Can you speak Irish?

30-03-2010 03:03PM

Just basic Irish here, still learning it!

Xavi6 · 30-03-2010 03:10PM

Used to be fluent after two stints in the Gaeltacht, and would be in the proficient category now seven years later.

I plan on revising it later in life, or as soon as I get time. I love the language and am proud to be able to speak it

PK2008 · 30-03-2010 03:23PM

pickarooney wrote: »

By the way, 'proficient' is a higher level than 'fluent'.

My bad, I always thought that meant a good level rather than an expert (fluent) although I think the description is clear so hopefully people didnt mix it up

Vinta81 · 30-03-2010 03:27PM

69 wrote: »

Sorry you'll have to cut that down to one word, then you'll be sorted innit.

Which one?

Thomas828 · 30-03-2010 03:34PM

No. One of my regrets in life is I didn't carry Irish beyond my first year of secondary school. Plus, I grew up in Belfast, so I didn't see much use for it. Now I only know a few choice phrases like "Gee! A ditch!" (dia duit) and "Kill me a vulture" (cead mile failte). Otherwise, all my day to day business is done as Bearla.

whatdoicare · 30-03-2010 03:39PM

Got a B1 in pass Irish, couldn't speak a word of the language- just worked out a system of learning off stories and poems and was able to tell where the answers to the written parts were by finding words in the question in the paragraph or tape. Easy peasy.

I speak Spanish pretty well from what I learned off a CD that came with some newspaper a few years back. Don't have a word of French either (which I learned in school for six years), speaks for itself really.

I still have no use or love of the Irish language.

XxMCRxBabyxX · 30-03-2010 03:47PM

I really wish I had more Irish. I lived in Botswana until I was ten but my first language as a kid was actually Gaeilge until I went to primary school and lost it all. Had to take it on again when I moved here but unfortunately missed some of the basics being thrown straight into 4th class Irish. i managed honours level for the JC but got to Christmas of 6th year and realised I would never be able to manage honours for the LC. I did manage an A2 in pass which I was delighted with! I have been to the gaeltacht twice and my spoken Irish isn't too bad. I am able to have some sort of conversation but my gaeilge writing and reading skills are awful!

My mother and her family are practically Gaelgeoirs (I don't know how to spell that!) and I do genuinely like and have an interest in the language because of that. i just don't have enough of the ability unfortunately.

pickarooney · 30-03-2010 04:03PM

PK2008 wrote: »

My bad, I always thought that meant a good level rather than an expert (fluent) although I think the description is clear so hopefully people didnt mix it up

'Fluent' just means you can speak a language comfortably, without stopping and starting and searching for words.

'Proficient' is a little more advanced and requires reading/writing ability as well as a knowledge (even unconscious knowledge as in a young native speaker) of grammar. Many students become proficient in Irish reading/writing while not speaking it anywhere near fluently.

Native speakers are rarely experts, many are not particuarly proficient but apart from the very young and those with learning/physical difficulties nearly all are fluent.

Like many people, I never had fluency, but was capable of reading and writing to a high level and have now lost most of it, although I did manage to understand every bit of that 'Father Ted as gaeilge' thing that's in someone's sig, which I was quite pleased with.

Hagar · 30-03-2010 04:04PM

Vinta81 wrote: »

Which one?

Slán is Irish, bonne is French (fem.) for good.
Sorry though, I didn't mean to be snotty, I was just jesting.

Vinta81 · 30-03-2010 04:16PM

69 wrote: »

Slán is Irish, bonne is French (fem.) for good.
Sorry though, I didn't mean to be snotty, I was just jesting.

I thought "Bonne" was milk in Irish? Had a feeling I was spelling it wrong though!

bogtotty · 30-03-2010 04:17PM

69 wrote: »

Slán is Irish, bonne is French (fem.) for good.

I think bonne is supposed to be báinne, in which case we'll allow Vinta two words

Joey the lips · 30-03-2010 04:18PM

Cuneas bother calin bainne.

Sharon no bholeon.

Vinta81 · 30-03-2010 04:21PM

bogtotty wrote: »

I think bonne is supposed to be báinne, in which case we'll allow Vinta two words

Go raibh maith agat :pac:

yay for google

Hagar · 30-03-2010 04:39PM

bogtotty wrote: »

I think bonne is supposed to be báinne, in which case we'll allow Vinta two words

Agreed, don't forget Guinness, bóthar, cailín come before bainne.

Or is it cúineas as per JTL?

Dionysus · 30-03-2010 04:49PM

Got an 'F' in pass Irish for the Leaving, a resident "thick" apparently. Never blamed the language or the teacher. It was my "fault". No scapegoats.

Anyway, I had some really cool older family members who loved the Irish so I never lost my respect for it even though I hated the fact that I was crap at it. I decided to challenge myself and off I went to the Gaeltacht in Corca Dhuibhne during my undergrad and fell in love with the Irish. Struggled like hell at the start but at the end of the two weeks of embarrassing myself I felt immeasurably more comfortable. The end of those two-weeks was definitely a turning point in my confidence speaking Irish. I was still abysmally crap, but much better than I ever thought I could be. That was the important point. Self-improvement, like everything else, is relative: you can only judge your improvement by comparing yourself to how you were.

As a result I went to the free Bord na Gaeilge classes for the rest of my undergrad where we had an amazing teacher (Reuben Ó Conluain). The emphasis was firmly on spoken Irish. He suggested that I do a new diploma in spoken ('applied') Irish named the Dioplóma sa Ghaeilge Fheidhmeach. It was two years, part time and equivalent to completing 1st Year undergraduate Irish. Signed up for it. The teaching techniques and the quality of the teachers were astonishing. They were nothing like secondary school and the School of Irish actually made their own grammar book which definitely should be used by every student of Irish. They were certainly on the ball in terms of latest ideas on teaching languages.

