Ever heard an Englishman speaking Irish?

GizAGoOfYerGee

I was listening to a UK radio station today in a parallel universe and thought you might be interested to have a listen.

http://soundcloud.com/jaysushowerya

This is what English people would sound like had we invaded them 800 million years ago, or whenever it was they invaded us. :pac:

the_syco

GizAGoOfYerGee wrote: »

whenever it was they invaded us. :pac:

We invited them over to fight our battles.

bluto63

I had a Spanish man correct my Irish grammar. That was a strange day.

Ruu_Old

inbeforebrummytom.

CreepingDeath

GizAGoOfYerGee wrote: »

Ever heard an Englishman speaking Irish?

Yep, in an Ulster accent.

Precious flower

God it just sounds......................wrong!! :pac:

KTRIC

I feel like i've been audibly raped

Hogzy

I guarantee this thread will end in the usual hate the english type bullsh!t

copacetic

KTRIC wrote: »

I feel like i've been audibly raped

I heard ya alright, it might be sore but keep it down a bit?

My name is URL

I've relations in Coventry and they taught their kids to speak Irish. The wee feckers are more fluent than I am and I studied it at school for 12 years and went to the gaelteacht twice!

Cheap Thrills!

ha ha fair play to him tho, he's better than me! :pac:

ejmaztec

bluto63 wrote: »

I have had a Spanish man correct my Irish grammar. That was a strange day.

Fixed again amigo.

Sea Sharp

I remember hearing about a Chinese man who wanted to emigrate to Ireland so he learned Irish instead of English assuming that we all spoke it.

fillmore jive

Hogzy wrote: »

I guarantee this thread will end in the usual hate the english type bullsh!t

The funny thing is is that I'd say alot of these 'hate the English/ up the ra' crowd wouldnt be able to speak half the amount of Irish as the guy in the link can.

Anita Blow

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Yep, in an Ulster accent.

English not British

GizAGoOfYerGee

Sea Sharp wrote: »

I remember hearing about a Chinese man who wanted to emigrate to Ireland so he learned Irish instead of English assuming that we all spoke it.

Yeah, they made a film about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0a62wmd1A

Mike 1972

Hes even mastered that old Gaelgoir trick of sticking in the English word when he cant think of the Irish one :pac:

Anita Blow

Sea Sharp wrote: »

I remember hearing about a Chinese man who wanted to emigrate to Ireland so he learned Irish instead of English assuming that we all spoke it.

That's not an actual story. It was a short video that's shown in gaeltachts.

My name is URL

fillmore jive wrote: »

The funny thing is is that I'd say alot of these 'hate the English/ up the ra' crowd wouldnt be able to speak half the amount of Irish as the guy in the link can.

An even funnier thing is that the people expecting that 'hate the English' crowd to appear, and posting the likes of "inb4 800 year brigade" are actually devaluing the thread themselves before the aforementioned get near it

brummytom

Ruu wrote: »

inbeforebrummytom.

I can only learn songs as gaeilge phonetically, even trying to read them just makes my head bleed.

I did teach my class how to say 'Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat' though

UpCork

Through her work my Mother knows an Englishman, (born, reared and spent a lot of his life in England) and he came to Ireland for work and learnt Irish.

Once I was lucky enough to be at a function he was at where he had to speak. It was some of the most beautiful, fluent, lyrical Irish I have ever heard. I found it mesmerising.

I hadn't heard native Irish speakers speaking as lyrically.

This man according to Mum is the least likelist person you'd think to be fluent in Irish.

That one time when I heard him speak, he was so fluent that I didn't even notice his English accentl.

fontanalis

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Yep, in an Ulster accent.

Which Ulster accent?

fontanalis

the_syco wrote: »

We invited them over to fight our battles.

Was it not The Normans?

ejmaztec

fontanalis wrote: »

Was it not The Normans?

Ireland has a habit of picking the wrong team.

Dionysus

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Hes even mastered that old Gaelgoir trick of sticking in the English word when he cant think of the Irish one :pac:

Good job no English speakers would ever stick in a Latin or French word when speaking English. Oh no, none of those dirty foreign languages would be allowed into the true Englishman's speech never mind be used every day by, well, every single speaker (without exception) of English on the planet.

ejmaztec

Dionysus wrote: »

Good job no English speakers would ever stick in a Latin or French word when speaking English. Oh no, none of those dirty foreign languages would be allowed into the true Englishman's speech never mind be used every day by, well, every single speaker (without exception) of English on the planet.

