An Féidir Linn?

[@NanaRoisin]

I attend an Irish class in Trim library, free of charge. My daughter in Barna, in Galway was asked for 60 euro for an Irish class, so nobody went. Change that. Also make sure the elderly, grandparents, retired are offered free classes as they will speak to their grandchildren as I do. That will make it normal for them to hear the language spoken. How poor a people we would be if we were too lazy to restore the language that is among the oldest in the world.

[@markdignam7179]

Is fíor é sin...

[@eisirt55]

Chart agat

[@IskalkaQuest2010]

I love the Irish language. I love hearing it! The language of my great grandparents. I am learning it. It will take much time but worth it. Even if not perfect, I am determined to learn something of it. Wishing you all the best on promoting the Irish language.

[@brenainnmacthomais]

It’s been a year! I’m curious about your progress! Are ya still learning it? What’re ya using?

[@ciarog6116]

Why not put irish language daycare centers all over the country? Children would start speaking from the first day. Then make all the kindergartens irish, and then start irish classes from 1st grade so they never forget. My daughter spoke japanese like a native from going to a japanese daycare center. Those would be great jobs as teachers for native speakers.

[@AnGhaeilge]

We have them. They are called Naionraí along with Irish medium schooling. Spaces are limited as the demand is always high. Having more requires funds and teachers. It's isn't as simple as just saying to put them all over the country.

[@cigh7445]

There aren't many strong native speakers left. Everything everywhere in the strongest Gaeltachts should be strictly Irish. For everywhere else, a start would be colleges requiring students to demonstrate proficiency in the languages phonetics before graduating because it is a travesty that generations of teachers now have been teaching Irish without knowing that the consonants and vowels of the language are supposed to be different to the English ones. Once a decent quality of spoken standard was being achieved by university graduates and students on various Irish courses, then we could start looking at providing high quality Irish medium naíonraí and education, prioritising areas where communities demonstrated a willingness and desire to use Irish, particularly in the home. Because Irish medium education has existed since the foundation of the State and not one place outside the Gaeltachts has managed to create an Irish speaking community from it because the community and home language was always English (bar one area of Belfast, which was a collective community effort without government pushing them into it). First priority : Highest quality possible of Irish medium pre-schools and education at all levels for Irish speakers. Second priority : The same but for people without the same dedication/foresight as the above to learn to a high standard and raise their future children with Irish

[@brenainnmacthomais]

@@cigh7445, I love your comment-especially the part where you stated “without knowing that the consonants and vowels of the language are supposed to be different to the English ones.” When I started learning Irish, I was taught the true sounds of Irish vowels and consonants in the context of “caol le caol agus leathan le leathan.” I was taught the w-glide for broad consonants and the y-glide for slender consonants. Out of curiosity, I tend to research Irish courses and books to see how it’s all progressing. I’m saddened to see books that teach things like... a “d” makes a “d” sound and a “t” makes a “t” sound no matter what vowels surround them. Also, there is no talk of the “w” and “y” glides for broad and slender consonants respectively. Dia duit is literally pronounced Dia duit. In its true form, it’s such a beautiful language! I dare say it is the most beautiful language, to be honest! English has taken over! There’s literally an Americanized version of Irish. Search “Speak Irish Now.” The lilt is gone in this series! I would love to see a new standard of a Irish come to being-one that teaches it in its true form(s) (with respect to regional dialects, of course).

[@danielskomp2300]

Here in Hawai'i, the Hawaiian language is slowly fading away, under the pressure of English. I use Duolingo every day to study Gaeilge now, for 14 months every day. In Hawai'i there is a revival of Hawaiian culture, mostly by youths. They are trying to revive or save their language.

[@pentuplove6542]

Hawai people are being wiped oit by the Federal USA government, using the 1/4 blood Law to qualify as a native Hawaian same as native Americans. Blacks on the other hand have the one drop of blood Law. Were if one has an ancestor who is from Africa then all their decendents are blacks. "Prince" Harry, the grandson of the Queen of Great Britain etc, and his wife (who is black or African-American, have a black son even though he looks more White. Many White people are Black in the eyes of Federal USA Law.

[@brenainnmacthomais]

@@Tjmce, Is breá liom é d’ainm úsáideora! Dia do bheatha, mo chara!

