An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?

muckyhands

How many of us speak our own native Irish language on a daily basis?

Or ever?

Was listening to this Coronas song, Heroes and Ghosts, in Irish, and thinking to myself for f*** sake like, why dont I speak as Gaeilge!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l969H454bTw

Is it because I will be looked at like I have two heads by the person next to me?

Is is because its not taught well enough in our schools that we/ our children, dont speak fluently in our own native tongue?

Im proud to be Irish and it saddens me that I dont speak in Irish. Its something Id like to change I guess is what Im saying.

Anyone any thoughts/ feeings on this?

68 lost souls

I use it to some degree almost every day. Me and the OH will often switch in Irish. It is important for me to keep my language going and I use I with some other friends and my nieces and nephews too. It has come in very handy while traveling to be able to speak privately with my companions or on the phone to home.

My American roommate once turned to me after I had been speaking Irish for an hour or two on the phone and said "that was so cool you are never allowed speak English again."

shruikan2553

Nope, my native language is english and is the only language I speak. I learnt off enough phrases to get me through the leaving cert and after that I was done with it. I do plan on improving my french to a near usable language over the summer though.

I did my leaving cert 2 years ago, we were taught to learn off pages so we could discuss the theme of love in a poem, it was only weeks before the orals when we were given sheets with questions and answers to learn for us to actually use the language.

ballsymchugh

tá, ach níl mórán daoine anseo i sasana chun í a labhairt le!

yes, but there's not a lot of people here in england to use it with.

splanc on newstalk on a friday evening is a good place to pick it up, the irish is not delivered really fast, so anyone with a fairly ok grasp could pick up what's being said.
i always find RnaG too much to be honest, the dialects can be hard to understand when you're not used to them.

F.J.

Reading road signs in Irish as I pass is about it for me.

Eathrin

I can speak Gaeilge fluently but I only ever use the odd word thrown into conversation.
I just don't like when it is forced.
I absolutely love the Gaeltacht areas, where Irish is spoken naturally.

Paddy Cow

Níl

platinums

I've heard that Corona's song before and thought the same, beautiful song and why dont i speak Gaeilge.

I lived in England for a bit and because of that I skipped Gaelic when I came back to school in Ireland. I regret it now.

Yet again, in this world there are more dominant tongues, you'd be as better off learning mandarin or the usual F/G/S to get ahead these days.

I often see jobs in Dublin going for F/G/S or Dutch, never a Gaelic job!

F.J. wrote: »

Reading road signs in Irish as I pass is about it for me.

I though "Amach" was a really big town for a while till was told.

Jester252

Nope.
Dropped it like a snot four years ago and replace it with useful knowledge.

dh0011

Ta, is Eirinigh sinn agus ba cheart bheith brodiuil as. Ta dualgas orainn ar nosanna agus ar teanga fein a usaid.

Cosmicfox

Nah, I did Spanish for LC and decided to focus on that and I am a lot better at it. My parents never had to learn Irish so when I struggled they couldn't help which made me like it even less. That and how annoying I found the different dialects to be during aural exams.


I don't have any affection for it or regrets over not trying harder to learn it. I'm Irish but it's not my language, I have no use for it and I don't think it sounds very pleasant either.

moc moc a moc

dh0011 wrote: »

Ta, is Eirinigh sinn agus ba cheart bheith brodiuil as. Ta dualgas orainn ar nosanna agus ar teanga fein a usaid.

You're missing about fifty fadas there bud. Maybe you should get your own house in order before you start telling others how to keep theirs?

Demosthenese

It is a shame that we do not ALL speak it more fluently as a nation alright, but that'd take a serious amount of planning and implementation by the powers that be. No reason really why we do not, i am sorry to say like 90% of those that learned and loved it growing up, its become a thing of the past for me ;( ... 8 year old is doing irish in school now and i can keep up, just about!

grenache

I speak it with a friend of mine who's fluent. I'm not fluent myself but have enough to carry a decent conversation. I also incorporate it in my job when serving customers, I'll throw a few phrases in like "lean ar aghaidh le do thoil" or "ar mhaith leat an mála?"

Most times I get blank stares which is disappointing but the odd time I'll get a reply "as Gaeilge" which is great. People from up the country like Kildare or Dublin seem to particularly love it.

starviewadams

Nope,combination of being forced to learn it and being taught by crap teachers with no passion for the language,means I can only really remember 1 or 2 phrases.

