Will I ever use Irish again??

ClaireNo

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

Peter03

I can't see myself ever speaking Irish again, completely worthless language.

James G

I once used to think that I'd learn Irish on my own, at my own pace, after I left school. At this point, though, I honestly have to say I'm sick of it. I'm sure it would have been different if I wasn't forced to learn it. I don't think Irish is very important, and having a universal language would be much more ideal than having to know English and Irish, so I don't think it should be pushed the way it is. But it would be sort of fun to learn it at my own leisure.

**Timbuk2**

I had loads of fun speaking Irish in the Gaeltacht. The spoken element of Irish is great. However, the absolute direness of the Irish syllabus for the Leaving Certificate (over 15 texts, stair na Gaelige, meaningless essays) has completely induced a hatred of Irish in me.

I can safely say that I will never use Irish again!

itzybitzyfitzy

I am delighted that i neva have to see irish again.
THE fact tat it was forced upon me made matters 50x worse!!
if u spoke irish in the us, they would think u were speaking russian or somthing!!

Iwasfrozen

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Hey, hopefully I can be of some use to you.

I won't be using the Irish language ever again. Not only because for practical reasons becasue I don't need to but also because I hate the dammed language. Fourteen years of forceed education has made me resentful and if I were religious I would thank God I never have to utter a syllable that that horrid thing again.

ClaireNo wrote: »

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?

One hundred percent yes. My Irish paper two exam will have been the last time I ever speak it.

Corkfeen

Irish is fantastic for commenting on people in places abroad..... They think your speaking russian or something.......:D

ldxo15wus6fpgm

I live about 20 miles from the border of a gaeltacht... I've met about 5 people that use Irish as their first language, and I've never needed to say anything to them. The times I've been in there, everyone spoke english to me.

I don't speak a word of Irish myself, but I've never needed to, and most people in my school think its a complete waste of time, so I'm probably better off not having to learn it... :pac:

paul08

id love to say that i will use it but in all honesty i probably won't... more to do with the teacher i had than anything else an absolute loose cannon who if you stopped concentrating or looked out the window used to give a big speech about the state of the country and how irish is our native language and so on.. i used to dread going to the class even though i liked speaking the language and also the paper 2 course is a load of bollocks to be honest its difficult enough studying literature in your first language never mind a second language that you are trying to learn. unfortunatly the language will be extinct within our lifetime unless serious changes are made in the teaching of irsh or in the attitudes or the people towards irish as there is a kind of snobbery attached to the language.

EuropeanSon

I loath the syllabus, the poetry etc, but if I was ever in the west or any other Gaeltacht areas I would have no problem having a conversation. I like speaking it, but just not the way it's taught in schools. I'd say if I do ever use it again, besides maybe helping a younger sibling, it will be very rarely.

Cliodhna.

aw:( id hate to say ill never use irish again... i hate the leaving cert syllabus but i love irish!!... Plan on readin the harry potter books in Irish to keep it fresh what a nerd!! ha

rockmongrel

It's handy abroad when you want to have a private chat, but most of my friends speak German or French better, so it's usually those we rely on. The gaeltacht is nice and it's fun to use the language there, but in fully practical terms, no, Irish won't truly be used again if I have another option.

ricero

no that language is dead with the dodo thank god il never utter another word of dat terrible terrible language

irish_man

No I cannot see myself or any of the current leaving cert students using Irish on a regular basis after the exams
(apart from those living in gaeltacht regions)

It's really a waste of time, sadly

johnmcdnl

I'd love to use the language in day to day stuff if I wanted too but tbh unless I moved to the gaeltacht 90% of assistants in shops or basically anyone I'd have contact with at all would probably look at me and not have a notion what I was going on about... I'll probably end up loosing all the Irish I know and it depresses me kinda because I've always seen Irish as a really strong part of our culture...

I'm only gonna get a C at best in the leaving and that's because of the fecking course that rewards people who sit there in their rooms at night and learn to recite essays of poetry out.. Irish is basically a literature class just like English which leads to 95% of student hating the course... I hated every minute of the Irish course in secondary school pretty much... I love the language.. I went to the Gaeltacht last summer and I loved living through Irish... I'd love to be able to use it but it's as simple as this...

if you try to use it in day to day life you'll be treated the same as a foreigner in your own country...

stainluss

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

No, I dont believe I will ever use Irish again.