[@ThePumpkinGoddess]

@@pentuplove6542 He looks more white because Megan in half black only, so the kid is majority white than black to begin with.

[@peterbohdanko]

correction, we didn't lose our language, it was taken from us.

[@ricop421]

yeah thats why your government are tyring to get rid of compulsory irish as a subject rather than it being the national language

[@peterbohdanko]

Irish is the official language of Ireland

[@ricop421]

official language but not national language large majority speak english not irish

[@Elite7555]

And for most people that's history. But remember: The Celts also destroyed your language. And how many languages did the Roman Empire destroy? Should we really be ruled by that?

[@thedirtyfecker]

Ach níl leathscéal ann chun stopadh iarracht a dhéanamh leis. Caithfidh tú dul amach chun úsáid an teanga a bhaint as. Níl aon leathscéal againn. Níl mé ag foghlaim ach an teanga mé féin. Tá sé deacair, ach déanaim iarreacht chun an teanga a úsáid gach lá sa bhaile. Táim ag seoladh mo pháistí chuig an Gaelscoil agus is féidir leo an tábhactacht an theanga a fhoghlaim ar scoil agus sa bhaile. Is rud fíor é ina saol. Bheartaigh mé an theanga a fhoghlaim roimh an chéad páiste beirthe.Tá freagracht ag gach duine.

[@KingOfClay]

How about offering free land and tax-free housing for 20 years in special Irish-language areas for any people willing to speak only Irish there?

[@zecchinoroni]

I would go in a heartbeat!

[@daithionuallain5902]

The Irish language is stronger now as it was years ago, a lot of parents are sending there children to Gailgae schools,☘

[@themaggattack]

Also, there are many free on-line resources available to the whole world now. Duo Lingo is truly a great thing.

[@JakovCvijetić]

Im sorry You wrote wrong ...it’s * Gaeilge

[@nucleartree8159]

@@JakovCvijetić no it's actually 'Irish-speaking schools' or Gaelscoils( it means Irish speaking school too)

[@Jack_Ragnarsson]

I'm glad that there are many online sources to learn Irish now. Duolingo, google translate, focloir.ie, youtube, etc.

[@grf1426]

Gailscoileanna are fine but there aren't nearly enough of them

[@AlfonsLC]

The government doesnt do much very well. Im worried about the future of irish. I like to visit Ireland regularly. I always go to a the irish speaking areas. Id love to hear it everywhere.

[@UV_B_1970]

He should have visited Israel and shown how Hebrew was revived and is now spoken as a first language by millions

[@UV_B_1970]

dubjax1 Here's a coin from Judea from the 1st century BC with Hebrew inscription sites.google.com/site/terryolmsted/index-6/chapter-262/judea

[@amakkiki]

Do you mean Yiddish with Hebrew vocabularies??

[@monikarosik9068]

Exactly.

[@seanoriain8294]

Exactly! Irish speakers should study the Hebrew revival. There is much to be learned from it. The first misunderstaning one often hears in Ireland is "The Jews came together from different countries, speaking different languages, and needed a common language". That is true after the creation of state of Israel in 1948, but the Hebrew revival was already successful between 1900 and 1920. At that time over 95% of Jews in Palestine spoke Yiddish. So the real victory was not in finding a common language, but in replacing Yiddish by Hebrew, more authentically Jewish, and thousands of years older.

[@UV_B_1970]

@@seanoriain8294 I'm impressed y your knowledge of the history of my language

[@carlosarzeno3232]

Día duit. Is mise Carlos. I live in Argentina and i've belen trying to learn irish since 1980. We were a group of 15 students who attended irish ok saturdays the irish courses. Oír teacher was irish AND our book was the old Buntus Cainte, there wasn' t any other. Our teacher passed away and that was all. Nowadays i reassumed ir through Duolingo but the hard thing Is that there aré no phisical teachers nor people whom to talk with. I ve been un Ireland AND felt proud to use muy little irish. I would love to so anything I could to keep lhe language of muy grandparents alive. Go raibh maith agat.

