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Emerald Extracts by IrishCentral Columnists

Irish is taught well in only 50 percent of Ireland’s schools

Posted on Friday, January 14, 2011 at 01:03 AM

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BillyOR | Jan 31, 2011, 09:21 PM EST

At 59 years of age, I may be too bloody old to learn to speak in the Irish, but it might be interesting to try.

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ancavker | Jan 25, 2011, 01:10 PM EST

george You got it eight, because they ahte the old language, An odd bunch indeed.

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Searlit | Jan 17, 2011, 02:46 PM EST

Yes, I find a similar problem with Irish calenars. They are translated in French, Italian and Spainish. Why not Irish? That's the translation I want to see.

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GeorgeDillon | Jan 16, 2011, 03:01 PM EST

One thing I've noticed is that the Landing Card they ask you to fill in when flying into Ireland contains English, French, German and I think Italian--but no Irish. I flew into Argentina recently and guess what! Their landing card was in Spanish with an English version. Why don't the Irish put some Gaelic on their Landing Card? I'm not suggesting only in Irish). Maybe because most of them hate the old language?

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Towngate | Jan 16, 2011, 12:51 PM EST

...AND ANOTHER THING Pitts. The Muslim population in the UK is put at 4%. The Irish population in the UK is put at 4%.(2011 UK Census will identify Irish Ethnicity for the first time,so we will soon have an actual figure). EACH of these groups alone are BIGGER than the whole population of Rep.Ireland and I invite (English parlance for 'challenge!') you to post your figures for Ireland on here as soon as possible,as you claim to know "all about diversity" so we can compare notes. ...........WHEN you research your answer to me, I suggest you will find that the problem with Ireland today is not that it is flooded with Muslims - but that it is flooded with Irish!

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Towngate | Jan 15, 2011, 09:03 PM EST

DON'T WORRY PITTSBURGHKID: Ireland will always be unique in Europe - it's the lazy narrow-minded shamrocky moss-swamp right on the edge of it - with it's begging hand held out.

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GeorgeDillon | Jan 14, 2011, 05:22 PM EST

beachline: I am familiar with the Pimsleur set. It's advertized on the internet for about $10 and I think it's very good value. It has its drawbacks, though. It goes very slowly at first, then just when you think this is boring it speeds up and will lose you pretty quickly. Plus, the version I saw had no transcript of what is on the CDs. If that's still the case, there's an easy solution, as I remember that someone had put a transcript on line. That's a big help. One other point, that could be considered a weakness, is that the dialect on the recordings is Kerry Irish. This of course is as good as any other dialect, but it is now a variety in rapid decline. You have to make a real effort to hear Irish spoken today in West Kerry. I think they should have used Connemara or Donegal Irish, which are much stronger in numbers of native speakers, though they too are in terminal decline. As you are probably aware, beachline, there are tons of aids to learn Irish available on the internet, many of them at no cost. I think in maybe 30 years there will no area of Ireland where Gaelic is spoken natively, but the language will still be studied by enthusiasts throughout the world. I saw a real nice program on line on the Irish langauge Channel TG4 a week or two back. It was about folks learning Irish in Moscow. One of them--a Russian, of course--could have passed for a native of Connemara. Wonderful accent. The others weren't as good, but they still made a great effort. I know that in many cities throughout the world folks are grappling with Irish--Madrid, Paris, Buenos Aires, Tokyo (the Japanese are particularly good). It makes me despise all those Irish who hate their own language.

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Pittsburghkid | Jan 14, 2011, 02:01 PM EST

It not important that Irish be taught to everyone. Actually, it only importance is maintaining Ireland's uniqueness. I visit Canada in the 60's. I loved it the cars were different, stores were different, restraunts were different. I returned in the 90's everything was the same as America. Ireland needs to continue to be unique to the rest of Europe. Especially when it comes to Muslims. I know all about diversity, but if you flood the country with Muslims, then Ireland will be like Britian.

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Watereskhill | Jan 14, 2011, 01:52 PM EST

Close to fifty years ago at the Catholic Primary School in N.Ireland Master Torney kept small booklets written in Gaelic under one of the floorboards in the schoolroom. The (British) Education Board's Inspector could, and did ,march in at any time without knocking the door. The school was on a hill in the town. When being taught our prayers in the native language a boy sat on the wall outside keeping watch. On the instruction of the elderly Parish Priest--the schoomaster's uncle. Some ten years on the schoolmaster retired the School was renovated with an extension built 'modernized'. Not only were the booklets found. But lo and behold bits of bamboo? Boys would occasionally steal into the empty schoolroom from the yard. With Master Torney just across the road at the Parochial House having his lunch. Break into pieces one of his bamboo canes and feed it down a knotted hole in the floorboards. He would search for it and rant and it under his very shoes. "You!Go keep an eye out for the Inspector" The same young lad at times also kept an eye out for himself from round a railing and signalled--Quick! Torney's coming! Mea Culpa. All these years later I can still recite the Rosary in Irish. May he rest in peace.

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beachline | Jan 14, 2011, 10:17 AM EST

I use Irish language tapes by PIMSLEUR. I find them easier than Rosetta stone. But, I still have difficulty wrapping my tongue around some of the words.

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Ms.Gail | Jan 14, 2011, 10:09 AM EST

Maybe there should be a large investment in Rosetta Stone.

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beachline | Jan 14, 2011, 10:02 AM EST

Well said George Dillon! I was learning to speak Irish when my Grandmother was alive but, after her death the words were lost to me because neither my father no aunts or uncles would speak Irish to me. They lived in a time in the USA when it was difficult for Irish to get work and the sign "NO IRISH NEED APPLY" was posted in many places. My father brought one of the signs home and framed it to remind me of the discrimination against not only Irish but also Jews, Germans, Italians, etc. My grandmother spoke Irish, French, a smattering of Spanish, and of course the English forced on native Irish by the English lords. Todays discrimination against Hispanics of any nation is just a replay of past injustices against immigrants. The US needs to totally overhaul the current immigration laws which were written mainly by Anglo politicians.

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GeorgeDillon | Jan 14, 2011, 07:52 AM EST

It's good news that Irish Gaelic is associated with economic advantage. For centuries Irish was the language of the poor and the dispossessed. But what I can't understand is how come the huge numbers of foreign migrants in Ireland, most of whom intend to stay permanently, have absolutely no interest in Irish. And please, don't cite me a Czech or a Pole who is learning the language. I am talking statistically. If we say there are some 600.000 foreign migrants in Ireland, could we even say that 600 of them have made an effort to learn Irish? That would be a percentage of 0.01%! In fact there is no doubt that there are far more non-Irish learning Irish outside of Ireland than inside the country--in other words, non-immigrants. And the other statistic is that virtually every foreign child who is given the opportunity to opt out of studying Irish in the schools avails of that opportunity. I'm not saying they hate Irish--but it's just as irrelevant to them as is Alleghany or Lakota to most Americans. Remember many of these foreign children have already or will acquuire Irish citizenship. That means for the first time in a century a significant group of Irish citizens will not have studied a word of Irish. Mass Immigration didn't bring Irish to death's door, but it will kill it off.

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