I predict that within 10 years, it will be optional for LC and probably not neccessary for college entry to most courses

It will be then confined to being spoken in remote parts of the country (i.e. Gaeltacht areas) where people will use it just for the sake of it surviving.
Within 20 years, I think 9/10 people will not know, nor care about how to speak it.

So, IMO, its not looking too good for Gaeilge:p

rockmongrel

Also, I feel that if Irish was taught as a language like French/Spanish/German, instead of a mix of prosody/writing and phonetics, people would be far more inclined to learn it and enjoy it.

TaraR

I Went to an All Irish Primary & Secondary School And I Haven't Used A Word Since I Left. Its Pointless In My Opinion Because There Is No Use For The Language Unless You Want To Be A Irish School Teacher.

orlabobs

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

Personally I'm extremely proud to be Irish. Despite being of a race which has received a lot of bad press. The thing is, and I'm sure everyone here will agree with me, is the teaching and curriculum for Irish is abysmal. Instead of getting us to be able to speak and love the language, they're forcing us to learn reams and reams of poems and essays. I don't see how that possibly reflects on life. When would anyone go into the pub and decide to have a conversation on the effects of alcohol on young people, or on the theme of a poem.
The SEC is pushing it's young people into hating and resenting Irish class. It simply is not right. And although I would love to be fluent in Irish, I am not. I'll always try and keep a little bit of Irish, but unless the curriculum is changed soon, it will be a dead language.:(

Dante

Never, I just don't see any practical point to it in this day and age. I throw in the odd word or two around the house or with mates but thats about it.

EvilLlamaThingy

Never. Ever. Again.

lc2010

Well I think I'll use it very rarely, perhaps only when abroad, which is a shame as I actually have a decent grasp of it. I blame the system itself that syllabus has made me hate the language. The funny thing is i actually didn't mind studying for the oral as it was half useful however it's been a different story over the last few weeks.

As for employment opportunities it will have absolutely no bearing!

ClaireNo

You know, education seems to be playing a massive part in all of this. Outdated, boring and far-removed from the enjoyable aspect of it. Maybe a review of the learning of the language would benefit students, no?

Hopefully that might happen before students completly zone out.

Tora Bora

Excellent asset to have if you are stopped by the police for no bell on your rothair:D They let you off rather than have the hassle of processing you in the staisuin:cool::cool:

gant0

I'm never ever going to speak thar worthless language ever again.Well to be honest I haven't spoken it since 1st year.The school syllabus for Irish just instilled a hatred for the language in me at an early age!!!

dan_d

Funny - you've to learn just as much for English, yet nobody is vitriolic about that.
Odd.

Iwasfrozen

dan_d wrote: »

Funny - you've to learn just as much for English, yet nobody is vitriolic about that.
Odd.

No one doesn't.

uncle-mofo

It's a pity, I promised myself in 5th year that I would stay in higher level Irish and I have. I really wanted to be able to speak my native language fluently but the way it is taught is absolutely terrible. In my opinion there should be upwards of 50% of the grade going for the oral exam, and another 30% for the aural and the remainder going for comprehensions or something similar. Thanks to the current Irish course I will be leaving secondary school with an absolute hatred of the Irish language thanks to all the poetry, prose, and essays. Another thing is the complete difference in standard between Higher level and ordinary level Irish, an A1 in ordinary level Irish requires much less effort than a C3 in higher level, this is why so many students are dropping higher level.

**Timbuk2**

dan_d wrote: »

Funny - you've to learn just as much for English, yet nobody is vitriolic about that.
Odd.

With English, you get a choice. There are eight poets - you only need to do 5 max to be guaranteed to answer anything that comes up on the paper.

You get to choose the three comparative texts you want to do, not be constrained to a very small list that consists of An Triail, Maidhc Dain, Peig and A Thig na Thit Orm (and probably a few more). You also only have to study 2 modes to be guaranteed to answer anything, and there is an internal choice within each mode.

The Shakespearean isn't even that bad, as if you know your characters well, you can answer on any theme that comes up also. Quotes are much easier to learn as they are in English.

For Irish, you have to learn everything. You can't cut down, because there is always a compulsory poem (Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa) and a compulsory Prós (Fiche Bliain ag Fás). Quotes are much harder to learn as they are in Irish. Also, in Irish, some people might not understand the question. That means that no matter how hard they have studied, they can't justify their work with their answer. Take the An Triail question this year - nearly everybody was confused by it. It's highly unlikely that you wouldn't understand a question in an English exam

Paz-CCFC

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

Gan dabht, úsáidfidh mé ár dteanga, sa thodhcaí. 'Sé Gaeilge atá mar pháirt de mo chéad rogha don choláiste agus, fiú muna bhfaighim é, déanfaidh mé staidéar éigean ar an dteanga, fiú más mion-staidéar é.