[@AnGhaeilge]

Carlos a chara, that is great you have been interested in Irish for so long. Like you - I went through the Buntús Cainte books many years ago. They are actually great books. If you'd like to continue practicing and learning, there is an Irish language discord server you can join - there are many people on there you can learn from and there are conversation groups on there to cater for all levels. Here is the server invite - you may need to download discord and create an account if you haven't one already, but it's pretty easy to use! discord.gg/XTR5MmCZ

[@carlosarzeno3232]

@@AnGhaeilge go raibh maith agat. I ll try.

[@dazpatreg]

Tréaslaím leat, an bhfuil sibh fós ag treabhadh ar aghaidh?

[@marymcmullen5150]

I would like to hear songs song with English and an Irish chorus in the lyrics. Also prayers, children songs, short stories. Invite people to study the language, get envolved. I got my Leaving Certificate in 1970. Then, you had to pass Irish or you failed your Leaving. I found it very hard and we did not have very good teachers. They did not show any love for the language and they seemed bitter,angery as if in the minority. They were always screaming. If we made a mistake. Nuns and Teachers taught at the Secondary School. I found it very difficult. English lessons were a bit better and French, although were only taught out of a book. We really had to shut up and listen. A School Holiday trip to Stradford on Avon was brilliant, the land of Shakespeare. If all School Holiday trips went to Irish speaking areas in Ireland and perhaps other parts of the world, it would be great fun. Today we think differently about education, it can be fun! Oh by the way, my Mother won a trip for speaking Irish. She passed away in 1965. Well done Mam! In my time they changed the Irish lanuage, especially the written language.

[@j.burgess4459]

The gentleman speaking at 29.05 in this may have a very strong point. Of course I'm not saying I think Ireland shouldn't have gotten independence! (Although as someone of mixed English and Southern Irish family background I find it hard to feel terribly passionate about it, I guess.) The fact is: there was evidently a kind of widespread complacency about the Irish language after independence. It declined massively _after the English governing class were gone!_ So it must be true that many Irish people placed little value on it. They didn't see it as part of their culture or identity. By contrast, the Welsh language hasn't declined to anything remotely the same extent. In fairness, I think the British government has also done quite a lot to support Welsh in recent decades - maybe more so than the Dublin government has done to support Irish? I dunno. But when a language has declined from hundreds of thousands of speakers right down to a few tens of thousands...there may be no way back? It's a very sad thing to see a language die.☹

[@AnGhaeilge]

Wales didn't experience anything on the scale of the Irish Famine, that disproportionally hit their indigenous language speakers. Prior to the famine, Irish was spoken everywhere in Ireland outside of most major cities. And it was these regions in particular that were hit the hardest. By the time Ireland got independence, the damage was already done. The language had already been relegated to a few rural communities on the south and western coasts.

[@Troy_KC-2-PH]

Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam. Ún país sin su idioma, es ún país sin alma. Ceart go leor!

[@grf1426]

Qu'est-ce que c'est "alma"?

[@brenainnmacthomais]

@@grf1426, he said... a country without a language is a country without a soul

[@Chloisfunny]

irish is really such a nice language , I would love to learn it , but how?

[@Chloisfunny]

***** Thank you , I will check site Líofa .. go raibh maith agat ...

[@fearmorpiercemacmaghnais7186]

Chloisfunny Duolingo

[@dennisdelany9098]

Just watching this video is a great way to learn abstract words in context and I also really enjoyed listening to the different accents. I was able to take my eyes off the sub-titles a lot of the time. I live in Spain and I've started to learn Irish again as a kind of hobby, it's a totally different thing from learning it at school (well, in the 1980s anyway) with the pressure of exams and so on. One thing they should do is encourage cafés, hotels and shops to put up a sign like ' Irish Spoken Here' or something of that sort, if I knew the barman or the receptionist spoke Irish I would use it. There was a case that came before an employment tribunal last year of a barman who got the sack for speaking Irish to a customer because his manager didn't understand it. That is just completely ridiculous.

[@annenoone82]

@@Tjmce tá mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge ar zoom anois. Tá mé at fail le caint leis é. Ní mé abalta comhra a deanamh as Gaeilge mar tá focail on SEO is ansuid. Slán go foil Áine

[@trollgegael]

10:13 His Irish sounds beautiful and he sounds like a native speaker

[@ainemcgowan4495]

it needs to normalised incorporated into every day life... When you go to Italy Germany Spain or France or even England, they don't use a foreign language in their road signs, shop fronts newspapers etc. I feel like we've appeased the foreigners to our own detriment .. Tourists accept when they go to a foreign country they need to learn a cupla focal...

