Do you Speak Irish?

donvito99

I like the fact that I can sustain a good conversation as Gaeilge.

Then again, after the leaving in June, I don't know if I'll ever use if again.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

donvito99 wrote: »

I like the fact that I can sustain a good conversation as Gaeilge.

Then again, after the leaving in June, I don't know if I'll ever use if again.

Depends on whether you want to.


Therein lies the problem with the poll: it assumes 100% fluency in the respondents, so the results, as regards desire, are going to be distorted.

Fluorescence

I sometimes speak nonsense babble to my dog (like "Cá bhfuil an cáca milis?" or "Nach bhfuil tú go háilinn" :pac:) but I can't really speak it. I resented it in school so I never worked on it, but I intend to become fluent one day after I'm finished studying Swedish. I think a lot of us have bad feelings towards Irish and think that it's hard because we're not fluent after 14 years of school. However it is no more difficult than any other language (and in fact would be quite easy for many people here in the republic to learn since we have some idea to begin with).

I think Ireland has many many things to learn from the Scandinavians when it comes to teaching languages in schools. Despite the fact that many don't speak English at home, they nearly all have near-flawless English thanks to learning it entirely through school. It doesn't need to be difficult or arduous - kids are like sponges when it comes to languages.

The myth that adults lose the capacity to learn a language to fluency after the age of about 12 or so is also complete nonsense.

4zn76tysfajdxp

I'm a native speaker but, living abroad, I only ever speak it when I call home or when Wibbs and I converse at length. Yeah, he's lying when he says he can't speak it. Between you and me, he's actually Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh.

Fluorescence

Lila Delightful Sty wrote: »

I'm a native speaker but, living abroad, I only ever speak it when I call home or when Wibbs and I converse at length. Yeah, he's lying when he says he can't speak it. Between you and me, he's actually Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh.

Sure everyone knows Frank Kelly is an Irish speaker!

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Lila Delightful Sty wrote: »

I'm a native speaker but, living abroad, I only ever speak it when I call home or when Wibbs and I converse at length. Yeah, he's lying when he says he can't speak it. Between you and me, he's actually Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh.

Thanks for clearing that up, Hector!

foxyboxer

n wl 2 eg dul g d on ceolcrm?

GaryIrv93

not much point in learning it to be honest. People need to accept that Irish is just not and never will be the general spoken language of this country - it's English! It's very very very unlikely that I'll ever visit a Gaelthacht area and Irish isin't used abroad. That's why it's so much more useful to be learning French/Spanish/Portuguese/hell maybe even Chinese. But to revive the Irish language, it needs to be removed as a compulsory subject in schools and also needs to be taught much better.

4zn76tysfajdxp

GaryIrv93 wrote: »

Irish is just not and never will be the general spoken language of this country - it's English!

What a revelation! You have truly opened my eyes.

Ficheall

GaryIrv93 wrote: »

not much point in learning it to be honest. People need to accept that Irish is just not and never will be the general spoken language of this country - it's English! It's very very very unlikely that I'll ever visit a Gaelthacht area and Irish isin't used abroad. That's why it's so much more useful to be learning French/Spanish/Portuguese/hell maybe even Chinese. But to revive the Irish language, it needs to be removed as a compulsory subject in schools and also needs to be taught much better.

Not much point in learning anything, to be honest. We'll all be dead in about 70 years and no one will give a toss one way or the other what you knew.

RussellTuring

deise go deo wrote: »

Not really, over those 13 years you get about 1500 hours contact with the language, nowhere near enough to become fluent.
A lot of people say that if the population dose not speak Irish after 13 years of learning it in school then it proves they can't/wont/dont want to learn Irish, which is nonsense, if someone came out of the education system with fluent Irish it would be astounding.

I was actually speaking about this with a friend only last night. I was saying that the Irish curriculum in schools is completely wrong and should be changed, with more attention given to the level of spoken Irish in a school's particular area. It's unbelievable that a fluent Gaeltacht-native can go into secondary school and do the same course as someone like me who grew up in Dublin with no exposure to the language other than primary school. We are all assumed to have reached a particular level of Irish by second level and are then forced to analyse literature like we do in English classes. This undoubtedly contributes to a lot of the resentment towards the language some people display.

Imagine if kids in first year or indeed first class were given the option of Irish as a second language along with French and German. I think if it was an option and was taught without the assumption of fluency we'd have much more interest, especially given it's contribution to everything from place names to Hiberno-English slang, and hence more fluent speakers.

We need to remove the sacred status of Irish and actually tackle the obstacles to its uptake, including the institutional advantages given to speakers. It's not the lingua franca it was centuries ago but if we admit this and rethink things we can have people who are able, and thus more likely, to use it in everyday speech rather than teaching generations of kids how to scan a poem for the same combination of words that are in a given exercise.

It's not a dead language yet, but it will be unless we stop repeatedly doing the same thing while expecting different results.

AngryBollix wrote: »

National or cultural identity extends way beyond language.

Besides, Irelands more famous cultural works are written in English

I'm by no means a nationalist but the language has influenced me and my ancestors in ways I may not even realise just as other native tongues have done elsewhere. It may not be the only factor in cultural identity but it is important.

