What is the best way to learn Irish?

[sean1]

I find it interesting to say the least that survey after survey, as well as my own experience, has shown me that most Irish people have a benevolent attitude to the Irish language-yet the benevolence doesn't translate into the number of Irish speakers in the country!

J.J Lee in his book "Ireland 1912-1985 Politics and Society" is correct (see below).

However, Irish is still a living, spoken language. In my opinion, and it is the view of most Irish speakers I believe also, the only way you can become fluent in Irish is by spending a few weeks in the Gaeltacht.

Most Irish people in my experience, and as David McWilliams said in a speech last weekend, want to be able to speak Irish.

You do get the exceptions, who are few and far between, but for most people spending time in the Gaeltacht is the way.

It would probably take, from international experiences, 2 years in the Gaeltacht to become fluent in it but anyone that spends a few weeks there will probably experience an interest that will make them want to continue speaking and learning Irish.

The two exceptions are:

1) People that go the the summer camps in the Gaeltacht with their mates from home and who stick together, not meeting many of the locals
2) People that go to areas that are not in fact strong Gaeltacht areas

These are my opionions. Does anyone else disagree with this method of becoming a fluent speaker?


"Ireland 1912-1985 Politics and Society"-J.J Lee

“The failure, however, did not lie in the schools. It was the blatant failure of the state itself to devise arrangements for the subsequent use of the language that largely discredited compulsory Irish. The children were given no incentive to master Irish as a living language, only as a dead one. The charade of Irish language tests for public employment, when everybody knew the language would hardly be used again, the whole fetid system of favouritism associated with language knowledge, as distinct from language use, inevitably left its mark, stamping the most idealistic and most important task undertaken by the new state as yet one more sleazy political racket. Genuine language lovers who ‘loathed the way that politicans, the pedagogues, the urbanised peasants had sucked the life and beauty from it’ were brushed aside. The characteristic combination of hypocrisy and incompetence precluded any possibility of increasing the number of Irish speakers, as distinct from increasing the nominal command of the language among a broadly benovolent but apathetic and sceptical public. As a French observer has commented, the state ‘fulfils the letter of the project, the better to betray the spirit…it prefers to use Irish as a sort of symbol of nationality, more of less relegated to a ritualistic and ceremonial role."

[eurocrat]

Does anyone else disagree with this method of of becoming a fluent speaker?

Absolutly not. Drawing from my own experience learing German. Before I went and actaully spent some time in a german speaking country the langague was absart and pointless. It existed only inside a classroom and in text books.

A visit to the Gaeltacht (or anywhere where a langague is spoken) combined with schooling and watching TV, Radio etc in Irish should be do the trick.

Unfortunetly, not everyone can afford these trips to the Gaeltacht. We certainly couldn't when I was in school and the other public who could, benefited as a result.

Prehaps the goverment needs to set a Langauge week in the Gaeltacht as part of the ciriculum? Sure it would cost the State, but if we are serious about the langague it is what we need to do.

[holdini]

Do a nightcourse; I start mine in UCD on Thursday.

[Zhirkov]

Do a nightcourse; I start mine in UCD on Thursday.

It's the wrong time of year for nightcourses, should be ought enjoying the long evenings

[sean1]

Prehaps the goverment needs to set a Langauge week in the Gaeltacht as part of the ciriculum? Sure it would cost the State, but if we are serious about the langague it is what we need to do.

Good idea.

Do a nightcourse; I start mine in UCD on Thursday.

The whole point of my post was to point out that nightclasses are not enough.You need a holistic approach.

[holdini]

The whole point of my post was to point out that nightclasses are not enough.You need a holistic approach.

Its a start

[XRoot]

The whole point of my post was to point out that nightclasses are not enough.You need a holistic approach.

Move in with Shane Holden and you guys can jibba jabba away over every meal.

[tumeltyni]

At least Shane's making a start! There are gaeltacht courses for adults too though (such as this one), a combination of the two is the best most adults can manage.

[qwertyu]

I've been over in the Basque Country a couple of times where most people speak either 2 or 3 languages (Euskara/French/Spanish) and they sound surprised when I tell them about the state of the Irish language. Over there Euskara is used every day by people and more and more people who were forced to learn Spanish in the Education system by Franco are now learning it at night-class as the younger generation are using it as a first language.

I think the Education system holds the key to much of this and there is no reason why pre-primary and primary schools couldn't be made bi-lingual, in fact its quite the norm in the rest of Europe (bar the UK). By doing that there is more of a chance that Gaelic can be brought into the mainstream and of course it will mean that the next generation will find it much easier and are more likely to learn other European languages.

[tumeltyni]

I think the Education system holds the key to much of this and there is no reason why pre-primary and primary schools couldn't be made bi-lingual, in fact its quite the norm in the rest of Europe (bar the UK).

I like the idea (as I may have said before) but where are you planning to get all these primary school teachers who are fluent in Irish? Unless we change the way primary schools are structured... If an English-speaking and an Irish-speaking teacher shared two classes, it might just work, and I'd love to see it, but short of that kind of restructuring it'll never happen. And even then, it'd probably only be in a small number of schools. Still, better than nothing!