How Often do you Use/Hear Irish In your Everyday Life?

AlexderFranke

Níorbh fhiú gur thugfainn mo vótáil toisc nach mbím i mo chónaí in Éirinn. Ach is féidir liom seo a leanas a rá: Nuair a thugaim cuairt ar an Éirinn, cuirim seoladh ar dhaoine as Gaeilge cibé áit na tíre a bhfuilim. Sa Ghaeltacht, labhraim Gaeilge amháin. Ach amháin timpeall na Gaillimhe, is annamh ar chuala mé an Ghaeilge á labhairt idir dhaoine ar an sráid. I gcathair na Gaillime, chonaic mé fógra le feachtas ar son laghdú na gcíosanna do lóistíní.

It would be no use that I would give my vote as I am not living in Ireland. But I can say the following: When I visit Ireland, I use to address people in Irish whatever place of the county I am. In the Gaeltacht, I use to speak Irish only. Except around Galway, it is rarely that I have heard Irish spoken between people on the street. In Galway city, I have seen a notice with a campaign in favour of lowering rents for accomodation.

CorkMan

Never.

TBH I did a self-learning course in Spanish for 3 months and know more Spanish than 12 years of learning Irish.

I can describe my entire day in spanish, what I did (eat, cook, listen), where I went, etc and I know a good deal of verbs. I can't say the same for Irish. If I were to really think, i'd say I know only 30-40 words max in Irish.

deise go deo

Weekly

CorkMan wrote: »

TBH I did a self-learning course in Spanish for 3 months and know more Spanish than 12 years of learning Irish.

I can describe my entire day in spanish, what I did (eat, cook, listen), where I went, etc and I know a good deal of verbs. I can't say the same for Irish. If I were to really think, i'd say I know only 30-40 words max in Irish.

The result of a very poor curriculum, there are many in your position, One thing though, If you did take up learning Irish again, it would come back very quickly. Its there it just needs to be coaxed out so to speak.

String

I never use it. When I see irish on road signs etc I just think "why?". I doubt there is any 1 person in ireland who is irish who doesnt speak english

Lia_lia

Monthly

I use it at work a lot.

I work in a big hotel where most of the staff are Malaysian/Polish/Lithuanian. Very few Irish staff. So myself and one of my best friends who works with me (and is studying Irish and French in college) speak to each other in Irish so we can bitch about everyone. We could use French too but that would be a bit too dodgy.

arid

Weekly

I think it's tragic that we should even have to explain why. It's our language. Y'know it's funny when you hear the English talking about the Battle of Britain or whatever, that "we could all be speaking German" stuff. Thing is as Irish we already are. Speaking some foreign germanic language. The real tragedy is we gave it up ourselves mostly, after the famine.

Anyway I do hear irish most days because the Nuacht is in the background around dinner time, I like to think I get the gist of it.

Yeah lots of people have better French etc than Irish but that's because of how it's taught IMO. It's not impossible. Sure difficult but we should be doing much better for 13 years of learning it. Problem is they don't teach it like a language but as if it's any other academic subject. Should be far more focus on conversation, like 85% of it. The new curriculum is much better though.

Having said that I'm convinced the majority of Irish people actually have better Irish than they think. Decent basic level stuff. It's all there in your head, it doesn't go away but you can forget it if you don't use it. However if you take it back up it would all come back twice as fast.

We just don't get the opportunity to use it. Which is the whole point of translating everything. It's a chicken-and-egg situation.

Anyway they need to make it fun. Simple. No more discredited 1950s-style writing down grammar rules in your copy. No more Bríd Óg Ní Mhaille etc...

apologies for the rant

deise go deo

Weekly

DrMorphine wrote: »

I never use it. When I see irish on road signs etc I just think "why?". I doubt there is any 1 person in ireland who is irish who doesnt speak english

Why not? There are Some old People and of course some Children but it dosent make a difference really, That they can speak English dosent mean they should have to.

Lia_lia

Monthly

deise go deo wrote: »

As for your seaming dislike for The Gaeilscoileanna, Why is that? They are not elitist, they are open to everyone.

Yeah, this I don't get. There is Gaeilscoil down the road from my house and most of the children in the area attend it. Main reason being it's the closest school in the area! And it's certainly not in a "privileged area".

deise go deo

Weekly

arid wrote: »

Having said that I'm convinced the majority of Irish people actually have better Irish than they think. Decent basic level stuff. It's all there in your head, it doesn't go away but you can forget it if you don't use it. However if you take it back up it would all come back twice as fast.

Thats very true, Take my mam for example, If you were to ask her she would say that she cant speak Irish, Yet if you were to say something to her in Irish she would most likely be able to answer you... in Irish.

Some people think that if they cant speak it fluently then they shouldent try at all. That is something that needs to be changed,
After all, Is Bhfear Gaeilge Briste ná Béarla cliste.

psycho-hope

A few times a year.

the bf is almost fluent so he would say the odd thing here and there and one of the pharmacists i work with is fluent so he throws the odd word here and there into conversation

Tar.Aldarion

Pretty much never hear it, heard it sometimes in galway when I lived there

Funglegunk

Never.

