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Would you prefer to speak Irish?

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24567…16

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    #32
    SafeSurfer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭SafeSurfer


    Micky Dolenz wrote: »
    Why learn any language then?. If a pupil is interested in it they should pay for it themselves. A huge waste of tax payers money on teachers who teach languages, that the vast majority will never use in a practical way.

    Agreed. Which is probably why Latin has been scrapped.

    Multo autem ad rem magis pertinet quallis tibi vide aris quam allis



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    #33
    philologos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,479 ✭✭✭✭philologos


    I don't think learning English as a second language would have been easier. I consider it an advantage that I learned English first.


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    #34
    Micky Dolenz
    Registered Users Posts: 44,080 ✭✭✭✭Micky Dolenz


    SafeSurfer wrote: »
    Agreed. Which is probably why Latin has been scrapped.


    Most of them Latino's can speak English now though.


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    #35
    hondasam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,418 ✭✭✭✭hondasam


    Seachmall wrote: »
    Out of curiosity, what real-world applications and benefits does the ability to speak Irish have?



    /The beginning of the end of this thread.

    Pride in your country,it's language and history.


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    #36
    token101
    Registered Users Posts: 3,050 ✭✭✭token101


    Micky Dolenz wrote: »
    Why learn any language then?. If a pupil is interested in it they should pay for it themselves. A huge waste of tax payers money on teachers who teach languages, that the vast majority will never use in a practical way.

    Since we've made ourselves the centre of Europe for call centres it would be extremely practical and useful and would get a lot of people off the dole and negate the need to import people for language skills.


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    #37
    Seachmall
    Registered Users Posts: 7,041 ✭✭✭Seachmall


    hondasam wrote: »
    Pride in your country,it's language and history.

    Too subjective to validate the money being spent on it imo.


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    #38
    Pacifist Pigeon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 504 ✭✭✭Pacifist Pigeon


    No, English is the global lingua franca. I can speak to over a billion people through the medium of English, while only around 75,000 people through the medium of Irish. If Ireland had its own empire and took over a quarter of the globe and spread the Irish language, then maybe I might consider using Irish. I put my priorities on numbers not on some nationalist fantasy. I say this and I went through 14 years of education as Gaeilge (because my parents made me) so I can still speak it. Do I regret it? Yes, my English syntax is all fecked up because of it.


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    #39
    token101
    Registered Users Posts: 3,050 ✭✭✭token101


    hondasam wrote: »
    Pride in your country,it's language and history.

    That's not a real world application! The only time the majority of people even come into contact with the Irish language is through TG4. I'd rather have a practical language skill that I can take elsewhere when I eventually have to emigrate than have pride on the dole!


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    #40
    ItsAWindUp
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,325 ✭✭✭ItsAWindUp


    I went to an Irish speaking primary school so I have a fairly good standard of Irish, shouldn't be the first language though


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    #41
    My name is URL
    Registered Users Posts: 25,068 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    token101 wrote: »
    That's not a real world application! The only time the majority of people even come into contact with the Irish language is through TG4. I'd rather have a practical language skill that I can take elsewhere when I eventually have to emigrate than have pride on the dole!

    Well what's stopping you from learning other languages?


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    #42
    superstoner90
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,076 ✭✭✭superstoner90


    TA agus NIL!!!!!!!


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    #43
    TheZohanS
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,582 ✭✭✭✭TheZohanS


    SafeSurfer wrote: »
    Agreed. Which is probably why Latin has been scrapped.

    I learned Latin in school, it made learning other languages a lot easier. Most english words come from Latin.


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    #44
    hondasam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,418 ✭✭✭✭hondasam


    Seachmall wrote: »
    Too subjective to validate the money being spent on it imo.

    You think it should be stopped in schools? if that happens it will die out completely except in Irish speaking areas.
    I have no idea what is spent on teaching it but I guess it is a lot.


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    #45
    token101
    Registered Users Posts: 3,050 ✭✭✭token101


    My name is URL wrote: »
    Well what's stopping you from learning other languages?

    Nothing, but if it was taught properly in schools from an early age we wouldn't need to pay to learn it as adults. There's also the fact that you learn things much easier as a child than you do as an adult. Any teacher will tell you that.


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    #46
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,078 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    Would be nice if you had a third option "Native English speaker with French, German, or 'other' as second language".

    Maybe I dont want to speak Irish at all? but you have closed off that option, (so I can't vote).


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    #47
    Seachmall
    Registered Users Posts: 7,041 ✭✭✭Seachmall


    hondasam wrote: »
    You think it should be stopped in schools?

    Maybe, I'm not sure. Right now I think it should be optional.

    I don't see teaching the Irish language as an investment, thus not a worthy expenditure of tax-payers money.

    Even if 100% of the country were fluent it would provide little benefit as far as I can see. I'm happy to be shown otherwise.


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    #48
    Micky Dolenz
    Registered Users Posts: 44,080 ✭✭✭✭Micky Dolenz


    TheZohan wrote: »
    I learned Latin in school, it made learning other languages a lot easier. Most english words come from Latin.

    I learnt French in school, 30% of English words have French origins which in turn came from Latin.

    I play a match down in Dingle a few years ago and was embarrassed that I had very little clue of what the locals were saying and it just wasn't their accents I found hard to understand.


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    #49
    philologos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,479 ✭✭✭✭philologos


    hondasam wrote: »
    Pride in your country,it's language and history.

    I don't know why I should be proud of a country that I was born into. I could have been born in Botswana, or Sri Lanka.

    Don't get me wrong, I have no major objections to Ireland as a country, but I don't understand why I should be proud of being born where I was born, that was out of my hands.


