Do you Speak Irish?

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Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

You just think we all put wear bowler hats, carry "brollies" and love the Biritsh Queen for some reason...

Citation needed.

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

you haven't shouted a word bitterly since this thread began....

You're right, I haven't.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

That username is already in use. wrote: »

Citation needed.

That username is already in use. wrote: »

Instead, Ikky Poo2 will venture into the world as an English monoglot, more versed in British culture than Irish, and thus perceived by foreigners as British. This is the way of the vast majority of Irish people.

As requested. As I said at the time - Bristish isn't a langauge.

You're right, I haven't.

See above.

I accept there are posters here who go to far when referring to langauge as dead or useless - we generally ignore them - the problem is you attack ALL of us and completely ignore the genuine arguments raised by those of us who feel that the language is over-emphasised. Thread is now about anti-Irish haters and not the language itself. Well done.

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more versed in British culture than Irish, and thus perceived by foreigners as British.

This is a fact. Very few people in Europe know that Ireland is an independent country. If you are from the British Isles and speak English, you are of course perceived as British.

Problem?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

That username is already in use. wrote: »

This is a fact. Very few people in Europe know that Ireland is an independent country. If you are from the British Isles and speak English, you are of course perceived as British.

Problem?

Actually, American in my case. They can tell it's not a British accent and the next most likley guess is American. In any case, it's a bit stupid to assume that someone else's impression is an indicator of a culture I subscribe to.

What's all this got to do with the Irish langauge?

9959

That username is already in use. wrote: »

This is a fact. Very few people in Europe know that Ireland is an independent country. If you are from the British Isles and speak English, you are of course perceived as British.

Problem?

Are we an independent country, I thought that the Germans were running the show now?

neil_hosey

That username is already in use. wrote: »

This is a fact. Very few people in Europe know that Ireland is an independent country. If you are from the British Isles and speak English, you are of course perceived as British.

Problem?

very few people in europe....??? what? You are clueless

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neil_hosey wrote: »

very few people in europe....??? what? You are clueless

Have you traveled and lived in Europe since 1998 like I have? 9/10 people here in Europe know nothing about Ireland and just assume it is a region of the UK or England.

2ygb4cmqetsjhx

Back in the day I was a hater of Irish. It was a useless waste of time, backwards and completely pointless. In school I focused on learning German and studied German and now live and work in Germany. This completely changed my perspective. I dearly wish I could speak Irish now. I feel English is becoming an increasingly barren and cultureless language. It is owned by noone. Everybody can speak it. It is the first langauge of a huge amount of countries. I think this is leading to the homogenisation of our culture which is extremely biased towards Americanism. In short people just see all english speakers as the same. American, Australian, Scottish, Brittish, Irish, South African. Germans for example see them all as pretty similar. Half of my friends are from all over the world and its annoying because they can just switch to their own languages on the fly and speak both english and german perfectly. You sit there feeling like a retard when the conversation flows into Russian/Ukrainian/Czech/Swedish/Tagalog etc. All of these people aswell speak English to a higher standard that most Irish people which is embarrassing. I am learning Russian now. Hopefully someday I can learn Irish but nowadays I've nobody who can speak with me.

Canard

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Have you traveled and lived in Europe since 1998 like I have? 9/10 people here in Europe know nothing about Ireland and just assume it is a region of the UK or England.

What kind of misinformed Europeans have you been talking to, wow. A friend of mine went on an exchange to Germany and said one of the families were enamoured with Irish culture. Your argument has absolutely no weight. That's like saying we all think Latvia is part of Russia or Austria is part of Germany. Oh my god.

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Patchy~ wrote: »

What kind of misinformed Europeans have you been talking to, wow. A friend of mine went on an exchange to Germany and said one of the families were enamoured with Irish culture. Your argument has absolutely no weight. That's like saying we all think Latvia is part of Russia or Austria is part of Germany. Oh my god.

..coming from someone who has never lived abroad. Hilarious.

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That username is already in use. wrote: »

This is a fact. Very few people in Europe know that Ireland is an independent country. If you are from the British Isles and speak English, you are of course perceived as British.

