An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?

muckyhands · 24-04-2013 1:46am #1

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 · 24-04-2013 1:52am

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 · 24-04-2013 1:53am

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 · 24-04-2013 2:17am

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. · 24-04-2013 2:20am

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

Eathrin · 24-04-2013 2:22am

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 · 24-04-2013 2:29am

Níl

platinums · 24-04-2013 2:38am

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 · 24-04-2013 2:39am

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

dh0011 · 24-04-2013 2:41am

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

Cosmicfox · 24-04-2013 3:33am

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 · 24-04-2013 3:44am

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 · 24-04-2013 4:09am

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 · 24-04-2013 4:26am

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 · 24-04-2013 4:37am

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 · 24-04-2013 5:39am

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

opti0nal · 24-04-2013 7:02am

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.

24-04-2013 7:40am

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 · 24-04-2013 7:42am

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 · 24-04-2013 7:53am

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 · 24-04-2013 8:00am

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 · 24-04-2013 8:02am

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 · 24-04-2013 8:06am

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 · 24-04-2013 8:07am

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 · 24-04-2013 8:28am

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 · 24-04-2013 8:42am

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 · 24-04-2013 9:22am

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 · 24-04-2013 10:35am

johnny_knoxvile wrote: »

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

You sir are my new Hero.

dh0011 · 24-04-2013 10:36am

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

gobnaitolunacy · 24-04-2013 10:46am

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 · 24-04-2013 10:48am

Its a dead language

An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?

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