I am a long time student of the Irish Language and I am just wondering what are peoples ideas on the language. Has it got a future? and if so under what guise? Also what do you think can be done to promote its use?

I am a supporter of the language and I think it is a fantastic language as well as being a link with our heritage.I would like to see more support being given to Irish speakers outside of the Gaeltachts. And before anyone asks why this isn't as Gaeilge, it's because I want everyone to be able to contribute.

maigh_eo (Mayo) - Posts: 1346 - 23/04/2010 12:32:47    626711

Why isnt this in as Gaeilge? ?

ConnollyDub (Dublin) - Posts: 2007 - 23/04/2010 12:54:03    626760

It has a future as long there's money and jobs in it, grants, teachers, translators etc

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 23/04/2010 13:02:26    626786

Joking apart dhorse - you might have hit on the problem there. I speak as Gaeilge at some stage everyday, so I'm a supporter of most of the language initiatives, but I think it is very badly taught and people aren't given enough of a reason to value it - a lot of people just see it as something that was inflicted on them at school like algebra, periodic tables and Yeats. With all the current economic problems, money spent on the Irish language will soon be presented as dubious and unnecessary expenditure and it will be amongst the next set of things the government begin to cut back on. So forget the translation jobs etc, the money won't be there. I would be very concerned about the medium term health of the language.

pearsesabu (Antrim) - Posts: 663 - 23/04/2010 13:18:15    626813

I am fluent in Irish and listen to news and radio and TG4, and read the odd newspaper and book but rarely speak it even with other people I know who have it. English is the language of every day life and can't ever see Irish becoming more than a sort of hobby like traditional or blues music where enthusiasts enjoy it but it has little impact on the broader society.

Only way it was ever going to become a working language was if the post Treaty state made it the only official language like Hebrew in Israel and that was never going to happen. For the Israelis Hebrew was a practical as well as an ideological thing because it gave a common language to Jews with all sorts of languages and most Jews would already have had some Hebrew if they were religious.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 23/04/2010 13:48:29    626871

is maith liom gaeilge.

OLLIE (Louth) - Posts: 12224 - 23/04/2010 13:58:07    626885

To be honest I have a deep shame that I cant speak my own laguage and Des feckin Bishop can.....

I'd love to have the time to do a course or something!

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 23/04/2010 14:15:50    626905

pearsesabu
County: Antrim
Posts: 600

626813 Joking apart dhorse - you might have hit on the problem there. I speak as Gaeilge at some stage everyday, so I'm a supporter of most of the language initiatives, but I think it is very badly taught and people aren't given enough of a reason to value it - a lot of people just see it as something that was inflicted on them at school like algebra, periodic tables and Yeats. With all the current economic problems, money spent on the Irish language will soon be presented as dubious and unnecessary expenditure and it will be amongst the next set of things the government begin to cut back on. So forget the translation jobs etc, the money won't be there. I would be very concerned about the medium term health of the language.

I wasn't joking. The Irish language is part and parcel of our over hyped education system and a also a means of dispersing grants. Because of it being compulsory it is despised by a lot of people. I think if it was left to its own devices and the people that love it it would make greater strides, instead of being hijacked by certain elements for their own benifit and zealousness. as it stands there are probably more people with polish as their first language than Irish despite all the money thast has been spent

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 23/04/2010 14:49:02    626940

jimbodub
County: Dublin
Posts: 5123

626905 To be honest I have a deep shame that I cant speak my own laguage and Des feckin Bishop can.....

I'd love to have the time to do a course or something!

Too busy supporting a foreign language instead of the perfectly good language we have here... tut tut tut for shame. Its people like you that is destroying the Irish language.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12452 - 23/04/2010 14:56:46    626956

It's badly taught as was stated above. I don;t know why the LC syllabus isn't changed, everyone complains that it's horrible and doesn;t help.

I hate tht I can't speak Irish, but it's one if my ambitions to learn it in the next few years

MayoMark (Mayo) - Posts: 332 - 23/04/2010 15:12:25    626977

Jimbo, it is not that difficult. You did it in school persumably so you will already have a large vocabulary and the basic grammar. It is only a matter of practising after that.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 23/04/2010 15:20:23    626994

I genuinely find watching the games on tg4 is very good for learning Irish. Most sports coverage is a collection of cliches and specific references to sporting terminology.

