People from ireland and others if you want answer this !!??

Question

im from ireland and just a litt.le while ag i had a german exchange and the girl i had and her friends didnt know that we had our own language they thought we only spoke english ! , i idnt like this i think that ireland are begining not to care about the irish language !! .do irish people think that we should make our own language more well known around europe and other places ??

and if your not from ireland did you know that we had our own language

???

tnks in advance

ashley xx

Answer 1

yes i think we should make it better known! it's a pity dat we didnt speak our own language like other countries around the world!

Answer 2

Firstly can I just say it's Gaeilge not Gaelic for those above getting it wrong.

I have three sons who are fluent in Gaeilge.My mother was also fluent,indeed she spoke nothing but Gaeilge until 15 years old having been born and raised in the Gaeltacht.My sons primary education was entirely as Gaeilge.

Did you know that Gaeilge and Gaelic are spoken in parts of Nova Scotia Canada,having been kept alive by descendants of Scots and Irish native speakers?

It would be a travesty if the Irish language disappeared.

Answer 3

Yes I knew that Ireland has their own language and the girl had no right just to come there and just speak english and she should have done a bit of research about Ireland before she came she ould have at least learn to say hello or something.

Answer 4

When i was in Canada I met a girl who didnt know there was an Irish language, its not too uncommon

well i love Irish

I'll be severely miffed if they take it off the "compulsory" curriclulum

A2 in HL Gaeilge baby!!!!

I dont, however, like the way its taught....but thats another debate xD

Answer 5

It’s not something that has ever come up in casual conversation but when I first moved to the UK and I worked with other foreign nationals, I was complimented on how good my English was : )  

Answer 6

I absolutely love and adore the irish language. I also speak German and French, but I am so proud to have Irish as our native language.

It should be promoted more and spoken more, DJ Vasile has some brilliant ideas. I am a primary teacher and find it so sad when I first meet a child who says, ' Oh well, everyone in my family is bad at irish so I'm going to be bad at it too'. If irish is to come more into the mainstream, the parents of children need to encourage them by having a positive attitude about irish, encourage its use at home and even try and learn it from their children.

I think its very important. If we loose our Irish language we have nothing. Heck, Ireland isn't even very irish anymore, all the shops are english,(Boots, M&S, Oasis, Warehouse etc) most of the companies are foreign multinationals, the biggest supermarket chain is Tescos which is english. What is produced in this counrty which is irish and not english? Not a lot.

We seriously need to cherish the Irish language before its too late.

Answer 7

Gaelic is of no value in any country even southern Ireland. Why learn it. Everyone in the world wants to speak english even most southern Irelanders.

Answer 8

.. Was it Gaelic?

Answer 9

Seeing as one of Ireland's most famous exports is its English-language literature and that all of our most famous pop and rock stars sing almost exclusively in English, its hardly surprising that a young exchange student might not be aware that Ireland has another language. In reality, a visitor could come and stay in Ireland for months and never hear a conversation held in Irish.

There's not much point in trying to make our (beautiful) native language more well-known abroad if we are not willing to use it as an everyday language in our own country. Even when Des Bishop       took his Irish language comedy show on the road, he was met with outright hostility by many Irish people. Its kind of like an attitude of "well, WE may not want to (or be able to) speak it, but that doesn't mean Johnny Foreigner should be allowed to either".

And by the way, do you really think that the average Irish exchange pupil is aware of the various dialects and languages that are spoken in Germany? I'm not just talking about Bayerisch, Plattdeautsch and Saechsisch, but the the seperate German languages and ethnic minority groups that are Sorbish and Wendish.

And when you were telling your exchange student about the Gaelic language, did you also make sure to inform her about our least spoken native minority languages - Cant, Gammon and Shelta, as spoken by our Travelling community?

I'm not having a go at you - just pointing out that even within our own culture some elements are given centre stage while others are seen as unworthy and of less value.

I guess when we start producing Irish language literature of the same quality as that of Joyce, Beckett and Shaw, the Irish language might begin to gain more prominence. Then again, if such literature WAS being produced, how many of us would honestly be up to the task of reading it?  

Answer 10

I think Gaelic is a horrible language, sorry, it sounds unpleasant to listen to . Whereas Spanish,Italian,French etc are beautiful to listen to. Gaelic doesn't have the same effect.

Answer 11

  Tiocfaidh ár lá

  gaelic should be taught to all ancestors of erin!

  x

Answer 12

yeah, it's gaelic, duh....

I'm not from Ireland....

Answer 13

Yes, I found that people were surprised that there is still an Irish language, as separate from English.

And you would also be surprised at who wants to learn it ...

I am not a native Irish speaker, but did very well in Irish when I did my Leaving back in 1986, with a different curriculum to today (nowhere near as student-friendly, it seems). I am slowly getting back some Irish by watching TG4 - which wasn't there when I was a student, I have to add - and it's interesting .... I love watch South Park in Irish.

www.tg4.ie  

Answer 14

Its the most stupid language in all the world and I get embarrassed when I am with friends who are not Irish when this comes on television news etc, It is time to bury this nonsense language spoken by a few elites in Ireland the vast majority of people know nothing about it, English gets us by just fine thank you. Its time to end the war with Britain we are all Europeans now. p/s I was taught Irish by a nun with serious PMS who use to smash you across the face with her fist every mistake you made then she would lift you out of your seat by the hair and literally knee you in the groin if your homework was incomplete....ahhh yes wonderful memories of Ireland and Irish and Catholicism all wrapped up in a tight package, We should preserve it all.....NOT.

Answer 15

when you go to spain do you speak spanish? i bet not as u seem to be struggling with basic english

Answer 16

aye i think we should

we should change all place names and names of people to Irish for a trial period of 5 years or something and if it works, keep it that way.

eg

on maps, have Ireland as Éireann and dublin as Átha Cliath etc.

also

create more gaeltachts less far away.

have some on the lakes or islands in Westmeath and on the east coast etc.

and also try and increase the usage in the youth of today

eg

lol,ttyl,lmao etc.

goa(gáire ós airde)

llnd(leabhair leat níos deanaí)

abmtag(ag briseadh mo thoin ag gaire)

conradh na gaeilge have a list of these

:D

that would increase the awareness and speaking capability of the Irish

and then when the German comes again, she'd learn a bit of Irish just from hanging around:D

i had a German over too:D

my mam tried to teach her Irish goa

Answer 17

Our language is well known because of the 70 million people claiming Irish descent

(I'd say that that German girl was an idiot)

but barely anybody speaks it

Answer 18

The Irish hate the language because it is taught so poorly. The students hate it so they are glad to be rid of it when they finish school. Change this and then maybe we'll start taking pride in our language. Until then I will only be able to speak English and French.

It's funny how the majority of Irish people on here don't really care but the people of Irish descent do. In reality it is not a nice language to listen to. It is not of much use. It should not be compulsory at leaving cert. I got over 100 points more than my course requirement and almost failed to get the course because I did poorly in Irish.

The language should not be a chore and failure should not be punished. Some people aren't good at learning languages and even for those who are we should be teaching conversational Irish not spending 40 minutes every day on grammar.

Answer 19

Ashley:

You've got to remember that Ireland is NOT the centre of the universe!