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Child Item

Being forced to use your "Irish" name at school

MadsL

My daughter attends a second-level gaelscoil that insists on calling her by a translation of her actual name that sound similar to her actual name but is in fact a different Irish name. She hates it and has frequently resisted it by saying to her teacher 'that's not my name'. Her teachers continually 'correct' her if she asserts that her name is her name by repeating the translated name back to her.

Should she put up with this? What does AH think?

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Seachmall

HondaSami wrote: »

Did they change her name or are they addressing her in the Irish version of it. if it's the latter would you not see that it would be normal to be addressed in Irish in a Gaelscoil?

Her name is English. There may be a common Irish version of it but that's not her name.

Calling someone named John "Sean" is just as incorrect as calling someone named Bláthín "Flower". It doesn't matter how common the name "Sean" is because that's not their name.

HondaSami

MadsL wrote: »

Her name is not a translation of an Irish name, it just sounds like it.

Fair enough then no i would not accept that, i was always called by my Irish name in school as we all were but it was not a made up name, it was the Irish version of it.
They have made up an Irish name for her, correct?

Peregrine

Half of the posters haven't even read the opening post properly.

They're not calling her by her Irish name, they're calling her by an Irish name which sounds similar to her name! Because there is no Irish version of her name

Ffs, translating is one thing but stop changing names.

If my name was Emmett and I went to an Irish school, I wouldn't tolerate any teachers calling me Éamonn. Why? cos it's not my name, it's not even a translation of my name, it means Edmund.

Hopefully my names are right..

ballsymchugh

oldyouth wrote: »

My dislike of the Irish language stems from a pig ignorant's teachers insistence on changing the name my parents gave me in to Irish. What arrogance to tell someone that there name is something different to what they are known by and legally registered with the State. I took a few hits for my stance but I wouldn't back down. My happiest school memory is when it led to me being excluded from that teacher's class

I took particular exception with the phrase "the Irish for your name is........" My name is my name, I don't care if there is a translation for it, or if others wish to use 2 versions should they choose to do so. However, the decision is MINE, not yours, you bigoted pedos

what the fook does bigoted pedos (sic) have to do with the OP's issue?

robinph

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

Clearly that is not a hard and fast rule when it applies to individuals...

Pape François, Papa Francisco, Papież Franciszek, Papa Franjo, Pave Frans... these names are all in use for the man we call Pope Francis; it is by these names the Pope goes in each respective country.

Agreed, there will be exceptions, but that is really just the guys job title. His real name doesn't get translated.

McLoughlin

Whats the name of the kid and Whats the name the school is using ?

Skatedude

Whatever is on her birth cert is her name. there is no if, buts or why.

Capercaille

OP should have given the child a proper Irish name to begin with not an English name. There would have been no problem then.

who the fug

Skatedude wrote: »

Whatever is on her birth cert is her name. there is no if, buts or why.

No, I don't answer to anything on my birth cert, niether do most of my cousins

hoodwinked

Skatedude wrote: »

Whatever is on her birth cert is her name. there is no if, buts or why.

But if he/she had done their homework on the school they were sending their child to, they would have known this was the done thing....

ballsymchugh

Capercaille wrote: »

OP should have given the child a proper Irish name to begin with not an English name. There would have been no problem then.

:pac:

Micilin Muc

Jennifer, Joan and Jane have been translated to Sinéad or Siobhán by lots of Irish teachers.

Some students in second-level Irish language schools don't mind having a Gaelic identity along with their Hiberno-English one, but I think the translations above are just wrong.

Cody Pomeray

robinph wrote: »

Agreed, there will be exceptions, but that is really just the guys job title. His real name doesn't get translated.

um, Francisco, François, Franziesk, Franjo? These are his new given name, not a title like "Pope" (which is also translated but that part's irrelevant)

4zn76tysfajdxp

Seachmall wrote: »

You don't translate names.

This and only this, tbh. I have an Irish first name in real life, live outside of Ireland and I barely a week goes by where I don't have to explain very slowly how to pronounce my name or which is my surname when I present my ID. It's a small price to pay, though, for keeping my own name.

Saying that, though, the OP is totally making a mountain out of a molehill with this. Just go in and explain your grievance. If they don't change their attitude after that, go ahead and cause a stink.

oldyouth

ballsymchugh wrote: »

what the fook does bigoted pedos (sic) have to do with the OP's issue?

The circumstances of being forced to use an Irish version of my name is similar, I was empathising. I just added description that the perpetrators, in my case, were also bigoted pedos.

Sound of Silence

oldyouth wrote: »

My dislike of the Irish language stems from a pig ignorant's teachers insistence on changing the name my parents gave me in to Irish. What arrogance to tell someone that there name is something different to what they are known by and legally registered with the State. I took a few hits for my stance but I wouldn't back down. My happiest school memory is when it led to me being excluded from that teacher's class

I took particular exception with the phrase "the Irish for your name is........" My name is my name, I don't care if there is a translation for it, or if others wish to use 2 versions should they choose to do so. However, the decision is MINE, not yours, you bigoted pedos

They never changed your name.

Until they actually tear up your Birth Certificate and hand you a new identity, I'm pretty confident that you'll leave the class with the same name after your half-hour period.

I had the same experience in French Class, where our Teacher would give us a rough translation of our names in French. It was just a learning experience, and simply served to better immerse ourselves in the Language and Culture.

This makes neither of these Teaches "Bigots" nor "Pedos" as you put so gracefully. . .

