The Irish Language

s0l · 06-09-2002 8:59pm #1

I was just wondering what everyones take on Irish as a subject in our schools is?
I think it should be kept up, but not as important as it is at the moment, I dunno, this is my attmept at a serious thread

littlehedgehog · 06-09-2002 9:07pm

I think Irish should be there as a choice subject. Either that or have it like P.D or P.E or summat - non exam subject. By forcing everyone to study it it just makes people despise having to learn it.
Irish is our native language but we have gone far beyond having everyone speaking it - English is too ingrained. It would take many generations to have Ireland speaking Irish again and the government wouldn't be able to organise the lessons/schools etc. It would be an incredibile amount of work.
I personally hate having to learn Irish. I feel that Irish is almost a dead language and there is no point in learning it - Give me a reason to learn it, or dont make it compulseary (crap spelling I know - how do you spell it???!!)

claire h · 06-09-2002 9:16pm

A serious thread? :eek:

Um, right. As I understand it, the idea of teaching Irish in schools is to keep the language and therefore culture alive, yet the way in which it is taught inspires hatred and resentment among most students. I hated doing it for the JC. Having said that, the LC course includes a section on the history of the language and more 'Irishy'-type things to study. Started on the prose section this week and it was the story of the Children of Lir, which is pretty cool in that it's a traditional Irish story being told in that language, and it just seems appropriate.

Of course, most of my friends still hate the subject, and I really don't think it should be compulsory. You already have English and Maths, two pretty hard subjects, as compulsory, and there's a ridiculous amount of pressure on students who are aiming for high points. It's a choice between having to work really hard at a subject which they haven't chosen to do and can't see any use in (although the same could be said about English, Maths, and a lot of other subjects, I suppose) and taking up an extra subject.

The whole system is flawed. *sigh*

lordsippa · 06-09-2002 9:49pm

I am not good at irish. That said I use occasional snippets in my speech. I'd use more but I really do suck at it.

What annoys me is that even though I have a REALLY hard time with it, it's compulsory and yet not half as important for living as, for example, english or maths! Hell! A foreign language isn't compulsory <i suck at those too but want one for college entry natch>! Why should irish be? Personally I'm scraping a pass in ordinary for irish and a honours <maybe> in honours for french... or at least that's the plan. Then just gonna fall back on other 6 subjects. ;p

Crash · 06-09-2002 10:06pm

Personally i dont have a problem with it being compulsory, rather i have a huge problem with the way its taught. The focus of the course is on written Irish, whereas IMO it should be on Spoken Irish as learning to speak it gives you a beter interest in the language, therefore getting a greater number of people interested in it.

article6 · 07-09-2002 8:58am

Ar dtús, is oth liom nach bhfuil barrcaighdeán Gaeilge orm.

Aontaim le Neil. Ní faighim marcaí an-mhaith i nGaeilge, ach i mo thuairim, is abhar an-tábhachtach é. Déanaim staidéar in Ardleibhéal, agus tá a lán marcaí ar fáil ón béaltuiscint, is smaoineamh maith é.

Agus tá Rí Rá smaoineamh maith freisin. An seanchaí, etc.

An focal is iontach sa teanga: Abú.

An Laois Abú!

pretty*monster · 07-09-2002 10:00am

I suck at Irish, I just look at the page and see gibberish, i think I've learned about three new Irish words since primary school.
I'm rubbish at French and German too.
I guess I just don't see the point of learning a language I'm never going to use. I mean yes at some point in my life I may have to communicate with someone who speaks French or German but not English and I do think it's important to know European languages however bad i may be at them. But, bar a couple of old people living in gealthach areas, everyone who speaks Irish can also speak English. Language is primarily for communication. That's why we need it and that should be why we learn it. All those extras like cultural significance are for people who give a damn.
Anyone who is interested in Irish culture and language should of course have the opportunity to study it. But personally I couldn't care less if in twenty years time no one could speak it.

littlehedgehog · 07-09-2002 4:04pm

ummmm Ed can you please translate that - I seriously have no clue what it means..........:) thanks!

Seaman · 07-09-2002 6:32pm

in my opinion, irish should be a compulsory subject.
if it wasn't forced into us, then honestly i don't think a lot of people would learn it and in a few generations it would be dead. and if our language dies, a huge part of culture and independence does aswell.
although, i agree with foobar about them putting too much focus on written irish. spoken irish is far more imortant.
also, irish is a good way for students who are good at it but not good at other subjects like english and maths to pick up points.

qwidgybo · 07-09-2002 7:34pm

i love irish.really really nice language,i mo thuairim féin.course can be really tough,though,and having it as a compulsory subject does affect people's opinions on it.maybe if it bacame optional,although numbers studying it would drop dramatically at first,it would soon be a subject enjoyed by those studying it,and people in general would begin to like it more.
perhaps.