Only studied French for 5 years and can still pretty much remember everything I was taught because the teachers were competent,made the classes practical and interesting and because I actively chose to study it in the first place.

SusieBlue

I'm fluent, but don't speak it daily. Maybe weekly? Its very important to me and I hope I never lose it.

opti0nal

muckyhands wrote: »

How many of us speak our own native Irish language on a daily basis?

Is it because I will be looked at like I have two heads by the person next to me?

Is is because its not taught well enough in our schools that we/ our children, dont speak fluently in our own native tongue?

Im proud to be Irish and it saddens me that I dont speak in Irish. Its something Id like to change I guess is what Im saying.

It's of the nature of a native language that it is the one that people speak daily. Irish is not the native language of most people here and that is why is it is not commonly spoken. It's nothing to do with how competant the teachers are in enforcing compulsory Irish lessons.

Speaking Irish in an area where English is the common language to people who don't speak Irish is likely to result in puzzled responses. It might also evoke unpleasant memories in those you address of being forced to speak Irish when they were at school.

Why are you sad that you don't speak Irish? It's nothing to be ashamed of. I don't speak Russian, it's not my native language and I don't live in Russia.

I know a but, but it's mainly used to help the children with their school Irish, I could hold a simple conversation but little else.

Elessar

Nope can't speak a word of it. I'm bitter from years of being forced to learn this stupid pointless language that I never had an interest in. My hatred of gaeilge is deep rooted, and probably a bit irrational, but I just cannot stand it. Makes my blood boil and is one of the few things that gets on my nerves, even though I'm a fairly calm, easy going guy.

If I ever have kids they won't be going anywhere near a gaeilscoil (which I think are ridiculous outside the Gaeltacht), in fact did the government follow through to make Irish an optional subject in schools yet??

Oranage2

Crazy op, exact same thing happened to me after hearing heroes and ghost, same reaction too, I was like, for fook sake, this song is sh!t.

I do speak Irish, went to an Irish school, I'm not a rub it in your face Irish speaker, unfortunately I'm not as fluent as I was due to very few people to speak with.

its a kinda useless language but better than just having English.

JustAThought

Tá sé difficiúil é a dhéanamh - ní fhis agam cén áit ina bhíonn neamh-gaeilge á usáid le daoine NACH bhfuil go líofa. Chuala me go raibh pub nó cafe i mBaile Áth Cliath Angus go mbíonn tú abalta dul ann I do aonair chun iarracht a dhéanamh Gailge a labhairt ach níl fios agam cén áit ina bhfuil sé.
Níl aon suim ar chor ar bith Ag mo cháirde ar an Ghaeilge agus sin faidhb eile.

I'd like to but my friends have no interest whatsoever in Irish. I hear there's a pub or cafe in ( Dublin) town you can go to & that there's a welcome /inclusive atmosphere to people who turn up by themselves but I can't remember where it is /what day. If you have no use for it you loose it & I'm always intimidated by the gaelgóirs whose Irish is so excellent you feel like a pleb hanging on. There has to be a halfway-house for those who are trying or would like to!!!

I think that our language -problematic as it is with the way it was taught to us -is
important to us as a nation , regardless of how much you hated your old teacher. I think part of the issue is that we have to
try & keep it relevant and accessible to help keep it alive . When you go away it always seems to become more valued & useful - even if just for secret conversations in the pub : ) I would hate to see it die or become only " owned" by specialist academics or EU translators!

( and no - I absolutely did not nor could not say that all in Irish - but I'm trying!!! )

SusieBlue

Elessar wrote: »

Nope can't speak a word of it. I'm bitter from years of being forced to learn this stupid pointless language that I never had an interest in. My hatred of gaeilge is deep rooted, and probably a bit irrational, but I just cannot stand it. Makes my blood boil and is one of the few things that gets on my nerves, even though I'm a fairly calm, easy going guy.

If I ever have kids they won't be going anywhere near a gaeilscoil (which I think are ridiculous outside the Gaeltacht), in fact did the government follow through to make Irish an optional subject in schools yet??

Its funny that you say you'd never send your kids to a Gaelscoil because you found Irish hard, I'm not the best at languages (I'm abolutely abysmal at French) but I'm nearly sure that the only reason I found Irish so easy in school was because I went to a Gaelscoil, and I learned it naturally.

I never struggled with it like I did French. I imagine if I had gone to an English speaking school I'd have suffered exactly the same fate with Irish as I did French.

