If you heard people in a pub, restaurant etc speaking Irish....

Rob G

Would you judge them for it?

starbelgrade

Yes.

I would mark them out of ten.

B0X

Yes, talking when you could be stuffing your face is sacrilegious.

Rodin

I'd congratulate them

Dr. Baltar

Rob G wrote: »

Would you judge them for it?

lol wut?

GarRo247

Rob G wrote: »

Would you judge them for it?

I would judge them for it, I would be delighted that some people are proud to still speak our national language.

bonerm

Fortunately (like most self-respecting Irish speakers) I save it for when I'm abroad.

Killer Pigeon

Rob G wrote: »

Would you judge them for it?

Judge, why should one judge? I'd run to them and hug them for upholding the Irish tradition!

TeddyTedson

I'd be a bit worried the RA were about

Riamfada

Completely irrelevant thread is completely irrelevant

Star Bingo

i'd probably find it hard to digest; choke n turn Pale.

i'd think of them as better than me, at that.

Rodin

bonerm wrote: »

Fortunately (like most self-respecting Irish speakers) I save it for when I'm abroad.

Pog mo thoin and all that?

TanG411

Damn Irish, coming over here and stealing our jobs. :mad:

?

General General

Rob G wrote: »

Would you judge them for it?

Cad é seo? Ní féidir liom fiú

TeddyTedson

General General wrote: »

Cad é seo? Ní féidir liom fiú

An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas

Unpossible

Of course, its like that time we were eating and some old ones came in and started speaking in irish. Well I stood up and gave them a what for, about how they must think they are better than everyone else etc...

I'm not allowed into Dingle restraunts now anymore or gaelscoils, but thats a different story

Johro

Yeah, they should f#ck off back to their own country if they won't integrate :rolleyes:

_Whimsical_

Well I'll take it upon myself to be controversial here and say sometimes I find it pretentious and thinks it can smack of showing off...in a "look at us being all exclusive in our little club that non fluent speakers can't join" way.

My opinion may be influenced by the fact that the last time I was in the company of Irish speakers I found myself totally sidelined while they discussed a film about Japans whaling practices in Irish.

Killer Pigeon

TeddyTedson wrote: »

An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas

Quiet road, milk girl!

TeddyTedson

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Quiet road, milk girl!

Is maith liom cáca milis

Sergeant

If you spend a weekend in Galway city, you will hear people speaking Irish to each other at least once.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Quiet road, milk girl!

Agús Sharon Ní Bheoláin

arybvtcw0eolkf

The few times I've heard it spoken I've been pretty envious.. I'd love to be an Irish speaker.. It must be a beautiful thing, to be able to converse in your native tongue.

Something I learned in Israel, and wish we'd done here. When the Israeli's got their independence their government made it illegal to post street signs, road sign, advertising etc in any other language but Hebrew. The thinking was that Hebrew was (at the time) an almost dead language, this is how it was resurrected.

Now most signs are in Hebrew, Arabic & English.

I have very limited Irish, like most Irish people. But I try to improve it when I can.

JupiterKid

It really wouldn't bother me, but it would be very unusual to hear Irish spoken in Dublin or anywhere outside the Gaeltacht for that matter.

Whan I was up in Glencolumcile in Donegal a couple of years ago for an Easter break, a mate I was in college with some years earlier came over to visit and stay the night and he is fluent in Irish and he was speaking away fluently to other Irish speakers in the pub. I was a tad envious and impressed.

It is a bit strange - to hear your own native language spoken in your own country.

WildBoots

It's sad when you realise that's the way we should all be speaking, all of the time.

Raic

Rob G wrote: »

Would you judge them for it?

Only positively. It would truly bring a smile to my face and I'd probably commend them (i nGaelainn, of course) without trying to intrude on their conversation too much.

mikemac

Eden Old-fashioned Rider wrote: »

Something I learned in Israel, and wish we'd done here.

I'm aware you're in the military but a quick question if you don't mind

I heard before the Suez Crises that the Israeli's sent officers to Trinity college to learn Irish and then they introduced Irish code words for communications as their enemies wouldn't understand it.

I've heard that a few times, was that a myth? I believe it's very possible so I believed it

admiralofthefleet

i wouls be so happy to hear it but ashamed that i couldnt hold a full conversation in it myself

Gingy

I was chatting to my mate as Gaeilge in McDonalds on Grafton Street a few weeks ago and this contrary young one turned to her mates and (un)discreetly said; "They should Fuc* off back to their own country". Gave us a good laugh anyway.

mikemac

Sergeant wrote: »

If you spend a weekend in Galway city, you will hear people speaking Irish to each other at least once.

Definitely, a decent barman will hand you your pint with a Sinn É and there is a fair chance they can hold a conversation with you as Gaelige.
You'll hear Irish if you stroll down Shop Street or any busy place

JupiterKid wrote: »

It really wouldn't bother me, but it would be very unusual to hear Irish spoken in Dublin

Unusual yes but it depends where you are, I used to live in Drumcondra which is very settled and has a lot of elderly people. Often had people come up to me with Irish, I did my best but my best wasn't very good.

Coriolanus

I love how people jump on judgement as a harsh term. You can judge someone in a positive light too.

Anyway, it'd depend on what I thought of their motive.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Why would you judge them for it?

Star Bingo

baz2009 wrote: »

Why would you judge them for it?

it would just be an assumption

StereoLove

I think I would be happy to hear that there is someone keeping out native language alive.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Star Bingo wrote: »

it would just be an assumption

An assumption of what?