[@claranceful]

There is a lot of americans who have irish in them if they would take pride in learning irish the language would have a good chance to survive also in other places I speak about 50 percent of it but been long time

[@carllove3705]

I agree with you claranceful, but there are very limited resources for learning Irish in the USA. I live in Norhern California for example, and the nearest place to actually take classes is about 3 hours away, maybe a little more. I have purchased and completed Rosetta Stone Irish, and am about to complete it for the second time, but it is not enough. Although doing it twice did help out quite a bit. I have also purchased a few other language books with CD's or DVD's but I'm waiting to finish the Rosetta Stone for the second time before I move on to something else. But I would really like to be able to learn the language and have a place to practice it with others of a like mind.

[@claranceful]

That's good my friend told me broken irish is better then perfect English just use words in irish ever day to help like spangish I think that's what they call it were they say a sentence half in Spanish and in the other half English

[@kassistwisted]

Carl Love Check out italki.com. There are certified Irish teachers on there as well as Irish speakers who are willing to chat with you on Skype. Private lessons are very cheap ($8-12 for an hour).

[@kassistwisted]

claranceful Irish speakers aren't perfectionists with their language like the French are. They would rather you speak the words you have and fill in with English words than not try at all. =)

[@claranceful]

I know my friend told me broken irish is better then perfect english

[@AlexderFranke]

Ar an taobh eile, tá tíortha ann a bhíonn níos measa ná an Éireann as ucht na teanga dúchasaí, mar shampla an Ghearmáin, mo thír dhúchasach. Is náire an mhéid bheag a dhéantar sa Ghearmán ar son ár dteangacha réigiúnda agus gcanúintí. Is cuma le han-chuid daoine ár n-oidhreacht de theangacha agus bíonn réamhchlaontaí diúltacha fós beo. Oibríonn an Ghailscolaíocht in Éirinn maith go leor, dar liomsa. Agus ní dóigh liom gu rachaidh in éag an Ghaeltacht i gcúpla deich mbliana ag teacht.

[@Michael-mo9cu]

Tá mé 29 agus bím ag déanamh mo chuid gach lá, tá mo chairde agus mo mhuintir ar an vaigín céanna. Thosaigh sé amach sa bhaile ach anois tá na comharsana againn air freisin 😄 Tuigeann tú nuair a labhraíonn tú Gaeilge go bhféadfadh duine éigin eile nó strainséir iontas a chur ort i gcomhrá.

[@kissfan7]

Pardon a suggestion from a Plastic Paddy , but wouldn't it help if this film had Irish subtitles for the English parts? If I were in government, I'd put more funding to Irish media; movies, TV, radio, podcasts, etc. It will help people retain the knowledge from school. I think if I consumed more Spanish language media I would still be able to speak it.

[@dennisdelany9098]

Good idea. Also found it odd that the politician in Belfast was speaking English.

[@grf1426]

@@dennisdelany9098 She keen but she not fluent

[@internetual7350]

No such thing as a plastic Paddy! Just long-lost siblings! 💚🤍🧡

[@kissfan7]

@@internetual7350 Tapadh leat, but you are being WAY too nice.

[@internetual7350]

@@kissfan7 Níl fadhb ar bith a chara. (There is no problem friend) I don't think we can ever be "too nice" to our diaspora, after all many like yourself still strongly identify with the motherland and feel a sense of loss being disconnected from that mother culture, with that I think it is absolutely abhorrent how quickly certain "Irish-borns" write off Irish-Americans and the diaspora at large as mere "Plastic Paddies". With that being said though I figured I should tell you that "tapadh leat" is a phrase in our Goidelic sister language, Scottish Gaelic, not Irish 💚🤍🧡

[@angadhrach]

Thaithnigh an críoch dearfach lom, ach fós cuireann cláracha agus rudaí scríte faoin teanga isteach orm i gcónaí, is rud an-deacair é do chuid dóchas a choimeád faoin Ghaeilge uaireanta. Ach mar a deirtear, d'fhéadfadh sé a bheith níos measa!