Some purely English expressions lack that certain je ne sais quoi.

Dionysus

GizAGoOfYerGee wrote: »

I was listening to a UK radio station today in a parallel universe and thought you might be interested to have a listen.

http://soundcloud.com/jaysushowerya

This is what English people would sound like had we invaded them 800 million years ago, or whenever it was they invaded us. :pac:

Fair play to that guy. Professor Nicholas Williams in UCD's Scoil na Nua-Ghaeilge is an Englishman. You would think he's a native speaker of Irish if you listened to him. It's only when he speaks English that you can allow yourself a smile at the contrast.

Rubik.

brummytom wrote: »

'Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat'

The sad thing is, I don't know what that means.

Dionysus

GizAGoOfYerGee wrote: »

Yeah, they made a film about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0a62wmd1A

That was a brilliant short film. Very refreshing.

mcmoustache

It was unnerving at first but I've heard americans, polish, germans, spaniards and asians speaking Irish down in Club an Chonradh. The weirdest was hearing a young black girl - she was probably Irish - speaking it proficiently. I was quite taken aback. It's just not something I ever thought I'd see.:o

Tar.Aldarion

Lots of English people here speak better Irish than me.

mcmoustache

Rubik. wrote: »

The sad thing is, I don't know what that means.

"May the cat eat you and may the devil eat the cat."

I must admit, I never heard that expression growing up in Connemara.

strobe

I thought a Korean girl how to speak Irish before.....she sounded like a stoned Klingon that had inhaled helium..

GizAGoOfYerGee

mcmoustache wrote: »

"May the cat eat you and may the devil eat the cat."

I must admit, I never heard that expression growing up in Connemara.

Here´s another:

"Go mbeadh cosa gloine fút agus go mbrise an ghloine."

This is a huge insult. Never say this to someone in the Gaeltacht. It means:

May your legs be made of glass and may the glass break. :eek: Ooooh, that´s a terrible thing to say!

Tar.Aldarion

strobe wrote: »

I thought a Korean girl how to speak Irish before.....she sounded like a stoned Klingon that had inhaled helium..

Thank god.

strobe

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Thank god.

Oops.....I meant I teached her, obviously.

mike65

Cod is an im dit?

There you go!

annie87

One of my Irish lecturers in U.C.D was from England. He had quite a posh English accent when speaking English, but when speaking Irish, you'd swear he was born and raised in a Gaeltacht area. He's a genius, and quite eccentric, I always thought his classes were great craic.

byhookorbycrook

Micheal Mac Liammoir.

My favourite insults in Irish:
Más ithis ,nár chacair
Having eaten it, may you not be able to pass it.

Go n-ithe an chráin mhíolach thú
May the lice-onfected sow eat you.

MrSir

strobe wrote: »

Oops.....I meant I teached her, obviously.

Is it not taught?

orourkeda

Irish is dead. Long live irish

ballsymchugh

ejmaztec wrote: »

Some purely English expressions lack that certain je ne sais quoi.

mangetout rodney, mangetout!

ar aon nós, más féidir le Des Bishop é a fhoghlaim, is féidir le beagnach gach duine. díreach cathfaidh sibh bhur méar a thabhairt as bhur thóineacha!!

annie87

Sea Sharp wrote: »

I remember hearing about a Chinese man who wanted to emigrate to Ireland so he learned Irish instead of English assuming that we all spoke it.

That's from a short (irish made) film called 'Yu Ming is ainm dom'

Too late, Oops

mathie

Sea Sharp wrote: »

I remember hearing about a Chinese man who wanted to emigrate to Ireland so he learned Irish instead of English assuming that we all spoke it.

Ching chong ping pong. Dia duit. Más é do thoil é.

mecanoman

Heard some Nigerian kids on my street speaking Irish.
They are loud let me tell you. Could only imagine them singing
a classic irish tune as Gaeilge!

topper75

I have heard up to a dozen different nationalities now trying it. It doesn't shock me like it used to.

I still get a kick out of them retaining their own accents though, as per the guy in the OP's sound clip. Great.

There are some great sounds in the Gaelic language and some great untranslatable phrases. These non-Irish people are attracted to that and there is no political or schoolroom baggage - just a fun experience that bonds them with others.

Sir Gallagher

Hogzy wrote: »

I guarantee this thread will end in the usual hate the english type bullsh!t

When has that ever happened?