Without doubt, I'll be using our language in the future. Irish is part of my first choice for college and even if I don't get it, I'll do some study on it, eve if it's only a little bit.

itzybitzyfitzy wrote: »

if u spoke irish in the us, they would think u were speaking russian or somthing!!

You're faith in the Irish language is based on the Americans' understanding of it? FFS Of course they'd think we were speaking Russian or something...both Irish and Russian are foreign to them and from the other side of the world!


Something that people who feel that the syllabus is turning people against it should bear in mind the changes in the Higher Level course in 2012. Stair na Gaeilge is being removed (which I have to say actually helped me in Geography!). Also, HL poetry is no longer obligotory - the teachers have the choice to teach the first third of 'A Thig Ná Tit Orm' (well, that's the Páirt 2 I did...not sure about others) or the HL poems. You still do the OL poems. It'll be a much easier course.

Also, the Oral will now be worth 40%, though the Aural is being reduce to 10% (I think).

I have waited for 14 years to say I never have to do it again. So, no. But I don't have anything against the language per se, I just am hopeless at it and detested the entire way it's taught.

CantStandMeNow

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

Gan dabht, úsáidfidh mé ár dteanga, sa thodhcaí. 'Sé Gaeilge atá mar pháirt de mo chéad rogha don choláiste agus, fiú muna bhfaighim é, déanfaidh mé staidéar éigean ar an dteanga, fiú más mion-staidéar é.

Without doubt, I'll be using our language in the future. Irish is part of my first choice for college and even if I don't get it, I'll do some study on it, eve if it's only a little bit.



You're faith in the Irish language is based on the Americans' understanding of it? FFS Of course they'd think we were speaking Russian or something...both Irish and Russian are foreign to them and from the other side of the world!


Something that people who feel that the syllabus is turning people against it should bear in mind the changes in the Higher Level course in 2012. Stair na Gaeilge is being removed (which I have to say actually helped me in Geography!). Also, HL poetry is no longer obligotory - the teachers have the choice to teach the first third of 'A Thig Ná Tit Orm' (well, that's the Páirt 2 I did...not sure about others) or the HL poems. You still do the OL poems. It'll be a much easier course.

Also, the Oral will now be worth 40%, though the Aural is being reduce to 10% (I think).

The Oral-Aural divide is ridiculous.. FIRST rule of languages = Aural is the most important aspect of learning.. This is agreed upon by all experts and was told to Mary Coughlin repeatedly. Altough I agree with increasing the oral as well, decreasing the marks for the aural is absolutly insane.

jreanor

I really hope I do get the opportunity to keep it up because I love the language and "tír gan teanga tír gan anam". But sadly I dont think I will.

Although a lot of the syllabus can be a pain and it seriously needs to be revised(the new course is a step in the right direction), I think a lot of people use it as an excuse to avoid the language

FredBaby!

I may be in the minority here, but I will definetly be using Irish again. I've had a bad experience with it the last few years, what with a teacher who obviously hates the language, but I love to speak it with my friends and family. And as someone said before it's fairly handy for when you go abroad and don't want people to cop what you're on about!

I think people's attitudes to Irish needs to change. On the one hand you have people who loathe it because of school and then you have fanatics, who go mental if you make a grammatical error and think that Irish should be some little members club. As they say: 'Is fearr Gaeilge briste, ná Gaeilge cliste!'

Paz-CCFC

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

With English, you get a choice. There are eight poets - you only need to do 5 max to be guaranteed to answer anything that comes up on the paper.

But you'd still be taught more than twice the poems than HL Irish. And, in the new course, 6 times (should you be taught a book, and not the extra poems.

You get to choose the three comparative texts you want to do, not be constrained to a very small list that consists of An Triail, Maidhc Dain, Peig and A Thig na Thit Orm (and probably a few more). You also only have to study 2 modes to be guaranteed to answer anything, and there is an internal choice within each mode.

Would you really prefer to do a comparative of three Irish texts with a bit more variety, rather than one Irish text? I despised two of the three English comparative texts we did. I much preferred A Thig Ná Tit Orm. Much more interesting than a lot of the choices on the comparative, and only one text as opposed to three.

The Shakespearean isn't even that bad, as if you know your characters well, you can answer on any theme that comes up also.

Could you imagine doing a medieval Irish drama!