[@AlexderFranke]

The Basks can be proud of themselves to have kept their tongue alive from times before the indo-europeans inwanderings to Europe through Roman times to our days. It is a great pity that no other tongue from before Roman times has lived on to our days like Gaulish or Iberian. Tá sé ceart na Bascaí a bheith pródúil astu féin as coinneáil a dteange beo ó amanna roimh theacht na n-indo-eorpach trí na cinn Rómánaí go dtí ár laethanta. Is mór an trua nár fhan beo aon theanga eile go dtí ár laethanta ó amanna roimh na Rómánaí mar atá an Ghailis nó an Ibéris.

[@wildberrypurple233]

I hope that Irish and Scottish gaelic keep being a vivid language for many years and that their situation improves. I am Basque and am very proud because our language is still very vivid nowadays. But there is still a lot to do to improve its status and promote its use. It is a question about keeping ancient cultures alive!

[@jangowan5742]

@Al Franco,.yea they did,in spite of Charlmangue

[@gandolfthorstefn1780]

5:15 That lad should be in government making policies. He nailed it with the summer camp perspective. Well said 👍Slán

[@dazpatreg]

He was and he did feck all

[@biddydonnelly2097]

You know, I think that there might be some Irish Americans interested in learning and/or preserving Irish. It would be great if there could be some kind of story style videos available on KZbin that taught basic Irish in a fun way.

[@Danny-cq2fm]

www.dfwgaelicleague.com/p/irish-on-your-own.html

[@jmacguitar]

I appreciate the new perspective on 'athbeochan na Gaelige." Sin fior.

[@AlexderFranke]

Tá easpa aidhme ann ná an dream chainteoirí dúchais a mhéadú rud beag arís. Ba cheart suirbhéanna a dhéanamh a bhaineann le cumas ar an nGaeilge atá ag na hÉireannaí, eatarthú sin "cainteoir dúchais". Má bheidh deich míle go dtí cúpla deich míle cainteoir dúchais is breise ann, beidh i lán bainte amach. Is le tuismitheoirí le dóthain Gaeilge a bpáistí a thógáil trí Ghaeilge. Ar ndóigh, tá tíortha ann a éiríonn níos fearr leis a dteanga a athbheochán agus a choinnéail beo.

[@OCiarmhaic]

Tá súil agam gur féidir an rud céanna a bheith fíor don Ghaeilge. I'm not a Gaeilgeoir yet, but I am working very hard to learn the Irish language. Is féidir liom.

[@seangrogan3622]

Irish is an official EU language, Luxembourgish is not, but Luxembourgish is far more alive, unfortunately I will say, but it is also under threat. Luxembourgish is used in the school system, with a special class at 4 years old for pupils entering the system, primarily aimed at non-Luxembourgish speakers. It is also used as an access point for prestigious and remunerative jobs. Luxembourgish competes with French, German and now English, but these languages have not worked their way into the brains of people in the way that English has in Ireland. It looks like the Irish want to recognise Gaelic as part of their heritage, but don't want to make the effort to learn it, and I can say it is a difficult language, difficult from the point of view that assimiliation of grammatical issues like lenition and eclipsis are not particularly complicated as such, but you need discipline and repetition to master them, it's not like a simple sentence of English that doesn't change so much in terms of endings. So you've got to be committed to learn Irish. The issue is getting people to be motivated to this point of commitment. I have a great hope for Irish, it is a beautiful language and a unique preserver of unique experience. It would be a huge loss for it to fade from peoples' consciousness

[@eisirt55]

Ba compar ranganna a bheith ar sûil I ngach baile agus sráid baile saor in aisce . Beith ormsa uair a chloig a thaisteal chun feabhas a chur ar mo chuid Gaeilge agus iolán airgid a chaitheamh freisin

[@ciarog6116]

Also, maybe stop selling so much property in the gaeltacht.to non irish speakers?

[@seanosull2884]

Tá an ceart agat a chara! But we also have to realise that Irish is not only for the Gaeltachtaí. People should be able to use Irish without shame outside of the Gaeltachtaí also.