Problem?

Most people in Europe are unaware that (all of) Ireland was part of the UK at one time, rather than that Ireland is not an independent country.
Hint: €

As for the language, uneducated guesses would assume that Irish people speak Irish as most countries in Europe have a national language.

Canard

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..coming from someone who has never lived abroad. Hilarious.

What's hilarious is your lack of backup for your already terrible argument.
I've been to Austria, France, Hungary, Scotland and many places in the US. Never once have I been called British. So you can stop with the "9/10 Europeans", because you hardly went around surveying them. And I like how you didn't acknowledge the other half of my post.

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Deleted User wrote: »

Most people in Europe are unaware that (all of) Ireland was part of the UK at one time, rather than that Ireland is not an independent country.
Hint: €

Rubbish. Most Europeans think that Ireland, as an English-speaking and culturally British country, is part of UK/England. Irish people are culturally British and are perceived as such by the vast majority of Europeans.

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That username is already in use. wrote: »

Rubbish. Most Europeans think that Ireland, as an English-speaking and culturally British country, is part of UK/England. Irish people are culturally British and are perceived as such by the vast majority of Europeans.

That's a bit like saying that Slovaks are the same as Czechs!

9959

That username is already in use. wrote: »

Have you traveled and lived in Europe since 1998 like I have? 9/10 people here in Europe know nothing about Ireland and just assume it is a region of the UK or England.

We've won the Eurovision Song Contest SEVEN TIMES, do they not have televisions in 'Continental Europe?

Wibbs

Deleted User wrote: »

Most people in Europe are unaware that (all of) Ireland was part of the UK at one time, rather than that Ireland is not an independent country.
Hint: €

That's been my experience too DB. Funny enough before the euro came in I'd met more British, particularly English people who were genuinely surprised to find out we had different money and weren't part of the commonwealth(Scots and Welsh were much more informed on that score). They seemed to think we were more like the aforementioned Isle of Man, separate but only just. Given our close geography and close history I've found Irish people in general know a lot more about the UK than the other way around. I'd lay the cause for that down to media though. We get pretty much all of theirs and they get none of ours. Back then most of what they heard was about the Troubles in Ulster so... To be fair in those cases I found the people I met genuinely curious in learning more about the Republic.

As for the language, uneducated guesses would assume that Irish people speak Irish as most countries in Europe have a national language.

This in a big way. I found in Europe that most seem to assume English to be our second language. You're more likely to get the Carlsberg ad thing of "oh say something in Irish" than not.

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9959 wrote: »

We've won the Eurovision Song Contest SEVEN TIMES, do they not have televisions in 'Continental Europe?

They just see the British Isles as one culture, which it is. Why should they consider Ireland an independent country? Ireland may be independent to us, but to outsiders it is British through and through.

Wibbs

Talk about blinkered and refusing to see any other possibilities save for the ones you're wedded to in your own head.

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Wibbs wrote: »

Talk about blinkered and refusing to see any other possibilities save for the ones you're wedded to in your own head.

From a brave internet moderator that has never lived anywhere but Ireland. What a laugh.

Wibbs

You make an awful lot of assumptions. On top of that you refuse to acknowledge they may be wrong, even when informed, so my original point stands I reckon.

PS and BTW can you speak Irish fluently? If so cool, if not, why not?

dizzywizlw

I've only been mistaken for British once, in rural Canada.

I have been to most EU Countries and lived in a building with 80 international students for a year and not once has anybody assumed any of these things, nor has anybody I've met of holiday, in fact, most polish people have quite a fair knowledge of the UK and Ireland (for obvious reasons :P ! ).

I can only hazard a guess that most people here are in their late 20s/30s and above and deal with people not brought up with internet as standard (tail end of that myself). Either that of you seem to meet mostly idiots

9959

That username is already in use. wrote: »

This is a fact. Very few people in Europe know that Ireland is an independent country. If you are from the British Isles and speak English, you are of course perceived as British.

Problem?