Quotes are much easier to learn as they are in English.

True, but bullsh*t is bullsh*t, despite the language. If it's completely uninteresting and irrelevant, it's gonna be hard to learn, regardless.

For Irish, you have to learn everything. You can't cut down, because there is always a compulsory poem (Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa) and a compulsory Prós (Fiche Bliain ag Fás).

Yes, but there's also less on the Irish course. Also, you could indeed take a risk with Irish poetry and leave one or two out, with keeping a high chance of what you studied coming up. Would it be any different from people only studying Boland and Longley this year? And, the poems are on the Irish papers, making it easier.

Quotes are much harder to learn as they are in Irish.

Quotes aren't necessary for Irish, like English. Reference to the poems and prós is perfectly acceptable.

Also, in Irish, some people might not understand the question. That means that no matter how hard they have studied, they can't justify their work with their answer. Take the An Triail question this year - nearly everybody was confused by it.

They'll be trying to get the Bell Graph grading this year, like any, so if a lot of people answered the question wrong, the marking will be eased, accordingly.

It's highly unlikely that you wouldn't understand a question in an English exam

Of course people can take up a question wrongly. Regardless of it being the majorty's primary language, the more time pressure in English could easily lead to misinterpreting a question. If you haven't got a very high 'P' in English (the majority won't - they'll be getting low B's/high C's), then you haven't answered the question like was expected.

CantStandMeNow wrote: »

The Oral-Aural divide is ridiculous.. FIRST rule of languages = Aural is the most important aspect of learning.. This is agreed upon by all experts and was told to Mary Coughlin repeatedly. Altough I agree with increasing the oral as well, decreasing the marks for the aural is absolutly insane.

I presume it's to keep the written on an even basis with the non-written aspects of the language. Even if you don't agree with the reduction in Aural, the radical change of Paper 2, and having the nearly half the exam based on speaking the language is certainly a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the Oral will award more marks based on fluency, now, rather than learnt off, high quality phrases. Ditto with the essay, which has 80 marks out of 100 going for the Irish.

Aoifey!

Bar the occassional "Go raibh maith agat" and random Irish words, Irish probably won't be used again. Being forced to do those poems and stories is enough to turn anyone off the language.
Pretty sure I failed anyway.

ceol18

i hate to think that people will never use it again =(
the way it's taught in schools is just...so so backwards. people don't realise how great the whole concept of being able to speak their own language until they actually can ! ...well that was the case with me anyway! i couldn't string two words together until i went to the gaeltacht the first time (i might add, this was after ten years of being "taught" the language in school), and every time i went back there, i learnt more and more and gradually grew to love it. it's part of being irish!! it's so hard to explain but i just wish that everybody could speak it...even if it's not used that often! i'm hoping to go on and study it in college, and even though so many people say it's a waste of time, a dead language, a backwards language, i can't help but love it!
i suppose it really is a matter of opinion, but personally i would HATE to see irish decline to the point that it can never really return. it has been making a sort of comeback though in the last 10-20 years, what with gaeltachts and TG4 and all that lark... i really just think that because people are forced to learn it in school, they therefore associate it with the unpleasantness and negativity of the likes of maths (don't get me started on that ha, i have a TOTALLY different opinion on that) and then just automatically hate it and aren't bothered with it

b'fheidir is nerd mé, ach caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil gaeilge tábhachtach dom agus tá súil agam go mbeidh rudaí níos fearr ó taobh úsáid an teanga sa tódhchaí....is glas iad na cnioc i bhfad uainn!!! << LOL leaving cert irish taking over there!

ACTUALLY that's another thing - if we weren't forced to learn phrases and words and blah blah blah without knowing what they actually meant or understanding the structure and shizz, like...ughhh i can't even explain myself anymore, the way they teach irish in schools is just F**KED UP and it's almost as if they want us to hate it. something needs to be DONE!!!!!

ahahah brónies for the rant :P:p

catbear

Why must it be american?
"You're faith in the Irish language is based on the Americans' understanding of it?"
I have trouble understanding Irish people speaking English and I'm Irish.
It's interesting to see that nothing has changed in twenty years since I did my leaving cert.

I still to this day feel that I lost out a lot of time to Irish that could have been spent on another subject if I had had a choice.

I've never needed it since school. I believe the insistent forcing of the language on children says more about a nations insecurities about itself than its love of the language itself.