[@Michael-mo9cu]

@@seanosull2884 fíor, níl aon náire orm air ar chor ar bith, labhraím Gaeilge cibé áit is mian liom agus aon uair is mian liom, diúltaím cabhair i mBéarla mar tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an rud ceart á dhéanamh agam ar son na hÉireann ar fad.☘️👍

[@seanosull2884]

@@Michael-mo9cu Maith thú, táim i mo chónaí i gcathair na Gaillimhe agus ba mhaith bheith liom dul go dtí an siopa, nó an cogaslann nó ait ar bith, agus Gaeilge a labhairt gan náire, níl fhios agam cén fath ach bíonn eagla orm go gceapfadh daoine go bhfuilim dímheasúil nó ró-phoblachtach. Ach tá an ceart agat. Ba chóir go mbeinn in ann mo shaol a chaitheamh sa tír seo ag labhairt teanga na tíre seo gan náire.

[@Michael-mo9cu]

@@seanosull2884 Fíor táimid go léir i dteideal ár dtuairimí, ár saoirsí, ár gcultúir agus ár dteanga féin. Ní maith liom smaoineamh go bhfuil muid faoi leatrom, ach caithfimid leanúint lenár bhféiniúlacht i dtreo na glúine atá le teacht. Bíonn rud éigin bródúil as i gcónaí.🙂

[@Michael-mo9cu]

Agus tá maoin daor, ba cheart duit na suíomhanna Gréasáin eastáit réadaigh a fheiceáil ... I can't open up a local business because of that.

[@ajoybanik9601]

I'm an Indian and I would love to learn Irish someday. Is Indiach mé agus ba bhreá liom an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim go hóg 🇮🇳❤️🇨🇮

[@Hirooshii1]

Anybody watching and still interested in learning irish, Their is a sweet app for iphone and android called "memrise" Can learn irish through it, it has a paid OPTION, that you dont NEED to use, i havent.

[@hagsmunamadurinn]

It doesn't teach irish

[@erithion]

​@@hagsmunamadurinn it is an audio version of once very popular buntús cainte, isn't it? what buntús has been teaching all this years then since 1960 if memory serves me?

[@caoimhincaoimhin]

fotheidil dhátheangach idirlínteach, le do thoil. Tabhair an focal a scaipeadh!

[@ALHat22]

It didn't talk about how any language can grow, change and die which I think is important to understand.

[@zibifranz2429]

I wanted to learn Irish myself - there are no chances for it. The state is not providing any teaching facilities. In Dublin Fingal County there is only a group of people meeting in the public library for conversations once a week. There is no concept and no organization in this country capable of teaching Irish language. Very sad.

[@yomama...isaverynicelady]

You can learn it. Waiting around for some stranger to hand you an "opportunity" wont do anything. Theres lots of resources online to learn almost any language, including Irish.

[@juliawitt3813]

Sadly Dubh-linn is within the pail. Britain dominated that area for too long and decimated the daily use of the Irish language. Maybe using a tool like Duolingo then just sitting in on the conversation groups might be a start.

[@klunny998]

Greatest language ever

[@chateaumojo]

Dual immersion schools are the answer.

[@LuckyShitZu]

I want to learn Irish. Does any one know of any free videos lessons?

[@jamesosullivan3654]

A brilliant course is offered on duolingo.com Highly recommended!

[@LuckyShitZu]

Thank you

[@Joe-xk1dy]

"Now You're Talking" on KZbin. it's the Ulster Dialect

[@thedeadscientist]

Try duolingo.com it has also Irish. It is not video lessons but it is a training website, especially for sentence structure and vocabulary.

[@jangowan5742]

Also Gaelige no Chroi,as I have subscribed to..for the Donegal fans out there,and for anyone who is Scottish,or for Queen Bee ,lol

[@AnGhaeilge]

Fadhb ar bith!

[@CODasGAEILGE]

Go raibh maith agat as é seo a uaslódáil, bhaineas taitneamh as!

[@socialistrepublic1409]

is feidir linn

[@eoghand1719]

I do not speak Irish or galic. But I felt in love with the Gaelic language (Irish or Scottish Gaelic) since I heard a tape of Clannad when I was very young. Then, I wanted to learn it because it's for me a beautiful language and because a part of my culture as I am a Breton. However, it's hard to find nowadays books to learn it especially when you don't live in the country. When you find books on Internet, they are expensive for people from the EU as the books come from the USA I live indeed in France and I find that these books should be less expensive for people as me who want to learn Irish and who like the irish culture. It's important for Irish people to keep their language and their culture alive insofar as it is a wealth and as it belongs to their identity and the way how they think and how they see and understand the whole world.

