No. Of course not. However, the way they teach it is pure BS! Kids are not taught in ways that immerse them in the language. It’s the old ‘repeat this..learn that..memorise everything I give ya!’
The whole island have known for years that the present method is garbage yet noone is trying to change it…
If you think about it in a backwards and utilitarian way, yes, not enough monoglot Irish speakers are around for one to bother teaching the youth or oneself.
I think languages are so fascinating, I don’t speak Irish but I am bilingual, and it’s like my brain has two different modes!
I personally believe, that if you look at it the right way, you’re not just gaining a skill for the CV or a mandatory part of your leaving cert; you’re rewiring your brain to think about all sorts of things in a whole new way, and you are giving yourself a new perspective.
I think a lot of the damage that has been done to Irish was already done by 1916, but how they teach and promote the language, as an outsider looking in, doesn’t help reverse that damage.
Yes but it’s not a bad thing. Hanging onto the past is important.
Not a bad thing, but the way it’s taught is a complete joke. No assessment of spoken Irish till Leaving Cert?! Wtf? Insisting primary teachers have it as a condition of employment, when the reality is that 90% of them have the same substandard leaving cert knowledge that they’re then supposed to pass on to the next generation. Absolutely ridiculous
Gaeilge is our Culture.
Tír *gan teanga*, tír *gan anam*.
We are Irish, the Irish people should be allowed to learn their language, it isn’t the past.
It should be taught better in schools though, there also needs to be more funds going to Irish only schools also.
Appeals to the past or future on their own are meaningless. We decide what we value now, not some future that hasn’t occurred yet.
> Richard does not believe Irish should be compulsory and is concerned the language is “so alien” to the children of immigrants who now live in the country
Honestly, that will be the argument that ultimately wins the day eventually. Even if it’s used cynically. It’s hard to say we should abandon Irish without coming off a bit like someone who doesn’t care about culture and only cares about job prospects. But this gives it a nice progressive sounding wrapper.
I’d want my kids to learn Irish history, I’m not that bothered if they learn to speak the Irish language.
I’d learn more in a month on google translate teaching myself for a month than I would have the way it’s currently taught across 14 years. I did do honours Irish.
Newstalk digging this topic up for what seems like the 50th time, must be looking for some angry callers for more money. At this stage I’m waiting for them to ask “Is water too wet” in the hopes that they can get people angry and calling in to debate it
Níl
What self respecting country debates destroying and abandoning its own language and culture? None. Yet here we are. Making up excuses, arguments, rationalizations to avoid the truth: psychologically and collectively we still regard ourselves as inferior.
I got to ask though, what’s with the kid’s sign “equal right for Irish speakers” ?
Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.
Fuck off.
You don’t miss the water till the well runs dry. As a Paddy in the States and I see the efforts of some Irish Americans to keep the culture alive, then I sometimes think of how lazy I was. It is tradition that should not die.
Newstalk wants to be fox news.
The preservation of fire, not the worship of ashes.
The way they teach it is awful. I’m far better at German than Irish, despite learning Irish since I was 5 and German since I was 13.
These cunts.
I think Irish should be taught differently (original, I know). And I think it should be done in either one of two ways:
1. Have it taught as a completely cultural thing. Link it in with Gaelic history, folklore and mythology. Completely relate it to Irish and Gaelic studies. This is similar to how Greek and Latin are taught.
2. Have it taught as an everyday language and have the focus be on continuous oral and aural assessment. Encourage engagement with gaeltachtaí. Get away from the tedious essays and topics people have no interest in.
Yes. As much as this sub will crucify me for it, the language is a poor reflection of modern Irish culture. I mean… have you tried swearing in it?
It died. Yea there’s these tiny enclaves in the west but culturally for the vast majority it died a long time ago and it’s just been a hassle brought upon us since. You can make better teaching… but it’ll be like Italians learning Latin. It’s a dead language culturally, you need art, music, TV, books, memes, jokes etc all actively being made before it’s revived from the dead. You need a reason for it to be *culturally* relevant but tbh right now, if someone tried talking to me about how great Irish is, 90% chance he’s an arsehole, so why would I learn a language just to speak to arseholes.
And besides throwing money at it the government can’t make Irish culturally relevant
We need to cut all the crap from the JC and LC and have students focus entirely on conversational fluency.
Why the fuck do I know the poem “anmhi me” off by heart but can’t open a conversation as gaelige?
Speaking Irish is a pyramid scheme. Sure you learn Irish, but then you need to teach 10 other people Irish as well.
Newstalk official Westbrit news channel
Newstalk being West Brits. What’s new?
Of course it is. Whats wrong with hanging onto the pat though?
Anyone here been watching “Reservation Dogs” on Hulu? It’s a terrific show that’s got me thinking a lot about our shared history, language, traditions. I feel a kinship with the Native American people and weep for them. That being said the show is about hanging on to all that even in the 2020’s. Sorry for the rant.
I’m half fluent in German after 6 years than 15 of Irish
I hated learning Irish in school but as someone else commented if primary school was all taught in Irish I would have had a different opinion of it in secondary school
Now in my adulthood I have taken an interest in trying to learn it via Duolingo but with living in Australia the only practical purpose for it is to amaze some Asian women who don’t even know it’s a language
I mean it has no practical use and seems to be kept alive mainly for the symbolism of not losing another piece of culture to the English.
