Genfella wrote: » Cén chaoi a bhfuil an Bhreatnais in ann dul chun cinn le níos mó ná 20% á labhairt, ach níl ach 10% ag labhairt na Gaeilge againn. Cén fáth? Sut mae'r Gymraeg wedi gallu diogelu a hyrwyddo eu hiaith ac ni allwn? Beth maen nhw'n ei wneud i wneud eu hiaith yn ffynnu? Faint sy'n mynd i gadwedigaeth? We need to preserve our language and, when reunification occurs, aim to have at least 40% of the population as Irish-speaking.
Das Reich wrote: » 13 years in Ireland and never saw anyone speaking it, county Kerry or Galway included. One time I heard an old couple talking, I followed to hear better and it was Swiss German. And to be honest when I hear on the radio or tv I can recognize straight away that they are English native speakers because of their R (they have the retroflex R like in English).
_blaaz wrote: » Orally its not a particularly difficult language to master Dont see whats wrong with aspiring to have large% of population fluent in it?
DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: » what more can be done? Students already spend 14 yrs learning it.
briany wrote: » There's nothing wrong with it, but nobody's ever come up with a way of making that happen. On the isle of Jersey during WWII, the native language, Jersais, made a bit of a comeback because the occupying Germans couldn't understand it, making it useful as a sort of language of the resistance. If a similar calamity ever befell Ireland again, I could see Irish making a resurgence. At least it would provide a practical necessity of its use. Otherwise, there are no amount of government and educational initiatives that'll get that job done.
Genfella wrote: » We need to preserve our language and, when reunification occurs, aim to have at least 40% of the population as Irish-speaking.
whisky_galore wrote: » That's if they want to learn it, which they clearly don't. You can't force people to do anything.
Igotadose wrote: » Again I'll bring up Wales. Seems like there was a strong desire to resurrect and preserve the language, and it succeeded. I think that, until recently, the Irish government was against the language, and allowed the RCC to control its teaching, to the detriment of the students. Latin grammar was bolted onto Irish by the RCC where maybe it didn't apply but that's how latin was taught ergo it would work for Irish, too. It comes down to the teaching. Better teaching would impart more love of the language and more success with restoring fluency to Ireland. Not an easy problem to solve at all.
briany wrote: » Welsh never died out to the same extent as Irish did. For example, in the Anglo-Irish treaty negotiations, Lloyd George was a fluent native Welsh speaker and made a point of demonstrating that fact to De Valera, whose Irish was not of a comparable level, being a learned language for him. By the early 20th century, Welsh was still spoken by about half the population of Wales, whereas Irish was already on life support in Ireland. The efforts to preserve Welsh started from a broader base and a viable community of speakers, while in Ireland, the language was ever more diminished by wave after wave of emigration, and the government making only a token effort to stop this.
Genfella wrote: » Loom at the Meath Gaeltacht. Why can't more man made Irish-speaking settlements like this be created? We need to do exactly what the Welsh did. When there is a united Ireland we should relocate Gaelgoirs to loyalist Ulster-Scots areas, injecting Irish culture into areas like Ballymena and Larne and making Ulster-Scots extinct.
Igotadose wrote: » And, 4 different (in some cases, very different) dialects doesn't help expand the language.
Genfella wrote: » When there is a united Ireland we should relocate Gaelgoirs to loyalist Ulster-Scots areas, injecting Irish culture into areas like Ballymena and Larne and making Ulster-Scots extinct.
Igotadose wrote: » Thanks for that info. Do you know if the powers that be actively tried to destroy Welsh like happened in Ireland with the penal laws and the later plantation system (which caused Ulster Irish to be the common dialect throughout Ireland at one time.) However, as even Cornish (which was officially dead), is making a comeback, where there's a will, there's a way. I agree with other posters that the job done teaching it is the core of the problem, having tried to learn the language as an adult using the available resources. The quality of the materials is borderline abysmal and the poor teachers struggle to teach it. Seems we could at least address the materials and teaching - why is there no one true great textbook used to teach Irish? Things like that. And, 4 different (in some cases, very different) dialects doesn't help expand the language.
El Tarangu wrote: » As someone who speaks Irish fluently, I have used the language on a couple of dozen occasions in the 15 years since I left school (mainly for talking smack about people while with other Irish people abroad), and I think I have heard it while out and about in Ireland fewer than 10 times.
Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: » Modh coinníollach. Two words to explain why it won't be revived.