[@Danny-cq2fm]

Eoghan, there's a free class through Dublin City University beginning tomorrow. Here's a link: www.futurelearn.com/courses/irish-language-3/1/register Also consider joining www.liofa.eu It's free as well and through it you can acquire access to a 3-month renewable beginner's on-line Irish course. There is also this video course (also free) www.dfwgaelicleague.com/p/irish-on-your-own.html

[@eoghand1719]

Halò Danny Go raibh maith agat for your message and the link It's very kind from you. I really appreciate. Then, I will try all my best to follow some Irish courses in order to be able someday Irish. I hope we still keep in touch. Amitiés from France Yann (= this is the right writing of my first name. This is a Breton name that means in Irish Sean).

[@Danny-cq2fm]

Tá fáilte romhat agus go n-éirí an t-ádh leat, Yann.

[@intarc0giotto]

you can really hear who's first language was irish or who's parents were first language speakers, they have such a different accent then first language english speakers. if its just a 50 50 compromise, then a lot of the irish will just sound like an english person speaking a made up language... i grew up bilingual, i speak italian and german without foreign accent, but i've learned it from native speakers. so if children learn irish in a school when they are small, the teachers should be natives tho,

[@AnGhaeilge]

Tá fáilte romhat.

[@ciarog6116]

Well how do you increase the number of native speakers unless you turn the children of nonnative speakers into native speakers? I'm sure the schools are, as you say, well received. A lot of people would want their children to be good at Irish. It is a good way to make a difference in one generation.

[@AlexderFranke]

Thairis sin, is fiú muintir na Gaeltachta agus Gaeilgeoirí lasmuigh na Gaeltachta a oibriú le a chéile ar son na Gaeilge. Is féidir leis an mbeirt pobal neart a thabhairt ar mhaitheas na Gaeilge. Ní fiú a chlamhsán an t-am ar fad faoin droch-Ghaeilge de mhuintir lasmuigh na Gaeltachta. Tá scileanna luachracha ag cainteoirí dúchais na Gaeltachta agus tá coinsiachas teanga láidir ag cuid de phobal na Gaeilge lasmuigh na Gaeltachta. D´fhéadfadh an dá a iomlánú go maith le a chéile.

[@daumoro]

If you want to save your language, guys like Conor McGregor should speak it more

[@dubmait]

Conor isint the best example there...not too popular after his many antics

[@seaniemacish]

And pat kenny. Dara o briain killian murphy ... eiseamlairi. But has to come from heart of the people. We d all befluent if westminister still in control

[@oldtimeycabins]

Is mise Bruno

[@floridaboy.californiaman.649]

Me and my people's language is forever and lives on no matter what ? . 🇺🇸🇮🇪 🇮🇪🇺🇸

[@BleaCliath]

Fais mhaith. Is féidir. Caithfimid a bheith dóchasach.

[@CODasGAEILGE]

Sheolas PM chughat! :)

[@davenelsonsdesigns]

France protects its language so much that borrowed foreign words are on a regular basis swapped out with a French word. Such as computer was changed to ordinateur. I think you're going to have to do the same.

[@nakyer]

***** There are Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. who commonly use things like "El hamburger". Problem is, you do that enough, you end up with people who can't speak the original language any more, and end up speaking a hybrid tongue that's part English. Even Canadian French has had that happen; in some respects it's no longer true French. If you're going to learn loan words from English, don't lose the original words. Then, you're losing your language. If you want to maintain a language, you don't borrow words from English. You express the same thoughts using the words of YOUR language. That being said, "job" shouldn't be "jab" in my opinion. THE LETTER "j" doesn't belong in Irish! If you're going to borrow an English word, at least spell it "iab". Don't get me started on how "idiot" is said (and spelled) as Gaeilge.

[@nakyer]

***** Really? You're replying to something posted OVER A YEAR AGO?

[@nakyer]

***** Call me picky, if you wish, but I guess I care less about English because "the damage is done", whereas Irish is so close to dying, and on top of that people are adding weird words (and letters) that just aren't part of Irish...I'd like to see that not happen. Oh well...