Dalamar · 07-09-2002 8:47pm

Having irish as a compulsery subject really sucks, because we're taught from almost day one of our school live irish, you'd think everyone would be good at it, but no, a lot of people suck at the subject (including myself, who will pass, pass irish with luck) but if you make it a choice subject, people who are geniuely interested in it will chose it.

Green Hand Guy · 07-09-2002 10:27pm

Irish = Boring useless subject that I don't want to learn.
Religion = Boring useless subject that I don't want to learn.
Mr. O'Donnel = The most annoying bastard of a teacher ever who I've had every year since first year for either Irish or Religion.

Summary = I hate Mr.O'Donnell and any subject he teaches.

Also the language is dead. Only weird hermits in bogland villages still speak it and since I never plan to go there it won't be of any help to me in the future. Why can't they just replace Irish class with some sort of class on goblins, gnomes, dragons and fairies. You know. Interesting stuff.

Barry Aldwell · 07-09-2002 11:06pm

Mr O'Donnell = *Gets shotgun*

Crash · 08-09-2002 1:15am

I would type this in Irish but i'm not back in school yet and my mind is still on sleep mode

I think they should incorporate some sort of Irish Folklore type thing into the curriculum. our Irish Teacher did some with us and through it managed to gt us to learn a lot of vocabulary. twas handy. though i had a fecking brilliant irish teacher.

The Irish Course has serious problems as its a written course, which focuses on learning only how to write the language and very little on pronunciation etc. (luckily enough, our teacher did some of that too).

Its kinda funny when you think that while Irish is hard to learn, imagine trying to learn english. NO RULES WHATSOEVER!!!

imp · 08-09-2002 1:25am

Originally posted by foobar
Its kinda funny when you think that while Irish is hard to learn, imagine trying to learn english. NO RULES WHATSOEVER!!!

Well that would make it easy!

}:>

It wasn't me! · 08-09-2002 11:22am

Has anyone ever noticed that if you speak Irish the way you write it, anyone who actually speaks it fluently hasn't got a friggin' clue what you're on about?!!

ll=llannah · 08-09-2002 2:50pm

considering the fact that I'm American, I know i really have no business commenting on this thread. WIth that being said, I just wanted to add that making a language a compulsory class is generally not a good a good idea.
i've gone to an international school for 7 years (i am no longer there- but a lot of the school were just kids from the neighborhood- you didn't need to be a diplo-brat (i mean diplo-mat's kid..) to go there) and they make you take two languages. NOT a good idea. Innumerable pple want to kill the whole language department, and many a failed coup has been planned in response to the language requirements. In most opinions- english is enough. do they REALLY need to make us take TWO other foreign languages that we'll most likely never use?
well- those are just my two cents...

s0l · 08-09-2002 6:45pm

I'm not sure what its like in america,
but here you have to have a international language for 90% of university courses, the grade you get in it dosent matter, you just have to have it, irish dosent count as a international langauge so if you have 3rd level plans you must study French or German, although the bigger schools have a wider choice.
I'm not sure if this post is important, but is it like that in the US?

Mystic Fibrosis · 08-09-2002 6:48pm

I'm pretty sure Irish is considered as an international language for DCU...well, that's what I read in the prospectus....electronic engineering, here I come!!!(hopefully)

qwidgybo · 08-09-2002 9:39pm

according to some spahole(or spaholio,in italian) who was in my class last year(but not anymore!yessssss!i hate that wanker!!),irish can be considered as your international language in entry to trinity.but this girl is full of such **** that that might not be true.i'll end this post now before i start ranting about the **** she comes out with,and the arse she does,and how DAMN IDIOTIC SHE IS.

*calmdeepbreathscalmdeepbreaths*

lordsippa · 08-09-2002 10:04pm

Depends on courses.

Most places have an "and/or" but usually require a European language for most courses.

kamobe · 08-09-2002 10:08pm

I'd personally like to see a different approach to teaching the subject. I never put too much effort towards learning the language, but looking back I wish I had.

It wasn't me! · 11-09-2002 3:28pm

I checked out the requirements list for every course in every college in the country and believe it or not, Latin counts as a European language. Hurray for me because I chose Latin over German in first year.

ll=llannah · 12-09-2002 1:40pm

that doesn't suuprise me- in all technicalities it really is a European language- it just isn't a modern language. aaah- university requirements....nervousness!!

smiles · 12-09-2002 5:10pm

Irish should be a subject, and compulsory, but the emphysis should be on verbal skills.

For Trinity and one or two other colleges you can get in with Irish instead of French/German.

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The Irish Language

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