Should TG4 be closed down in the 2011 budget?

randylonghorn

FrostyJack wrote: »

Here's on reason :

http://bigthink.com/ideas/24407#ooid=Jvd2ZyMTq5ou40KrvrPxUkahliFYS6hE

Well, if you're going to go all Trekkie on us, let me suggest to you that a "universal translator" will probably be developed and cheaply available long before the whole planet ends up speaking one language as its first language.

The basis of the technology is already there ... it wouldn't surprise me if it was available in anything from 20 to 40 years.

I do agree that one language will probably become the medium of commerce etc. (but will it be English or Chinese?!). That doesn't mean that it will become the first language of everyone on the planet though.

If anything, there has been an increase in recent years in the value people place on local or regional languages or dialects (see the Spanish experience for example), and personally I have a sneaking suspicion that the more homogenised mainstream world culture becomes, the stronger this movement will become as a counterpoint to that development.

Nor do I see that as a bad thing tbh.

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, as Spock might have said! :pac:

Dionysus

FrostyJack wrote: »

... but ultimately we will have to choose one language for the universal language and since most of the World speak English it would make sense it was chosen.

1. Total speakers of English:
First language: 309–400 million
Second language: 199 million–1.4 billion
Overall: 500 million–1.8 billion
Source

2. World Population: 7 billion, 062 million, 929 thousand, 413 (at this moment)

LETHAL LADY

TG4 is idealist yes it is a great channel but do I want to fork out 160 yoyos a year to keep it alive the answer is no. What I would like to see is TG4 intergated (excuse my spelling) with rte1 and 2 saving us all money.

Capt'n Midnight

randylonghorn wrote: »

Well, if you're going to go all Trekkie on us, let me suggest to you that a "universal translator" will probably be developed and cheaply available long before the whole planet ends up speaking one language as its first language.

the nice thing about the internet is that a minority language can survive even if the speakers are dispersed

guess what the second biggest language for blogging is ?

obviously it's not Irish

but when you consider how many IT companies can't trade with them it's quite surprising

In Kenya more people use facebook messages than email


point being that different cultures use the internet in different ways and by bypassing the middle man don't need to learn Mandarin or English


Universal translators won't pick up all the nuances, I prefer Douglas Adams take on them

randylonghorn

LETHAL LADY wrote: »

TG4 is idealist yes it is a great channel but do I want to fork out 160 yoyos a year to keep it alive the answer is no. What I would like to see is TG4 intergated (excuse my spelling) with rte1 and 2 saving us all money.

A tiny proportion of your 160 yoyos go to TG4 though, the vast bulk goes to RTE 1 and 2.

And tbh, my personal opinion is that letting RTE get their hands on it in any format would end up in it costing more.

As a lot of people in the thread above have agreed, TG4 punches well above its weight in terms of return-for-money, especially when compared to RTE.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

the nice thing about the internet is that a minority language can survive even if the speakers are dispersed

Indeed.

[TotalTangent] Did you know that there are Welsh speakers in Argentina? ... i.e. fourth / fifth generation ones? [/TotalTangent]

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Universal translators won't pick up all the nuances, I prefer Douglas Adams take on them

That's probably true, but then people who speak English as their primary language from Ireland won't pick up all the nuances when conversing with people who speak English as their primary language from the US.

Cú Giobach

FrostyJack wrote: »

Of course but do you ever see it happening in reality? As long as there is differences, there will be prejudice. Science and harmony are the future not religion and tribalism.

I do see it happen.
The natural state of humans is to live in harmony with each other, conflict is mostly caused by a few, causing and fostering dissent and division for their own financial or political gain. Differences of language culture religion etc are used as markers to differentiate "us" from "them", usually it is not these differences that actually cause the division in the first place.
Greed is the problem, not the fact that we as a species use certain traits to align ourselves into groups with a shared sense of identity.

Pdfile

tg4 needs its own simon cowell,

someone useless who will make it extremely popular and millions off it.

will it happen ??

no, cause we're irish. We do nothin but **** stuff up then blame banks/government etc etc

Krusader

randylonghorn wrote: »

[TotalTangent] Did you know that there are Welsh speakers in Argentina? ... i.e. fourth / fifth generation ones? [/TotalTangent]

there's 2nd/3rd generation Irish speakers in America also

Capt'n Midnight

randylonghorn wrote: »

That's probably true, but then people who speak English as their primary language from Ireland won't pick up all the nuances when conversing with people who speak English as their primary language from the US.

Thanks to RTE & Co. showing so much imported stuff I'd say it's more likely to be the reverse. That and the way we speak faster, and the accent.

It's great having a one way filter we can understand them and they can understand us, if we let them.

previous user

1916 Seachtar na Casca,

You know there have been many documentaries done on the 1916 rising and the people involved, but the the ones shown on TG4 at the moment are excellent and give the most moving account of the sacrifices of ordinary people
during that time.
Oh by the way its a mix of english speaking actors and Irish narrative, so something
for everyone, I guess.
Well done TG4

You can watch these in 3 parts on the TG4 website by the way
http://live.tg4.ie/main.aspx?content=330832992257

deise go deo

previous user wrote: »

1916 Seachtar na Casca,

You know there have been many documentaries done on the 1916 rising and the people involved, but the the ones shown on TG4 at the moment are excellent and give the most moving account of the sacrifices of ordinary people
during that time.
Oh by the way its a mix of english speaking actors and Irish narrative, so something
for everyone, I guess.
Well done TG4

You can watch these in 3 parts on the TG4 website by the way
http://live.tg4.ie/main.aspx?content=330832992257

Oh dear, Here comes 5 pages of Irish speakers being called terrorists.:rolleyes:

randylonghorn

Crosáidí wrote: »

there's 2nd/3rd generation Irish speakers in America also

Oh, I was aware, and Scots Gaelic speakers in Canada especially, but Welsh speakers in Argentina was a new one on me.

Grudaire

FrostyJack wrote: »

What diverity does it show? English programmes in Irish and cheapo Irish versions of X-Factor etc. It does have some good stuff: The Wire, Curbs, a few documentaries. These are on other "foreign" channels now so negate it unless you live in the sticks.

It had a show on it a while back I remember seeing about Ulster Scots (The language up North, can be seen on Waterways Ireland signs). It is the only time I've seen anything about the language/dialect up there, and in all honesty I'd have a lot more time for it having seen it.

Capt'n Midnight

FrostyJack wrote: »

What diverity does it show? English programmes in Irish and cheapo Irish versions of X-Factor etc.

Fíorscéal shows stuff that isn't shown on other Irish or UK channels

Blind date Irish style - the mother chooses the date

RTE do travel programs which are sponsored holidays for the presenters and/or ads for the travel companies. TG4 do backpacker stuff where they meet real people and it isn't always rosy.


The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

I can't imagine RTE or TV3 showing things like Oz until long after they've been proved popular / the price has dropped

And I missed the start of Unleashed

wellboy76

Jobs for the galway massive is all it is:p