FruitLover

jreanor wrote: »

"tír gan teanga tír gan anam"

I don't even understand WTF that's supposed to mean - there must be over a hundred countries that don't have their "own" language (pretty much all of the Americas for example). We can't even claim our own language as our primary.

ceol18

FruitLover wrote: »

(pretty much all of the Americas for example). .

please don't tell me you mean states????

emchugh

In answer to your question, no I will not use irish again. Irish has become a redundant language. The emphasis in today's modern world is on a global language, which is spoken all over the globe and not by a minority in a small island nation. We should be studying relevant languages that could assist us in future employment searchs. Chinese, English, German, Spanish and French are all far more relevent in our lives, and should be taught in place of Irish. Irish should be made optional to those who wish to study it but with a serious overhaul in the core syllabus.

Blushingblue

I don't know if you only wanted current Leaving Cert to respond, but I just thought I'd give you some perspective from someone who last studied Irish 5 years ago!
When I did my Leaving, I believed I would never use Irish for anything ever again. I hated being "forced" to study and learn it, even if it's part of our culture and heritage. Also I wasn't very good with the subject, which made me believe I wouldn't remember it afterwards.

During the years, I have used it quite a few times more than expected. During college, I worked in a shop that had it's regular customers and tourists. A few of the regular customers speak Irish at home so I often had short friendly conversations in Irish with them or serve them in Irish, them asking for items in Irish and me seeing if I remembered what they are! A few tourists came in and asked about Irish and I would give them a few sayings if they were interested in learning a few.

Corkfeen wrote: »

Irish is fantastic for commenting on people in places abroad..... They think your speaking russian or something.......:D

This I have to admit to doing when I'm abroad. I think loads of people do it too, my sister was on a train in Europe a few years back when she heard a group of boys commenting on some of the locals in Irish!

Irish does come in handy sometimes! I was in New York a few months back and we were being stopped by people selling tickets and tours on the streets so many times that we used Irish to respond to them so that we could say we didn't understand. We were just saying random sentences we knew from school like can I go to the bathroom, some of the prayers in Irish and random sentences we learnt for the oral about ourselves! We actually got stopped by a fellow irish girl who was laughing when she heard what we were saying! :rolleyes:

Raic

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

With English, you get a choice. There are eight poets - you only need to do 5 max to be guaranteed to answer anything that comes up on the paper.

In English you may only have to study 5 poets, however you have to study at least 4 poems by each. So it's definitely more. Also, what people don't seem to realise about the Irish course is you don't have to study the poems that are set out. You have the choice to choose your own ones.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

You get to choose the three comparative texts you want to do, not be constrained to a very small list that consists of An Triail, Maidhc Dain, Peig and A Thig na Thit Orm (and probably a few more). You also only have to study 2 modes to be guaranteed to answer anything, and there is an internal choice within each mode.

The Shakespearean isn't even that bad, as if you know your characters well, you can answer on any theme that comes up also. Quotes are much easier to learn as they are in English.

Nope. In English it's true that you have plenty of choice, but then again, there is still only a certain number to choose from. In Irish you can choose to study whatever you want. Legends in folklore, drama, short stories, novels or autobiographies. You don't have to study An Triail or A Thig Ná Tit Orm. The problem is nobody seems to realise this (even though it's clearly on every single Irish exam paper).

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

For Irish, you have to learn everything. You can't cut down, because there is always a compulsory poem (Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa) and a compulsory Prós (Fiche Bliain ag Fás).

Again, you can choose to study whatever poetry you want.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Quotes are much harder to learn as they are in Irish.

Well if you choose to do one of the poems which the department has set for the course then they give you the entire text of the poem, you don't even need to learn quotes.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Also, in Irish, some people might not understand the question. That means that no matter how hard they have studied, they can't justify their work with their answer.

Isn't this the exam same with French or German? I don't see the point you're making.

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Take the An Triail question this year - nearly everybody was confused by it. It's highly unlikely that you wouldn't understand a question in an English exam

That's because it's your first language. What about French or German, etc? It's quite possible you wouldn't understand a question in that language, yet for some reason people seem to ignore this apparent “issue” when it comes to those languages.


Anyway, I'm not trying to be contrary I'm just pointing out something which very few people seem to realise. If you look at what I've just pointed out you'll see that the Leaving Cert Irish course is actually extremely broad and you can direct your own study wherever you have interest. The real problem is when people start the Leaving Cert course with a very rudimentary knowledge of Irish, obviously in this case they'll find it hard and even grow to hate it. The problem lies with the teaching of the language in primary school. I believe that that's where the focus needs to be. If people were taught to speak it properly in primary school people wouldn't find all these difficulties in the current Leaving Cert course and they wouldn't develop such a hatred of the language.


