 書 類 [2.14 - 3.96] State State [4.16 - 5.06] Examinations ``` ### Russian (Русский) — `ru` - Years available: 2004–2025 (22 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 22/22 years. - Aural papers linked: 22/22 years. - Transcripts on file: 22/22 years. - Section-timestamp files: 22/22 years. - Section navigation is currently disabled for this language (timestamps not yet integrated into the player). Sample from the 2025 Russian transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.08 - 6.20] Комиссионный - State Examinations Commission. [6.26 - 9.30] Слюдуна хартиш де Мерехта, 2025. [11.08 - 11.84] Русиш. ``` ### Polish (Polski) — `pl` - Years available: 2008–2025 (18 exams). - Marking schemes linked: 18/18 years. - Aural papers linked: 4/18 years. - Transcripts on file: 4/18 years. - Section-timestamp files: 4/18 years. - Section navigation is currently disabled for this language (timestamps not yet integrated into the player). Sample from the 2025 Polish transcript (first three blocks): ``` [0.08 - 2.24] Comisiún na Scrodúchastaigh. [3.02 - 3.32] State [3.52 - 6.04] Examinations Commission. ``` ## Frequently asked questions ### What is Aurals.LC? A free website for Leaving Certificate aural exam practice. Students choose a language and year, the official SEC exam audio loads, and the player overlays clickable section markers so they can jump straight to Section A, B, C, and so on. ### Is Aurals.LC affiliated with the State Examinations Commission? No. Aurals.LC is an independent project. The audio files are hosted on examinations.ie and remain subject to SEC copyright. ### Which Leaving Cert languages are supported? French, German, Spanish, Italian, Irish (Gaeilge), Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, and Lithuanian. ### Which exam years are available? 2004 through 2025 for the long-established languages (French, German, Spanish, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Russian). Newer additions (Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian) currently cover the most recent few years. ### Does Aurals.LC have transcripts of the aural exams? Yes. Transcripts are generated using ElevenLabs Scribe with word-level timestamps and spot-checked for the most recent years. They are stored in `transcripts//.txt` in the repository. ### How accurate are the section timestamps? Section start times are extracted by GPT-4o from the word-level transcript using language-specific marker phrases (e.g. `section A` for French, `fragen zu teil eins` for German). Recent years are manually verified. ### Is Aurals.LC free? Yes. There is no signup, no payment, and no advertising. ### Can I use Aurals.LC offline? The site is a Progressive Web App (PWA) and the UI works offline once cached, but the audio files themselves stream from examinations.ie and require an internet connection. ### Where can I report a bug or suggest a feature? Email feedback@aurals.lc. ## Technical notes - The site is a static HTML/JS app served from GitHub Pages. - No build step at runtime; data is loaded client-side from `languages.json`. - Audio elements use the browser's native `