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The role and usefulness of Irish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| thusspakeblixa Diglot Newbie Ireland espaprender.wordpres Joined 4522 days ago 15 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English*, Irish Studies: German, Spanish | Message 145 of 162 16 July 2012 at 4:57pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I met two people in Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland, who spoke very little English. They'd be able to hold basic conversations (about the weather, food etc.) but no more than that. It was amazing talking to them in Irish, like looking at a vision of what could've been. Both are well in their 70s now though. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| liammcg Senior Member Ireland Joined 4608 days ago 269 posts - 397 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 146 of 162 16 July 2012 at 5:02pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Exactly which part of Mayo? It's where I'm from myself. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| thusspakeblixa Diglot Newbie Ireland espaprender.wordpres Joined 4522 days ago 15 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English*, Irish Studies: German, Spanish | Message 147 of 162 16 July 2012 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I think it was somewhere near Erris, possibly Tearmann (sp?). This was about 2 years ago too. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6707 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 148 of 162 18 July 2012 at 3:47pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I have heard people speak Irish in the bus and in the streets in Galway, so it isn't dead yet (just moribund, even in this the most Irish major city in Ireland). I have also listened to fluent Irish at - of all places - an Esperanto conference, and this evening I'll have a shock one hour course in the language. But by and large those 12 years of enforced Irish learning doesn't teach the Anglophone Irishmen how to speak the auld language, at most how to pronounce the names on their bilingual street signs and public announcements.
Beannachtaí ó Gaillimhe! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5560 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 149 of 162 18 July 2012 at 4:50pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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When I walking through the "Gap of Dunloe" near Killarney (County Kerry), all the fellas on the horse-drawn traps, both young and old, were speaking to each other exclusively in Irish. It was wonderful to hear! :)
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| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4626 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 150 of 162 07 August 2012 at 3:09am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I guess the recent history of Irish serves as an example that you can't force people to learn a language if they have little interest in learning. The Irish state was founded some 90 years ago and, back then, there was no internet or TV bombarding the population with English, even radio was in its infancy. English wasn't the global language it is today, in fact French was still in place as an international lingua-franca. Furthermore, there were still plenty of native Irish speakers on the Emerald Isle, more than enough to work with.
So they country's new-found sense of national pride and identity saw the people flocking to embrace their historical tongue? No, the number of native and competent speakers continued to fall every year from that day to this. 12 years of compulsory schooling in Irish did little to arrest the trend, in fact it bred resentment and people felt the language was being shoved down their throats. Hebrew recovered from a hopeless position in the 20th century, former Soviet republics have seen their native languages go from strength to strength after decades of being force-fed Russian. But somehow the Irish people decided their future lay in being an English-speaking nation. Ironically, many native Irish speakers exacerbated the situation by refusing to pass the language on to their children. Nothing kills a language stone-dead more than that. Sure, there are bi-lingual signs everywhere and practically all citizens will have at least a token passive understanding of Irish. But the will to speak it is just not there, outside a small band of enthusiasts. I went to a Donegal Gaeltacht area in 1999. Landing in Dublin, I didn't expect to hear any Irish spoken there, but I thought I might hear some in Donegal town. Nope, not a word. I tried some Irish in a couple of shops but just got a strange look and a reply in English. I eventually reached Glencolumbkille where I did a short language course at the excellent Oideas Gael Institute. The people in the village were receptive to approaches in Irish but I heard a lot of English spoken as well. This was 13 years ago, how many people are actually speaking Irish in the streets nowadays in the Gaeltacht towns? Apart from the Arran Islands, parts of Conamara and a few tiny villages, does the language have any real public presence? In stark contrast I remember visiting the decent-sized Welsh town of Carnaerfon and the majority of people were speaking Welsh as their daily language, even teenagers at bus stops. Yet Welsh has only had a fraction of the official support that Irish has received. I don't think Irish will die anytime soon, but I can see it being banished to remote areas. I hope I'm wrong. Maybe it will make some sort of a comeback if people stop seeing it as a "useless" or "dead" language and embrace it as part of their culture while of course keeping English as well. Edited by beano on 07 August 2012 at 3:10am 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5560 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 151 of 162 07 August 2012 at 2:12pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I love to watch exciting new dramas like "Rásaí na Gaillimhe" (Galway Races), sit back in awe of whole families of musicians and dancers on Irish language talent shows, and even follow fun reality programmes on subjects like couch surfing across the world or blind dates based on the contestants' houses on TG4 - they clearly show that Irish is a real living language, spoken fluently on a daily basis by whole new generations of young talented people as well as old. The Irish people are historically a resilient lot, and contrary to many impressions or expectations over the years, the indigenous language and culture has weathered every dark port and storm imaginable, and is still here bearing a vibrantly lit torch for future generations to come, and kicking up a colourful reel in the modern world whilst it's at it. ;)
Edited by Teango on 07 August 2012 at 10:05pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4832 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 152 of 162 07 August 2012 at 3:51pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Yes, if the Irish could manage to make and export some really good Irish language TV
programmes and films that managed to take off in the English speaking world (a bit like Scandinavian material has made inroads into Britain at least), it could attract at least some element of being "cool", and with luck, this would feed back to Ireland itself. Ditto pop music. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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