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    #50
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,078 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    Maybe I dont want to speak Irish at all? but you have closed off that option in the poll, (so I can't vote).

    Maybe I dont want my children to speak Irish either? Maybe I want them to have French or German as a 2nd language?


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    #51
    saa
    Registered Users Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭saa


    If a child was watching english tv, speaking English with their parents but speaking conversational Irish in primary school rather than writing out verbs again and again, English and maths would obviously be in English and other subjects could be in Irish because frankly when you leave primary school you have basic english and math skills you're not going to be held back in geography or history you don't even start studying them properly until secondary school before that its mostly simple story telling with a lot of images. we would learn a lot more Irish in secondary school and probably find it easier to pick up other languages because we haven't had to misery method of teaching Irish drilled into us.


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    #52
    Pacifist Pigeon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 504 ✭✭✭Pacifist Pigeon


    LordSutch wrote: »
    Would be nice if you had a third option "Native English speaker with French, German, or 'other' as second language".

    Maybe I dont want to speak Irish at all? but you have closed off that option, (so I can't vote).

    Would be even nicer if you had "Native English speaker with Chinese/Japanese as second language".


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    #53
    arybvtcw0eolkf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭arybvtcw0eolkf


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    If you don't mind me asking Makikomi, just an army question :)

    I read somewhere there is a battalion in Galway and all commands and their daily business is done through Irish

    Seems fairly cool
    Is that true?

    Yup, thats true to an extent.

    All units in the defence forces use Irish for the likes of arm's drill, foot drill (parade ground stuff).

    And Irish language course's are available to all units, but they're usually small classes and its hard to get released from your unit for a course (lots more detail I won't go into).

    An Chéad Chathlán Coisithe, The 1st Infantry Battalion are based in Renmore, Co.Galway.. Originally recruitment was exclusively from the Gaeltacht area's and its working language was Irish, ie like a Gaeltacht school everyday business and chat was Irish.. But thats more or less gone now.

    Although its use is still very much encouraged in the D.F.

    On occassion Irish speakers have been invaluable oversea's when eves dropping on radio transmissions (conducted in English) compromised security then a unit would often look for Irish speakers (but enough of that) :cool:


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    #54
    Micky Dolenz
    Registered Users Posts: 44,080 ✭✭✭✭Micky Dolenz


    philologos wrote: »
    I don't know why I should be proud of a country that I was born into. I could have been born in Botswana, or Sri Lanka.

    Don't get me wrong, I have no major objections to Ireland as a country, but I don't understand why I should be proud of being born where I was born, that was out of my hands.


    Thats a real German way of looking at things.

    If I were born in Botswana or Sri Lanka I would be proud of my heritage and the people who came before me.


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    #55
    hondasam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,418 ✭✭✭✭hondasam


    token101 wrote: »
    That's not a real world application! The only time the majority of people even come into contact with the Irish language is through TG4. I'd rather have a practical language skill that I can take elsewhere when I eventually have to emigrate than have pride on the dole!

    You can take your Irish language with you as well, pride in ones country is important, this you will learn when you emigrate.
    I have worked with lots of Irish native speakers, I love listening to it,I understand some of it but not a lot.


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    #56
    Namlub
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,298 ✭✭✭Namlub


    philologos wrote: »
    I don't think learning English as a second language would have been easier. I consider it an advantage that I learned English first.

    +1. There seems to be an assumption that it would be taught well as a language, and as a result everyone would finish school bilingual, when there's no guarantee the curriculum wouldn't just mimic the Irish curriculum now, where thousands of students learn off essays about the recession but can't hold a conversation


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    #57
    dlofnep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    Yes, and I took it upon myself to start learning Irish a few years ago and setup a conversational group in the city. Today, while I'm not fluent - I can hold a conversation in Irish at a very decent level, without any fears or hesitation.

    The one thing I did notice is that a lot of people say they'd like to learn it, but what they really mean is that they'd love to be able to speak it, but not put the time and effort in to learn it.

    I went to 2 classes - but to be honest, I learned nothing of worth in them. I learned most by sitting in the pub, having a few pints and just using it, and listening to it - picking up phrases here and there along the way. It's all a confidence building exercise.


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    #58
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,078 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    Pacifist Pigeon wrote: »
    Would be even nicer if you had "Native English speaker with Chinese/Japanese as second language".

    Yes indeed, and that would come under the option I mentioned above as 'Other' (post#46).


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    #59
    token101
    Registered Users Posts: 3,050 ✭✭✭token101


    Micky Dolenz wrote: »
    You could visit parts of your own country and be able to speak to the natives of those areas without feeling like a foreigner in your own land.

    Why don't they speak to me in the language we both know like any person in Belgium/Holland/Germany would do when you visit their country? Why would anyone learn a language specifically to talk to someone in certain remote parts of the country?


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    #60
    Dostoevsky
    Registered Users Posts: 1,023 ✭✭✭Dostoevsky


    SafeSurfer wrote: »
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language

    2006 Census (Irish Language)

    Summary

    1.66 million people having an 'ability to speak Irish' is not synonymous with '1.7 million people in the country consider themselves to be native Irish speakers'.


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    #61
    My name is URL
    Registered Users Posts: 25,068 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    philologos wrote: »
    I don't know why I should be proud of a country that I was born into. I could have been born in Botswana, or Sri Lanka.

    Don't get me wrong, I have no major objections to Ireland as a country, but I don't understand why I should be proud of being born where I was born, that was out of my hands.

    You could have been born into a Jewish or Muslim family but yet you have pride in being a Christian. How is it any different?

    I agree though fwiw, feeling proud of a country just because you were born there is silly. Wanting the country in which you live and contribute towards to prosper and hold on to some of it's core history and traditions however; is not the same as blind patriotism imo.


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