Galwayguy35

I grew to despise Irish as when I was in school we were made to learn off poems by heart that meant nothing to us, and for the Leaving Cert study a book by some long dead woman called Peig who was basically having a whinge about her lot in life.

JustAThought

WhiteRoses wrote: »

Its funny that you say you'd never send your kids to a Gaelscoil because you found Irish hard, I'm not the best at languages (I'm abolutely abysmal at French) but I'm nearly sure that the only reason I found Irish so easy in school was because I went to a Gaelscoil, and I learned it naturally.

I never struggled with it like I did French. I imagine if I had gone to an English speaking school I'd have suffered exactly the same fate with Irish as I did French.

I like the way my local Gaelscoil is doing basic Irish for parents to get them going & has the teachers out front doing chit chat cora to normalise interactions in irish for the parents. It's like everything valuable in life - if you want it to work you have to put in a bit of effort too!

I like the way there are now cartoons as a gaeilge too . For a subsidised TV /RTE it is 30 years too late, but better late than never... Catch them young . : )

Columbia

I can remember a few words from school, but that's all. I speak more Georgian & Russian (both of which I learned on my own) than I do Irish, German or French (which I learned in school).

TBH it never bothered me, ironically enough, until I left Ireland. Now when I meet people in foreign countries, they always ask me to speak Irish. I have to look dumbly at them and mumble something it being badly taught in schools. Or, of course, ask them for permission to go to the bathroom and lie about what it means.

black & white

Elessar wrote: »

Nope can't speak a word of it. I'm bitter from years of being forced to learn this stupid pointless language that I never had an interest in. My hatred of gaeilge is deep rooted, and probably a bit irrational, but I just cannot stand it. Makes my blood boil and is one of the few things that gets on my nerves, even though I'm a fairly calm, easy going guy. QUOTE]

I'd agree with that. It's 40 years ago since I was in national school but my memories are of spending all day learning Irish, praying and worshipping the GAA ( and getting the living sh*t beaten out of me by a collection of so called teachers) I know I learned other subjects, but I have no memory of doing them in class. To this day I have no time for the Irish language, GAA or Catholic church and part of that comes from my experiences in national school.

johnny_knoxvile

I haven't much Irish, and only one occassion have I had to use it in public.
A couple of years back I was walking up Grafton Street and there was an old drunk guy with a bag of cans, shouting at everyone that approached in Irish.

As I walked towards him he began to unleash on me, I hadn't a clue what the f**k he was saying, so I responded with one of the few sentences I learned that got me through my Leaving Cert oral:

"Ta a lan gruaige air mo liathroidi!!!"

His whole demeanour changed, and he started laughing. If I had of had time I probably would of help him finish his cans.

IdidIt

johnny_knoxvile wrote: »

"Ta a lan gruaige air mo liathroidi!!!"

You sir are my new Hero.

dh0011

the alt gr button is broken on my keyboard so i cant put in fadas

gobnaitolunacy

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

I grew to despise Irish as when I was in school we were made to learn off poems by heart that meant nothing to us, and for the Leaving Cert study a book by some long dead woman called Peig who was basically having a whinge about her lot in life.

This.

The greatest disservice the Irish education system to the language was rote learning parrot-fashion and recommending this depressing dirge to the curriculum.

demanufactured

Its a dead language

kylith

Níl a lán Gaeilge agam, ar an drochuair.

I wish I was better at it, but the methods of teaching any languages in this country are appalling.

johnayo

Elessar wrote: »

Nope can't speak a word of it. I'm bitter from years of being forced to learn this stupid pointless language that I never had an interest in. My hatred of gaeilge is deep rooted, and probably a bit irrational, but I just cannot stand it. Makes my blood boil and is one of the few things that gets on my nerves, even though I'm a fairly calm, easy going guy.

If I ever have kids they won't be going anywhere near a gaeilscoil (which I think are ridiculous outside the Gaeltacht), in fact did the government follow through to make Irish an optional subject in schools yet??

I understand where you are coming from with not sending your kids to gaelscoil. I came up through primary school as Gaelige and as my parents had very little Irish, they were unable to help me with homework etc. For this reason I did not send my son to Gaelscoil.
He is doing his Leaving Cert this year and He is excellent at irish.

68 lost souls

Hell if they are learning it over in America in college surely we here have no excuse not to learn it.

http://irishlanguage.nd.edu/

I can understand how people are put off by the way it is taught in schools and I agree, I think it should be taught as a foreign language and then no exclusions should be made for non nationals as it is not being taught as a native language. Then there should be a second course in school for native speakers or those interested called Irish studies which is the literature and culture aspect.