That username is already in use. wrote: »

They just see the British Isles as one culture, which it is. Why should they consider Ireland an independent country? Ireland may be independent to us, but to outsiders it is British through and through.

You're now moving the goalposts slightly from your assertion that most Europeans are unaware that Ireland is an independent country, to most Europeans are unable to distinguish between British and Irish culture.

You first assertion is patent nonsense.
Your second one may have some validity, though I'm sure there's an argument to be had over whether this is the calamitous result of sharing a language, or merely an inevitable consequence of propinquity.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

That username is already in use. wrote: »

Rubbish. Most Europeans think that Ireland, as an English-speaking and culturally British country, is part of UK/England. Irish people are culturally British and are perceived as such by the vast majority of Europeans.

That username is already in use. wrote: »

They just see the British Isles as one culture, which it is. Why should they consider Ireland an independent country? Ireland may be independent to us, but to outsiders it is British through and through.

I think personal testomy and that of others has shown your argument as complete fantasy. Expecially considering most of them have been to an Irish pub. Not realyl a fair indicator of culture, but at least it seperates tha natioality. They are far better informed than you think and for you to maintain they don`t know teh difference is mindboggling ignorance.

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From a brave internet moderator that has never lived anywhere but Ireland. What a laugh.

Where did Wibbs say he never lived anywhere except Ireland? Considering you made the same guess about me, your track record is, let´s face it, abysmal.

But again: what does all this have to do with the English langauge?

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You´re living in a fantasy world, icky mierda.

Ireland and its people are culturally British, no question.

Here in Europe, they just see Irish people as English-speaking British people, which of course we are .

The difference between me and yourself and that xenophobe internet moderator is that I acknowledge my British heritage, but I make sure not to forget my Gaelic heritage.

You seem to deny your British heritage and reject your Gaelic heritage. You are a plastic Brit in denial. Why can´t you just admit that you are culturally British?

I´d hate to be so conflicted with my cultural identity. Sort yourself out, like a good chappy.

I do hope we are all speaking in jest here? God help you if not.

Beir Bua.

El Weirdo

That username is already in use. wrote: »

You´re living in a fantasy world, icky mierda.

Ireland and its people are culturally British, no question.

Here in Europe, they just see Irish people as English-speaking British people, which of course we are .

The difference between me and yourself and that xenophobe internet moderator is that I acknowledge my British heritage, but I make sure not to forget my Gaelic heritage.

You seem to deny your British heritage and reject your Gaelic heritage. You are a plastic Brit in denial. Why can´t you just admit that you are culturally British?

I´d hate to be so conflicted with my cultural identity. Sort yourself out, like a good chappy.

I do hope we are all speaking in jest here? God help you if not.

Beir Bua.

You were warned about the ad hominem attacks.

Do not post in this thread again.

carrig2

I am not sure it is true to say we have a British heritage. Yes we speak English and are strongly influenced particularly in latter years but we are not British

neil_hosey

That username is already in use. wrote: »

Have you traveled and lived in Europe since 1998 like I have? 9/10 people here in Europe know nothing about Ireland and just assume it is a region of the UK or England.

that is complete and utter bull****.... 90% of europeans dont know that ireland is an EU member state???? lol.... what kind of retards are you hanging around with?

Yes, ive lived in belgium and spent alot of time in eastern european countries, and skandinavian countries.

Mod

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Cheers

LordSutch

carrig2 wrote: »

I am not sure it is true to say we have a British heritage. Yes we speak English and are strongly influenced particularly in latter years but we are not British

But from an outsiders point of view we probably are. Just take yourself on holiday and go to an Irish pub, suddenly most of the ex pats are watching and cheering for Man U on the big screen, they all speak English, they are addicted to X Factor goosip, they all talk about the UK chain stores they love, even their names are very Anglophile, from Thomas to Emily, to Robert, to James and Jessica to John & Derek, all the names are obviously from the group of islands too, hence foreigners surprise when they learn that not only have we seperated ourselves from the rest of these islands, but we have done so in as many ways as possible! (short of changing our DNA) which is I guess heavily connected to next door

awec

Personally don't speak a word of it. But wish I did.