As others have said, mandating it be a requirement for all teachers, whether they teach it or not, is just plain silly
29 comments
No. Of course not. However, the way they teach it is pure BS! Kids are not taught in ways that immerse them in the language. It’s the old ‘repeat this..learn that..memorise everything I give ya!’
The whole island have known for years that the present method is garbage yet noone is trying to change it…
If you think about it in a backwards and utilitarian way, yes, not enough monoglot Irish speakers are around for one to bother teaching the youth or oneself.
I think languages are so fascinating, I don’t speak Irish but I am bilingual, and it’s like my brain has two different modes!
I personally believe, that if you look at it the right way, you’re not just gaining a skill for the CV or a mandatory part of your leaving cert; you’re rewiring your brain to think about all sorts of things in a whole new way, and you are giving yourself a new perspective.
I think a lot of the damage that has been done to Irish was already done by 1916, but how they teach and promote the language, as an outsider looking in, doesn’t help reverse that damage.
Yes but it’s not a bad thing. Hanging onto the past is important.
Not a bad thing, but the way it’s taught is a complete joke. No assessment of spoken Irish till Leaving Cert?! Wtf? Insisting primary teachers have it as a condition of employment, when the reality is that 90% of them have the same substandard leaving cert knowledge that they’re then supposed to pass on to the next generation. Absolutely ridiculous
Gaeilge is our Culture.
Tír *gan teanga*, tír *gan anam*.
We are Irish, the Irish people should be allowed to learn their language, it isn’t the past.
It should be taught better in schools though, there also needs to be more funds going to Irish only schools also.
Appeals to the past or future on their own are meaningless. We decide what we value now, not some future that hasn’t occurred yet.
> Richard does not believe Irish should be compulsory and is concerned the language is “so alien” to the children of immigrants who now live in the country
Honestly, that will be the argument that ultimately wins the day eventually. Even if it’s used cynically. It’s hard to say we should abandon Irish without coming off a bit like someone who doesn’t care about culture and only cares about job prospects. But this gives it a nice progressive sounding wrapper.
I’d want my kids to learn Irish history, I’m not that bothered if they learn to speak the Irish language.
I’d learn more in a month on google translate teaching myself for a month than I would have the way it’s currently taught across 14 years. I did do honours Irish.
Newstalk digging this topic up for what seems like the 50th time, must be looking for some angry callers for more money. At this stage I’m waiting for them to ask “Is water too wet” in the hopes that they can get people angry and calling in to debate it
Níl
What self respecting country debates destroying and abandoning its own language and culture? None. Yet here we are. Making up excuses, arguments, rationalizations to avoid the truth: psychologically and collectively we still regard ourselves as inferior.
I got to ask though, what’s with the kid’s sign “equal right for Irish speakers” ?
Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.
Fuck off.
You don’t miss the water till the well runs dry. As a Paddy in the States and I see the efforts of some Irish Americans to keep the culture alive, then I sometimes think of how lazy I was. It is tradition that should not die.
Newstalk wants to be fox news.
The preservation of fire, not the worship of ashes.
The way they teach it is awful. I’m far better at German than Irish, despite learning Irish since I was 5 and German since I was 13.
These cunts.
I think Irish should be taught differently (original, I know). And I think it should be done in either one of two ways:
1. Have it taught as a completely cultural thing. Link it in with Gaelic history, folklore and mythology. Completely relate it to Irish and Gaelic studies. This is similar to how Greek and Latin are taught.
2. Have it taught as an everyday language and have the focus be on continuous oral and aural assessment. Encourage engagement with gaeltachtaí. Get away from the tedious essays and topics people have no interest in.
Yes. As much as this sub will crucify me for it, the language is a poor reflection of modern Irish culture. I mean… have you tried swearing in it?
It died. Yea there’s these tiny enclaves in the west but culturally for the vast majority it died a long time ago and it’s just been a hassle brought upon us since. You can make better teaching… but it’ll be like Italians learning Latin. It’s a dead language culturally, you need art, music, TV, books, memes, jokes etc all actively being made before it’s revived from the dead. You need a reason for it to be *culturally* relevant but tbh right now, if someone tried talking to me about how great Irish is, 90% chance he’s an arsehole, so why would I learn a language just to speak to arseholes.
And besides throwing money at it the government can’t make Irish culturally relevant
We need to cut all the crap from the JC and LC and have students focus entirely on conversational fluency.
Why the fuck do I know the poem “anmhi me” off by heart but can’t open a conversation as gaelige?
Speaking Irish is a pyramid scheme. Sure you learn Irish, but then you need to teach 10 other people Irish as well.
Newstalk official Westbrit news channel
Newstalk being West Brits. What’s new?
Of course it is. Whats wrong with hanging onto the pat though?
Anyone here been watching “Reservation Dogs” on Hulu? It’s a terrific show that’s got me thinking a lot about our shared history, language, traditions. I feel a kinship with the Native American people and weep for them. That being said the show is about hanging on to all that even in the 2020’s. Sorry for the rant.
I’m half fluent in German after 6 years than 15 of Irish
I hated learning Irish in school but as someone else commented if primary school was all taught in Irish I would have had a different opinion of it in secondary school
Now in my adulthood I have taken an interest in trying to learn it via Duolingo but with living in Australia the only practical purpose for it is to amaze some Asian women who don’t even know it’s a language
I mean it has no practical use and seems to be kept alive mainly for the symbolism of not losing another piece of culture to the English.
As others have said, mandating it be a requirement for all teachers, whether they teach it or not, is just plain silly