Another approach I would be interested in seeing if those in charge do not implement that change is a total ban on English in Irish class. You should not be translating from one language to another but instead think in Irish. That would develop true literacy it is more difficult at first however.

I am not great with grammar or spelling or the like but I think growing up bilingual with English and Irish has helped me to overcome my difficulties with language and I can now speak French, Spanish, Irish, English and some Catalan to a level where I have been educated through all of those languages at different stages of my life.

kylith

68 lost souls wrote: »

Another approach I would be interested in seeing if those in charge do not implement that change is a total ban on English in Irish class. You should not be translating from one language to another but instead think in Irish. That would develop true literacy it is more difficult at first however.

I think all languages should be taught like that.

godwin

I have not spoke it since I was forced to speak it by Ms Walsh in Secondary school , total waste of 10+ years of school learning a useless language , would have been better suited if I had of been forced to learn Spanish/German or something practical.

Currently I can ask to use the toilet in Irish , not bad after 10+ years of being forced to learn a language.

RikkFlair

demanufactured wrote: »

Its a dead language

If it was, not a soul would be speaking it.

Arpa

It is quite useless as a language with which to do my daily dealings. However I find it good when abroad and you need to say something to a mate but don't want the foreign bird you're trying to chat up to understand. So I guess I use it more as a secret code than as an actual language.

13spanner

I'd say I'm 60% of the way to being fluent, hoping to be fluent by the time I've my degree finished. So I'll get there sooner or later

Paramite Pie

My friends once spoke Irish to each other on a bus in Dublin. People in front of them started mumbling about the 'foreigners' behind them not speaking English. They say it's a common reaction.:rolleyes:

platinums wrote: »

I often see jobs in Dublin going for F/G/S or Dutch, never a Gaelic job!

I have two friends who have really good jobs with Irish. One is a lecturer in a university in Massachusetts teaching Irish to yanks (I presume that pays well!) and the other works in Brussels as a translator for the EU.

Learning Irish may be a indulgent language for many people as it has no real use to students in the US, Spain or Japan who are very keen in learning Irish regardless. I never realised there are so many opportunities to teach it abroad! If only I spoke it!!:p

Did anyone else know that there are Irish/Scottish speaking areas in Canada? With much smaller populations of fluent speakers in Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zeland?:eek:

There used to be over 200,000 Canadian Gaelic speakers in Newfoundland in 1850 but today less than 1,000. (most of them elderly)

Scots gaelic still has nearly 60,000 regular speakers in Canada, mostly in Novia Scotia and Cape Breton.

Rubeter

opti0nal wrote: »

Speaking Irish in an area where English is the common language to people who don't speak Irish is likely to result in puzzled responses. It might also evoke unpleasant memories in those you address of being forced to speak Irish when they were at school.

Nope, the most common responses are "I'm sorry, I don't speak Irish" very often followed by "I wish I could", someone giving an answer in fairly simple but understandable Irish or someone just answering in Irish.
The rarest are puzzled responses (whatever they are) and aggression, I can remember only one occasion of aggression and he was an asshole irrespective of languages.

Out of curiosity, by the nature of your attitude to the language how on earth would you know what peoples responses and attitudes are if spoken to in Irish?

To the OP, I wouldn't speak it every day (except to say Hi, Thanks, Bye etc) but on average would have one or two decent conversations a week, usually in the pub.

opti0nal

Rubeter wrote: »

Out of curiosity, by the nature of your attitude to the language how on earth would you know what peoples responses and attitudes are if spoken to in Irish?

Like many people in this country, I am at first puzzled and then concerned why someone would address me in Irish. Then suppressing the hurt I still feel at over a decade of imposed Irish and cultural shaming, I respond politely with "I am sorry but I do not speak Irish" and, maybe in case I might be accused of being un-Irish or a 'West-Brit', I might add "but I wish I could". It's safer that way.

Go-figure - most people say they support Irish, but most people don't speak it. They're afraid to openly oppose it. Why is this?

There's a fine example posted some time ago when an Irish enthusiast accosted people at random around Grafton street and Stephen's Green. Of the footage they left in, most people were very uncomfortable at best. The best conversation he had was with a ticket vending machine - obliged by law to speak Irish on demand.

It's understandable that someone might like the intellectual challenge of learning another language. It's a nice hobby.

Quite why anyone whose native language is English should want to change to Irish and have a 'main aim' of changing the language everyone else speaks to Irish is something that really needs examination.