JupiterKid

feelingstressed wrote: »

Definitely, a decent barman will hand you your pint with a Sinn É and there is a fair chance they can hold a conversation with you as Gaelige.
You'll hear Irish if you stroll down Shop Street or any busy place


Unusual yes but it depends where you are, I used to live in Drumcondra which is very settled and has a lot of elderly people. Often had people come up to me with Irish, I did my best but my best wasn't very good.

Yes, I've heard Irish spoken quite a few times when I've been in Galway. It adds to the city's cultural appeal, but it's really the only city that you would hear Irish spoken to any extent.

As for your being spoken to in Irish in Drumcondra, I suspect that a cluster of Gaelgoirs live in and around Drumcondra for historical and cultural reasons.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

I'd say fair play to them, i'd be quite envious of anybody with a second language. It's an amazing skill to have.

hullaballoo

I think most people would be envious should they hear a conversation in Irish and not be able to understand/contribute. There's a real problem that many people only know Irish as a school subject and not as anything else.

It should be compulsory to spend time in a Gaeltacht as an Irish person and see people speaking it regularly, without difficulty and with a certain amount of pleasure at not having to speak English. (Edit: that sounds very harsh; maybe I don't mean compulsory, but it's certainly something every Irish person should have the pleasure of!)

My days of having to learn Irish are long gone - I did my LC about 8 years ago - but I was fluent at 17/18 and have lost a good bit of it since. I'm currently embarking on a mission of re-learning Irish, this time for my own sake. It's a difficult language, but it has a certain beauty (admittedly, that's only when people speak it properly - bit like English).

Star Bingo

baz2009 wrote: »

An assumption of what?

oops; i've just made one.

jd007

I couldn't give a fcuk tbh. I still probably wouldn't talk to them though cos I wouldn't knw what they're sayin :pac:

GizAGoOfYerGee

It's a shame that a thread like this should even be started, but we all know that the Irish curriculum has failed us all.

The Gaeltacht is dying, along with its native speakers.

We urgently need more Bunscoileanna, Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí, but the government has done feck-all to meet demand.

The waiting lists for Irish schools are ridiculous.

We should be pumping money into Irish schools to meet demand. Instead we waste millions translating EU documents that no-one will read.

If Labour ever get into government, we can kiss goodbye to An Gaeilge. Gilmore wants to remove Irish completely from the constitution and the curriculum.

mikemac

Irish is the primary language of the State and the main language of the constitution.

Gilmore can wish what he wants but it'd be voters in a referendum who decide that

tolosenc

Eden Old-fashioned Rider wrote: »

The few times I've heard it spoken I've been pretty envious.. I'd love to be an Irish speaker.. It must be a beautiful thing, to be able to converse in your native tongue.

Technically, English is YOUR native language.

There should be more of a move to push Irish to be the more prominent language in the country, but we don't want to lose English. We should be aiming to be like the Dutch/Scandinavians.

the_syco

If I heard Irish being spoken, I'd expect some (terrorist organisation) loving scumbag wearing a random (english football league) t-shirt to tell them to "go back to wherever they came from", to be quite frank. Learning Irish is on my to-do list. Was taught how to read poems and short stories, but never really taught how to "talk" in Irish.

pickarooney

Eden Old-fashioned Rider wrote: »

The few times I've heard it spoken I've been pretty envious.. I'd love to be an Irish speaker.. It must be a beautiful thing, to be able to converse in your native tongue.

You might consider this pedantic, but your native tongue is the language you first learn as a child, be it English, Irish or Tagalog. If you spoke English at home then English is your native tongue.

Lumen

I'm a immigrant from England and I don't speak any Irish but was keen on my Irish children doing so.

I sent my oldest son to two years of Irish pre-school (at my own cost, several thousand euro). His Irish seemed decent enough to me. He was then turned down for a place in the local Irish school, which was based on an interview with us parents - they never even met him. My lack of Irish was a problem in the interview, though my wife speaks it decently. I guess I could have learned the language myself but there are only so many hours in the day and I'm not a natural linguist.

It saddens me that when people make this sort of effort the State fails to rise to the challenge. Like so many things, the government makes the right noises and then completely fails to deliver.

Unless something changes, Irish looks to me to be effectively dead. My kids will end up speaking it like a foreign language.

The only Irish I know is how to comment on someone that is fat, black or smelly. Pft.

arybvtcw0eolkf

feelingstressed wrote: »

I heard before the Suez Crises that the Israeli's sent officers to Trinity college to learn Irish and then they introduced Irish code words for communications as their enemies wouldn't understand it.

Well we had soldiers based in The Suez, so maybe to listen to those too.

I'm not really sure, I've heard those stories too.

I know under the original UNIFIL mandate Resolutions 425 & 426 the Israeli's wouldn't let us use any kind of cyphered communications so when the operational situation got very hot and we didn't want the IDF eves dropping if there were Irish speakers around we switched radio traffic over to Irish - this frustrated the Israeli's and they'd block our frequencies.

So maybe back in the Suez times, but certainly not now.

Anyone else suspect that half the acronyms that Makikomi say could be made up?

arybvtcw0eolkf

tolosenc wrote: »

Technically, English is YOUR native language.

English is no more native to us than the grey squirrel.

Sand

I wouldnt judge them anymore than Id judge anyone in a resteraunt speaking a language I didnt understand. People are well used to hearing people speaking in languages other than English in public places. You dont really get special marks or condemnation for it.