Almost never, ever hear it. Maybe the odd 'cén fath?', 'amadán' among ex-pats and the obligatory Carlsberg-ad piss takery when trying to make foreigners think I'm more Irish-culturally rich than I really am.

That said, I finished my Leaving Cert hating Irish with an absolute passion. Now I wouldn't mind learning it.

Leelaa22

Weekly

I hear and say little phrases everyday. esp when my english relatives com over we really crank it up a notch

Diddler82

Most Days

Living in Sydney, use it everyday to talk to my mates if I want to say something that I dont want to be heard/understood by people I work with or on the street - usually relating to a "cailin" or two I would like to go "ag marcaiocht" with...(apologies about the lack of fada's)

Leelaa22

Weekly

me and my aunt when we'd go on holiday esp USA (we are the same age im not sad) would learn loads of prayers and poems in irish and say them to each other so people would think we were so clever and cool. and it worked









*not really

Marcia Lustley

Most Days

i'm fluent in the irish but thats cause of where i grew up.
i hated i mean hated it as a subject in school with those god awful poems and stories.
the only benefit i had with having the irish as my native tongue was the irish oral exam, i was literally in there for 2 minutes, said what i had to say and the examiner turned around and declared that i had better irish than her and it would be a waste of time to go on-best exam i've ever had!!

i was just wondering would anybody else who is fluent have this problem - you say something out loud in english and it makes absolutely no sense but when you translate it back in irish it makes perfect sense? happens to me all the time!!:o

DecentBee

I got on the tube last week and sat down next to 3 lads who were having a rather crude and disjointed conversation about a girl, as Gaeilge. Should have seen the look on their faces when I butted in. I think that's the primary function of Irish these days, discussing girls in a crude manner while abroad without them realising. I think the saddest part was you could travel on the DART or Luas every day for many's a year without ever hearing 3 lads having a conversation in Irish.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Never.

In the last year a couple were sitting behind me on the bus speaking it. Funny thing was they spoke in English too, but you could tell they were fluent in Irish by their pronunciation. Just switched from English to Irish at random. Kinda cool in a way.

Then heard some people in Kelly's Cellars(pub) in Belfast speaking Irish. The barmaid tried to get me to speak it too but my cupla focail is limited.

So twice in the last 12 months.

Leelaa22

Weekly

Might sound silly but Ive always wanted to learn irish fluently. The way it was tought in my school wasn't great and I just saw it as a burden to learn.

Has anybody here as an adult (first time ive ever classed myself as an adult) ever used a program like rosetta stone to learn irish? If so, did it work?

Krusader

Most Days

Leelaa22 wrote: »

Might sound silly but Ive always wanted to learn irish fluently. The way it was tought in my school wasn't great and I just saw it as a burden to learn.

Has anybody here as an adult (first time ive ever classed myself as an adult) ever used a program like rosetta stone to learn irish? If so, did it work?

There are more effective learning methods than Rosetta Stone, it's really a rip-off, Best course would be Turas teanga or there's a new one that I've heard good things about Gaeilge gan Stró. They'll be cheaper and more effective in your learning
Classes are always the best option or a ciorcal comhrá

sensibleken

Most Days

gach lá. foghlainn mo chaillin gailge sa cholaiste mar sin labhairt linn le cheile. chomh maith, Is gaill é gach duine sa rang.

everyday. my girlfriend is learning irish in college so we speak it together. also everyone in the class is from abroad.

sensibleken

Most Days

Leelaa22 wrote: »

Might sound silly but Ive always wanted to learn irish fluently. The way it was tought in my school wasn't great and I just saw it as a burden to learn.

Has anybody here as an adult (first time ive ever classed myself as an adult) ever used a program like rosetta stone to learn irish? If so, did it work?

I went to Gaelcultúr in temple bar and their classes are fantastic. But I didnt put in the home effort so i would say im still a little shakey.

Does rosetta stone do one?

deise go deo

Weekly

sensibleken wrote: »

I went to Gaelcultúr in temple bar and their classes are fantastic. But I didnt put in the home effort so i would say im still a little shakey.

Does rosetta stone do one?

They do, but its more expencive than the rest and as far as I know Isent the best available anyway.

I would strongly advise you think about joining a Ciorcal Comhrá(conversation Group) There are a few in Dublin. Its a great way to practice what you learn in a relaxed environment.

Link

Here is a list of them around the country

AlexderFranke

Oh, gan dabht, tá Gaeilge níos fearr ag roinnt Éireannach thar mar a cheapann siad sin. Go háirithe i gcathair na Gaillimhe, tá Gaeilge réasúnta ag roinnt mhaith daoine a mheasann a gcuid scileanna faoi luach. Ní muintir na Gaeltachta atá i gceist.

Oh, without doubt, some Irish people have beter Irish than they themselves are thinking. Especially in Galway city, a considerable part of people have fairly good Irish who are underestimating their skills. It is not Gaeltacht people who are meant.

Koshea

Weekly

I'd probably speak it more than most, slipping in the cúpla focail here and there chatting to relatives and I have to admit, when I've a few pints on me I always seem to end up starting up conversations as gaeilge and generally get chatting to a good few people trying to improve their Irish.

Bar myself starting off conversations, I heard two ladies chatting away gan cliú dá laghad go rabhais in ann iad a tuiscint strolling around Blanch S.C. at the weekend