I ended up at the conclusion of the two years having a 30-minute conversation in Irish with Professor Seosamh Watson and the late, and much lamented 27-year-old Ciarán Ó Con Cheanainn. Aced* it. Proudest moment of my life! (by a long shot)

You've come a long way, baby!

*Aced being relative; I'm still far from being a Gabriel Rosenstock or Louis de Paor! ;-)

sam34 · 30-03-2010 06:34PM

i can speak, read and write irish without any problem, in fact sometimes i even think in irish

i wasnt reared in a gaeltacht, but i did spend a lot of time in one as a youngster

plus, my mother frequently spoke irish to us at home

i often listen to RnaG, watch TnaG and read books "as gaeilge" to keep myself up to date

i think its a beautiful expressive language, and i'm delighted to be able to speak it

OPENROAD · 30-03-2010 06:50PM

Ta se ag cur baisti anseo

Is maith liom cupan tae

Got a F first time in the leaving, managed to get a D2 when I repeated which was down to me putting more effort in but also a better teacher who prepared us for the exam rather than just teaching the language.

PK2008 · 30-03-2010 07:04PM

pickarooney wrote: »

'Fluent' just means you can speak a language comfortably, without stopping and starting and searching for words.

'Proficient' is a little more advanced and requires reading/writing ability as well as a knowledge (even unconscious knowledge as in a young native speaker) of grammar. Many students become proficient in Irish reading/writing while not speaking it anywhere near fluently.

Native speakers are rarely experts, many are not particuarly proficient but apart from the very young and those with learning/physical difficulties nearly all are fluent.

Like many people, I never had fluency, but was capable of reading and writing to a high level and have now lost most of it, although I did manage to understand every bit of that 'Father Ted as gaeilge' thing that's in someone's sig, which I was quite pleased with.

Fair enuf but I dont think I can change it now. I think people get the jist of it anyway

ilovebiology · 30-03-2010 07:07PM

Is fuath liom teanga na gaeilge

BraziliaNZ · 30-03-2010 08:31PM

remember there was a thread about how many languages you can speak, half of boards were in claiming to be fluent in Farsi and Korean and French etc. There's a difference between knowing a few phrases and being fluent y'all.
I went to bunscoil as gaeilge and we weren't allowed speak english etc from age 4 to 11, I'm pretty sure I was fluent back then and secondary school Irish was always so easy, but right now I can listen and understand but when it comes to speaking it would be difficult. I'm sure I'd get back into it with some immersion. But what would be the point?

Dionysus · 30-03-2010 08:36PM

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

remember there was a thread about how many languages you can speak, half of boards were in claiming to be fluent in Farsi and Korean and French etc. There's a difference between knowing a few phrases and being fluent y'all.
I went to bunscoil as gaeilge and we weren't allowed speak english etc from age 4 to 11, I'm pretty sure I was fluent back then and secondary school Irish was always so easy, but right now I can listen and understand but when it comes to speaking it would be difficult. I'm sure I'd get back into it with some immersion. But what would be the point?

Only you can answer that, I'm afraid. If you have to think about it there probably is no point for you in your life. You make your own 'points' in life.

BraziliaNZ · 30-03-2010 08:42PM

Dionysus wrote: »

Only you can answer that, I'm afraid. If you have to think about it there probably is no point for you in your life. You make your own 'points' in life.

It was a rhetorical question. There would be no point because the language is not practical. I wish my parents had immersed me in French or Spanish language instead.

Michaelrsh · 30-03-2010 08:48PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTNBmFveq2U

Michaelrsh · 30-03-2010 08:58PM

I got a A1, in Honors Irish for da Leeving Sert! I tink I'll go wan and sey I'm a exelant Irish speecher, totelly flunt. Going to a all-Irish sckool's ben a great adision to my life. Even tow tey dont teech'ya tat much trew english, wich might hav negetive efects on yar comperhention and litteracy in english its still ben gud.

sdanseo · 30-03-2010 10:24PM

Gaelscoil should be compulsory for 14 years, for everyone I don't care where you come from. It's muppetry that we all did 14 years of Irish and very few come out of the Leaving Cert with more than a cúpla focail. PATHETIC waste of resources. What's the point in having an indpendent country if you don't embrace the (beatutiful) language?

I was forced to do pass Irish because the honours class had about 10 people in it and moved at a pace I wasn't comfortable at. In fact I tried to move back up but wasn't let. So I voted proficient.

mrs2be.ie · 30-03-2010 10:26PM

Results are suprisingly high for those who can speak as Gaeilge!

dambarude · 30-03-2010 11:16PM

mrs2be.ie wrote: »

Results are suprisingly high for those who can speak as Gaeilge!

That's correlation, definitely not causation.

If the Irish language standards of primary teachers coming out of training colleges is anything to go by, the prospects for Irish aren't very good for the next few years. Something big needs to be done in this regard.

Any key? · 30-03-2010 11:23PM

I use Irish everyday

Love our language Its amazing It survived

civis_liberalis · 30-03-2010 11:26PM

Dia dhuit to the 3 other native Irish speakers!

lugha · 30-03-2010 11:30PM

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Dia dhuit to the 3 other native Irish speakers!

Dia daoibh :rolleyes:. Even I know that! :pac:
Out of curiosity, has there even been an attempt to develop "godless greetings" in Irish for us heathen atheists?

Can you speak Irish?

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