Its easy to know what they are talking about even if you had no Irish, so with a bit of Irish you can join the dots and learn loads of sayings.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12452 - 23/04/2010 15:26:20    626998

The manner it is taught in schools is pathetic. You learn it for 13 years but come out at the end barely being able to speak a word. I know people from the Cork and Donegal gaeltacht whose first language is Irish, but I received a higher mark than them in it in the Leaving Cert. If I turned on TG4 I would understand most of what people are saying (except some native speakers who speak really fast) without looking at the subtitles, but when it comes to speaking it myself I am useless. I'm not that familiar with other countries education systems, but I think Finland can teach children 4 or 5 languages when we can't even teach one.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 23/04/2010 15:35:41    627011

nocky
County: Wexford
Posts: 1977

627011 The manner it is taught in schools is pathetic. You learn it for 13 years but come out at the end barely being able to speak a word. I know people from the Cork and Donegal gaeltacht whose first language is Irish, but I received a higher mark than them in it in the Leaving Cert. If I turned on TG4 I would understand most of what people are saying (except some native speakers who speak really fast) without looking at the subtitles, but when it comes to speaking it myself I am useless. I'm not that familiar with other countries education systems, but I think Finland can teach children 4 or 5 languages when we can't even teach one.

We have the best education system in the world, don't we?

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 23/04/2010 15:59:15    627041

Does have a future? I honestly do not know.

The growth of the Gaelscoileanna gives it hope for the future but unfortunetly Irish has always been tied up in the education system and that has meant lot of people have been turned against it for whatever reasons. The Gaelscoil movement means that the standard of Irish of some people will be greatly improved while others will fall behind. What I mean by that is that teachers with good Irish will be drawn in to working in Gaelscoileanna and teachers whose Irish is not great will work in English medium schools. This will mean that children in English medium schools will be at a disadvantage when it comes to learning the language.

As for the Gaeltachtaí......I'm not so sure that they will really last to any great extent. The boundaries of these areas are completely out of sync with the day to day langauge of a lot of areas, and in real terms have been shrinking, in real terms, since their drawing in the 1920s. Yes there are some Gaeltacht areas where Irish is still the everyday language of the majority, however, other areas are still officiallty classed as Gaeltachtaí and there are very few people in those areas that can speak Irish at all.

Go pearsanta is í an Ghaeilge ceann de na nithe is tabhactaí i mo shaol ach, ar an drochuair, nílim dóchasach don todhchaí.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13833 - 23/04/2010 16:56:59    627159

Ok this is only my opinion and im im not trying to rattle the cage here but i have a genuine passionate hatred of the language, why?....because admittedly second languages (and lets be honest it is a second language) was never my strong point and i wanted to learn spanish but i never had the option in school. I wasted 13 years in school being forced to learn something i was no good at and to be honest myself and about 14 others (which was most of the class) were nothing but a nuisance to the 4 or 5 students who had a genuine interest and wanted to do well in leaving cert irish.

So heres a simple solution, teach it in primary school at a fairly basic level and then give students the option to do it when they hit secondary, at least then students who want to learn the lingo won't be held back and people like me can learn properly how to ask for a mojito.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 23/04/2010 16:58:25    627163

Yes i think it does have a future but only if the way of teaching it is changed. I think it should be standard for every child to go to the gaeltacht for twice (3 weeks at a time ) before they do their leaving. I always regretted not going. I decided this year to change that and i went for a week at easter to the Gaeltacht and i loved it, its a real shame that we dont use it in our day to day language, it wouldnt be hard, honest. most of us know these words... wouldnt it be nice it say one or two a day?
Sin e, we all know..
go raibh maith agat (Thank you)
Pe sceal e (anyways)
Chomh maith leis sin (as well as that)
Ar aon nos (anyway)
Nil breag ar bith ansin (there's no lie in that)
Ag an am ceanna (at the same time)
Taim craiceailte faoi (im crazy about)
Is brea liom/ Is aoibhinn liom (i like/ really like)
Ba cuma liom ( i wouldnt mind)
Le cuna Dia (with the help of God)
Dia Ellen (spelt wrong but thats how to pronounce it, you say it when someone sneezes, instead of bless you, in irish its more bless us all)

rossielassie (Roscommon) - Posts: 672 - 27/04/2010 15:37:47    631162

An bhfuil cad agam dul go dti an leithreas?


Ar nóta eile, bhí fadbh mór leis an múinteorieacht as an teanga. D'fhoghlaimíomar an teanga go trí bhliain is a deag agus nuair a bhíomar críochnaithe ní raibh gach duine liofa. Tá sé piosa difriúil anois. Tá an múinteoireacht ag malartach, agus tá níos focás ar an aird bheil.

Is maith liom Gaeilge :)


(Sorry for the lack of sense that might make)

Royal_Girl2k9 (Meath) - Posts: 2107 - 27/04/2010 16:17:59    631249

Its an almighty shame to see our native tongue isnt spoken more frequently. I think in schools the entire syllabus from junior infants to leaving cert level should be revised. Many see learning Irish as a dreadful chore. The syllabus is very old fashioned with no modern appeal whatsoever. I'd love to see it making a re-surgence but sadly I dont think it will.

Scruffy2Donut (Cavan) - Posts: 1112 - 27/04/2010 16:54:20    631332

I really hope the language has a future but to be honest I can't see it surviving the next 20-30 years

dammon (Meath) - Posts: 1291 - 27/04/2010 16:59:02    631343