Anyway, I'll definitely be using Irish even though the Leaving Cert is over.

Paz-CCFC

catbear wrote: »

Why must it be american?
"You're faith in the Irish language is based on the Americans' understanding of it?"
I have trouble understanding Irish people speaking English and I'm Irish.
It's interesting to see that nothing has changed in twenty years since I did my leaving cert.

I was replying to the poster, who seemed to think that Irish was ruined, cause Americans would have as little understanding of it as Russian. Which, is very logical, since they're both foreign languages, in the US!

I wasn't actually trying to say that Irish people don't not understand Irish. I was just pointing out the flaw of having a foreign country's understanding as the benchmark for our language's strength.

I still to this day feel that I lost out a lot of time to Irish that could have been spent on another subject if I had had a choice.

Many feel the same about Maths and English. I feel the same about French, which I had to study to get into college, despite having two other European languages (Irish and English).

I've never needed it since school.

Ditto with hundreds of thousands re the other forced subjects.

I believe the insistent forcing of the language on children says more about a nations insecurities about itself than its love of the language itself.

Although I'm not in favour of the current syllabuses (or past ones), I don't think it's unreasonable to have our country's native tongue as an obligatory subject.

Hatred

ClaireNo wrote: »

Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?

I will never ever use irish again. I gave up a european language (did 3 years for the JC) which has uses outside of school. There is no way I'll use a dead language like irish. I feel like I wasted 6 years of my life on irish that I could have learned something useful.

I doubt it'll help get a job unless its for RTE or something. Since I want to do something in physics, which Ireland doesn't give a flying f**k about I won't need irish.

muffinz

I dunno, I like Irish. In reality, its a waste, as the only job we can really get with it is connected to teaching other children, which is like a vicous circle!!

But I like to use it abroad, just to see peoples delighted reactions when they realise you speak Irish... I speak it sometimes with my friends when were bored, but overall its just for fun.

Schools teach irish in a terrible way. When we go into first year, the expect us to be genius' at it, but i never really did irish in school as it was always overcast by major elements such as maths!
They should teach it like the teach any other language in first year, from the beginning. Like spanish, they teach you "hello" in first year, they should do that with irish. would making learning irish easier, and would make us have more respect for the language, instead of hating it with all our hearts -.-

Emmpty

I used to quite like irish back in fifth year. But the fecking literature on the course has made me very very happy that I'll never have to use it anymore. Answering a paper using a language that I can barely speak after 14 years learning it was horrible. I couldn't even understand the questions!

Wolfe Tone

Personally I will use Irish again. I plan to join an Irish speaking society in Uni. I really wish the LC course was something like 70% Oral though, and that there would be an emphasis on learning to speak it rather than learning off specific answers. I can honestly say I learnt more Irish in the 1hr grinds I went to each week where I spoke it, rather than poring over notes as in school.
After all, Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam!

plein de force

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

No i won't use it aftet my LC
and no it isn't an asset thanks to the way it's taught i can't string a sentence together and it wouldn't be an asset unless you want to be a primary school teacher, a secondary school teacher teaching irish or working for RTÉ, although i'm not sure they still have that stipulation

LadyGaga!

I'll definitely be speaking Irish again. Although the way Irish is taught isn't the greatest, I've had one of the best Irish teachers in the country I'd say, who was so inspiring and definitely makes you want to keep going with Irish. I plan on studying it in university and we'll take it from there!

I definitely think it's an asset when applying for employment - it's an official EU language (as of 2007), and having it definitely makes you a priority against other candidates for a job (unless they can speak Irish too!) as it shows you have the commitment to learn a 'dying language' and that you're proud of your culture. It counts for a lot.

Although I kind of laugh at the memories in first year when I knew nothing. We rarely studied Irish in primary school and we knew like nothing apart from the modh coinniollach (because our 6th class teacher was going crazy about some new report that came out saying the only like 30% of students knew it and she wanted us to be prepared lol).

FordieMUFC

There is nothing wrong with keeping some culture with the preservation of the Irish Language, but having it as compulsory in education is ridiculous. The clear majority of people would agree with this and that's not even to mention how poorly the Language is thought in this country. It's the most poorly thought subject in the curriculum and it's compulsory! what a joke. I'd love to be able to speak as much Irish as I do french, but thing is I will actually use french at some point in my life after the leaving, I can safely say I will never (nor think about) using Irish ever again.