Moocifer

This is an old one. I didn't go to a Gaelscoil but to a primary that insisted on doing the roll call in Irish. Not a big deal for me as I've an Irish first name and a Norman Surname. However there was a girl in my class with the same surname and the english version of my first name.

The result we got called joe bloggs 1 and joe bloggs 2 all in Irish.

Gatling

I've a French surname that doesn't translate into Gaelic but there is the a same surname that's from the west that was always translated into Gaelic despite not being the same , pronounced the same in English

Elessar

Do you live in the gaeltacht?

If not why did you send your daughter to an irish speaking school in the first place?

oldyouth

Sound of Silence wrote: »

They never changed your name.

Until they actually tear up your Birth Certificate and hand you a new identity, I'm pretty confident that you'll leave the class with the same name after your half-hour period.

I had the same experience in French Class, where our Teacher would give us a rough translation of our names in French. It was just a learning experience, and simply served to better immerse ourselves in the Language and Culture.

This makes neither of these Teaches "Bigots" nor "Pedos" as you put so gracefully. . .

When a teacher insists that you be addressed as some translation of your name and exclude you from class when you refuse to agree to it, that is an attempt by an adult to get a child to adopt it. Also, read my last point, I did not say that this made them bigots or pedos, I just said that they were also bigots and pedos.

username123

If I had come home from school with this complaint I would have been told to stop back cheeking teachers and focus on my education, followed by a long lecture telling me how I was lucky to be getting a good education, how when I was 18 I could decide to be called whatever I liked, and how this kind of carry on made my parents wonder why they bothered sending me to a good school seeing as I was such an ungrateful child.

Thus chastised I would have gone back in and accepted being called any name the teacher chose.

I am from an era where my parents considered the teachers authority to be of far more importance than my whinging about my identity.

In saying all that, I couldn't care less what people call me so long as I know I am being referred to.

Iwasfrozen

muckisluck wrote: »

London is Londres in France. Paris is Parigi in Italian. If one chooses to use Gaelic then I think it's a fair enough expectation that Gaelic forms of proper names will be used. Now having a name translated to Gaelic in a school that uses English as the medium of instruction is a whole different ball game.

Nope, if Sean goes to an english language school he is not called John. Just typical gaelic inferiority complex.

ballsymchugh

oldyouth wrote: »

When a teacher insists that you be addressed as some translation of your name and exclude you from class when you refuse to agree to it, that is an attempt by an adult to get a child to adopt it. Also, read my last point, I did not say that this made them bigots or pedos, I just said that they were also bigots and pedos.

teachers insist on a lot of things when you're in school, such as staying quiet, doing homework etc.

Capercaille

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Nope, if Sean goes to an english language school he is not called John. Just typical gaelic inferiority complex.

Never heard of a person called Sean. I think you mean Seán.

Miss Lockhart

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Nope, if Sean goes to an english language school he is not called John. Just typical gaelic inferiority complex.

I went to German lessons and French lessons taught by native speakers and had my name translated. I had my name translated when I worked in France. Do all these nationalities suffer inferiority complexes too?

Iwasfrozen

Capercaille wrote: »

Never heard of a person called Sean. I think you mean Seán.

Nope I mean Sean. I badly translated a name from one language to my own purely to ease the flow of my own conversation. Sound familier?

markfinn

tony007 wrote: »

First. World. Problems.

Thankfully we live in the first world.
If you're so sick of it, please feel free to emigrate somewhere you're more likely to die of dysentery.

Iwasfrozen

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

I went to German lessons and French lessons taught by native speakers and had my name translated. I had my name translated when I worked in France. Do all these nationalities suffer inferiority complexes too?

That's funny I've never once had my name translated into French in French class. Even though it is a very common name there.

[Deleted User]

MadsL wrote: »

I see. So her good education starts with swallowing her sense of identity and feeling ashamed that her name isn't Irish enough, and obeying authority who know better.

Great start for independent thought.

No, her education can either start with her being taught that her identity is more than her name and that she needs to follow the rules of her school, or it can start with being taught that any time she has a tiny problem with an authority figure she should get her parent(s) to cause a fuss because her identity is entirely dependent on her name and authority figures are the enemy.
Great start for adulthood and learning how to get along in life.

ScienceNerd wrote: »

If it's bothering your daughter, and you've both made that clear to the school, I think it's pretty petty of them to continue.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's a case that the child is the only one who has objected to the teachers. In which case, the teachers are addressing students in the manner they've been instructed to and are dealing with a disobedient student in the usual way.

OP, the teachers aren't doing anything wrong by following the school policies. If you disagree with the policies they're following, speak to the principal about it and get him/her to instruct all the teachers that your daughter needs special treatment. But there's no need to see this as a you vs. them situation. They're not trying to insult your daughter or destroy her sense of identity.

Sound of Silence

oldyouth wrote: »

When a teacher insists that you be addressed as some translation of your name and exclude you from class when you refuse to agree to it, that is an attempt by an adult to get a child to adopt it. Also, read my last point, I did not say that this made them bigots or pedos, I just said that they were also bigots and pedos.

Forgive me for making assumptions, but it seems like more of an attempt to exclude someone who's clearly being disruptive in Class. The last thing most Teachers would want to deal with is a Pupil who refuses to participate in an admittedly trivial Class exercise.

So you mean to say that you honestly couldn't sit in a Classroom for half an hour and respond to a Gaelicised version of your name without coming into conflict with a Teacher?

It seems to me that if your entire faculty were in fact pedophiles, as you say, then this admittedly small concession in your Irish Class would be the least of your problems.