SEPT 23 1989

Not this again:(

Rubeter

opti0nal wrote: »

Like many people in this country, I am at first puzzled and then concerned why someone would address me in Irish. Then suppressing the hurt I still feel at over a decade of imposed Irish and cultural shaming, I respond politely with "I am sorry but I do not speak Irish" and, maybe in case I might be accused of being un-Irish or a 'West-Brit', I might add "but I wish I could". It's safer that way.

Go-figure - most people say they support Irish, but most people don't speak it. They're afraid to openly oppose it. Why is this?

There's a fine example posted some time ago when an Irish enthusiast accosted people at random around Grafton street and Stephen's Green. Of the footage they left in, most people were very uncomfortable at best. The best conversation he had was with a ticket vending machine - obliged by law to speak Irish on demand.

It's understandable that someone might like the intellectual challenge of learning another language. It's a nice hobby.

Quite why anyone whose native language is English should want to change to Irish and have a 'main aim' of changing the language everyone else speaks to Irish is something that really needs examination.

You would be "concerned" if someone spoke to you in Irish? To be honest you should be more concerned about your obsessive need to constantly moan about the language, that is something you should examine, there's a touch of OCD about it.

opti0nal

Rubeter wrote: »

You would be "concerned" if someone spoke to you in Irish?

Yes, concerned about their motives for doing so and how they will react if they don't hear what they want to hear.

Rubeter wrote: »

To be honest you should be more concerned about your obsessive need to constantly moan about the language, that is something you should examine, there's a touch of OCD about it.

If anyone has OCD, it is the Irish lobby and their relentless efforts to bring about the 'Main Aim' for over 100 years, now that's obsessive.

Are you abusing me here because you cannot accomodate the views people who don't want to speak Irish and who put forward reasoned criticism of the actions of Irish enthusiasts?

ballsymchugh

opti0nal wrote: »

If anyone has OCD, it is the Irish lobby and their relentless efforts to bring about the 'Main Aim' for over 100 years, now that's obsessive.

i wouldn't call it obsessive, it's their job. such is the life of a lobby group.

Toby Take a Bow

I can only repeat the odd phrase, a very, very basic grasp of constructing the simplest of sentences and knowing certain words and phrases. As others have said, I would love to be able to speak and understand better.

Anyone able to recommend a place that gives good lessons for a beginner?

opti0nal

ballsymchugh wrote: »

i wouldn't call it obsessive, it's their job. such is the life of a lobby group.

They give the impression of being enthusiasts and volunteers. Who is bank-rolling them and why?

ballsymchugh

Toby Take a Bow wrote: »

I can only repeat the odd phrase, a very, very basic grasp of constructing the simplest of sentences and knowing certain words and phrases. As others have said, I would love to be able to speak and understand better.

Anyone able to recommend a place that gives good lessons for a beginner?

you could do worse than podcasts, there's plenty there for beginners

opti0nal wrote: »

They give the impression of being enthusiasts and volunteers. Who is bank-rolling them and why?

i've no idea. every lobby group will have benefactors, some may have charitable status and will gain income from membership, courses, literature etc. but i'm speculating here though.

An Coilean

muckyhands wrote: »

How many of us speak our own native Irish language on a daily basis?

Or ever?

Was listening to this Coronas song, Heroes and Ghosts, in Irish, and thinking to myself for f*** sake like, why dont I speak as Gaeilge!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l969H454bTw

Is it because I will be looked at like I have two heads by the person next to me?

Is is because its not taught well enough in our schools that we/ our children, dont speak fluently in our own native tongue?

Im proud to be Irish and it saddens me that I dont speak in Irish. Its something Id like to change I guess is what Im saying.

Anyone any thoughts/ feeings on this?

I do.
I use Irish reagularly in my daily life and no I don't live in a Gaeltacht.

The reasons for more people not doing so are many and varied but mainly its that learning a language is a long and dificult process that requires commitment.

If you are serious about it, then the best advice I can give you is to use it as often as possible, you could try to learn it from a book, and there are plenty of books available, but personally I think acquiring the language through using it as often as possible and in as many different contexts as possible is the best and most rewarding way to do it.
When you get down to looking for it, you would be amazed by just how much Irish we are surrounded with.

An Coilean

platinums wrote: »

I often see jobs in Dublin going for F/G/S or Dutch, never a Gaelic job!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=574294245924228&set=a.175911522429171.37499.166447866708870&type=1&theater