As for your second point, that's quite obviously because it's been the more widely-spoken of the two. This doesn't necessarily mean that it's better. There are ideas expressible in some languages but not others, including Irish and English.

GaryIrv93

GaryIrv93 wrote: »

not much point in learning it to be honest. People need to accept that Irish is just not and never will be the general spoken language of this country - it's English!

There are several examples of entire populations changing their native language at will. The primary purpose of language is communication, but there is something to be said for a people having their own language in use on a daily basis.

I just enjoy speaking Irish, even if I'm not particularly good at it. It doesn't need to have any practical value to appeal to me, although it's extremely convenient for privacy when you're abroad.

Two things which are actively contributing to the death of the language are its compulsory status in schools and its connections with nationalism.

GaryIrv93

Not much point in learning anything, to be honest. We'll all be dead in about 70 years and no one will give a toss one way or the other what you knew.

true, we'll all be dead withing 70 or so years. in the meantime, you might as well enjoy your life and enjoy learning things that interest you. :rolleyes:

Ficheall

GaryIrv93 wrote: »

true, we'll all be dead withing 70 or so years. in the meantime, you might as well enjoy your life and enjoy learning things that interest you. :rolleyes:

Irish interests me.

GaryIrv93

What a revelation! You have truly opened my eyes.

just incase that's sarcasm, i never said we need to just kill off the language. all i really said was that it needs to be taught better and removed as a compulsory subject. then maybe it'll be revived faster and young people will enjoy learning it. but it'll probably never replace English as the dominant language of Ireland.

GaryIrv93

Irish interests me.

fair enough, learn it if it interests you.

DEFTLEFTHAND

I've only a basic command of the language. About the only time I use it is when I'm abroad, where I can utilize it as a secret code that enables me to give out about somebody in their presence.

GaryIrv93

I just enjoy speaking Irish, even if I'm not particularly good at it. It doesn't need to have any practical value to appeal to me, although it's extremely convenient for privacy when you're abroad.

Two things which are actively contributing to the death of the language are its compulsory status in schools and its connections with nationalism

exactly. I don't hate speaking the language, just the way it's taught in schools. The way it's taught and the fact that young people are forced to learn it only makes them resent it and drives them away from speaking the language in the future. it's why we have so many negative attitides towards Irish nowadays. Students should be given the option to learn it in school. That way more students might actually decide to give Irish a chance and also it should be taught better and made more enjoyable to learn - then studnets would be like ''hey, Irish isn't such a bad thing after all'' and they might engage with it more after they leave school.

MiseryCat

TheZohan wrote: »

Oui.

Irish is a fantastic language, French is always touted as the language of lovers, imho Irish is much more romantic.

edit: damn you Fallon!

Salut! pour moi:) J'adore la français ,J'aime manger des bonbons ET plongement maigre le vendredi nuits:D

wivy

Is aoibhinn liom an gaeilge! Is teanga alainn e!

Raditub

i regret to say that i have forgotten most of it...but i do think its very important to keep the language alive and used in every day life! Might go back to refresh the skills!

brandom

Bhi gaeilge liofa agam cupla bhliain o shin nuair a bhi me ar scoil. Ba bhrea liom an teanga a usaiad nios mo, da mbeach an seans agam.

starlit

Not really but the odd word yes otherwise my Irish isn't great. Not very fluent at it never had been. No problems reading it, sometimes I didn't understand it but could never really hold a proper conversation in Irish so was never really that fluent unless I had too for oral exams and things like that.

I've forgotten a lot of my Irish though.

Lord TSC

Nope.

Studied Irish from infants up to 6th year and could not put a sentence together.

Did French for 6 years (half the time) and have a far, far higher level of capability. I couldn't have a conversation but I could read basic things or understand basic sentences.

PhlegmyMoses

Did it all the way through secondary and into college. Still relatively fluent but I had to vote never as I have barely spoke it at all over the last couple of years.

starlit

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

Let's see...
an wl cd agm dl g d n letrs mrsha d hulla?
iz mt lm cca mlls

I can actually understand that!

An bhfuil céad agam dul amach go dtí an leithreas más é do thoil é
Is maith liom cáca milis!

Though I've forgotten a lot of my Irish, I still remember the basics...yet I can't converse fluently in Irish!

Fieldsman

Thats one thing we have to be grateful to the Brits for leaving us the English language

Battleflag

Went to an all irish primary and secondary school but never get to use the language anymore. Though when I'm abroad I tend to use it with friends, get to speak about the surroundings around us without anyone understanding us.

For some strange reason, people's Irish seems to improve when their drunk

Insect Overlord

Battleflag wrote: »

For some strange reason, people's Irish seems to improve when their drunk

It's because they relax, stop worrying about it and just use the language instead of making a big deal about it.

whatdoicare

I have never had cause to speak Irish to anyone for any reason since completing the leaving cert in 1999. I don't see why I would need or want to other than to alienate those in my presence with no knowledge of the language, which is a pretty poor reason to speak a language.