[@troelspeterroland6998]

He must be confusing Denmark with another country at 26.50. Denmark did not gain independence in recorded history.

[@denishearn448]

Sea. Maith an obair a chairde.

[@sleepsmartsmashstress740]

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. Shoving Irish down the throats of unwilling youth who wish to master English is bound to fail.

[@sylidebreizh007]

Is é maith...go raibh maith agat...

[@christopherkavanaugh2449]

I am a native English speaker from the US, what sources are recommended for someone to start learning as an adult? Has anyone looked at how the Danish education system teaches languages? While working there for a bit, everyone I met spoke both Danish and English almost fluently. Some spoke German or a third language too.

[@GavinKirby]

The problem with many of these arguments to restore declining languages is that they take it as axiomatic that we ought to restore them, then proceed to describe how we might do that. They rarely if ever bother to answer the question which should come before that: why? What actual, demonstrable practical benefit is there? What basis is there for the assumption that classroom hours are better spent on an obscure language that most people don't actively want to learn than on more useful things? It might be nice to study Latin out of historical and linguistic curiosity, but that doesn't really answer the question.

[@GavinKirby]

People will always have language to communicate with. Languages serve people, not the other way around. So when a language loses its utility, it starts to be abandoned. This isn't because people are stupid or negligent -- on the contrary. They have an acute sense of what serves their interests, and the simple reality is that a language with barely 100 000 speakers is a tough sell. The alternative to selling it on its own merits is the paternalistic, authoritarian "carrots-and-sticks" approach of trying to coerce people into speaking a language they have little practical interest in, which is a tacit concession that there are no actual robust arguments left for speaking the language.

[@preasail]

Instead of chucking money at the language, the government representatives should learn Irish and do all their business through it. That would do a lot more than endless stupid discussions on how to perpetuate. it.

[@TimothyOBrien1958]

If your language dies, so does you society. There are too many people who don't have a genetic attachment to Ireland and Irish culture. Is someone who comes from somewhere else who's not Irish willing to learn the Irish language? I intend to be conversational the next time go I go back.

[@eireannach0112]

A shame! Unfortunately, it appears that the English language comes with baggage: philistinism.

[@morzanturian4946]

Gaelige.

[@terrybaker8156]

Money is the answer, and surely the eu will throw a few billion euros at it?

[@padraigquinn7105]

kl

[@tainahollo]

There seems to be more men than women actively speaking Irish, among both the old and the young? As a linguist I know that women are usually quicker to change their language or dialect to a more prestigious one than men. Irish seems to be associated with countryside and old times? So it needs a modern image - and that is what many young people are giving it here in KZbin, for example.

[@kassistwisted]

I probably know more female speakers of Irish than male. I think your information is based on a false assumption. Also, Irish has been undergoing an "image makeover" for the better part of two decades. Irish language schools are where the middle class send their kids and it's become a mark of the urban professionals that they can speak equally well in English and Irish. So what you say about modern image is true, but it is already happening.

[@angadhrach]

I'd have to agree with Kass here regardin the ratio of female to male speakers. I wish I shared her optimism about the modernising and reviving of Irish however! I've lived in Galway city a few years now and feel disappointed by the lack of Gaeilge in the city, seeing as it is near the Conamara Gaeltachtaí.

[@vlnvlaclogbaerhpno]

LOL he pronounced Cymru like 'kimm-roo' *facepalm*

[@TanakaMatsumoto]

What the hell is the dude stammering on about being Basque??? Wrong fucking documentary bud.. Basque people are french/spanish not irish.

[@ARA-ys4zx]

I'm Catalan and Catalonia isn't an independent state, but Catalan has more speakers than Irish. Taking into account that Ireland has more citizens than Catalonia, the fact that Irish has less speakers than Catalan is very impressive and it means that the Irish people have a big problem with their language that they must see, but they don't see it.

[@dennisdelany9098]

Fewer speakers not less speakers, striking not impressive... I have lived in Catalonia and the situation is very different. First of all, Catalan is spoken by large swaths of the middle and upper classes, whereas most Irish speakers after the Great Famine were subsistence tenant farmers or landless labourers. Second, Catalonia never had to withstand anything comparable to the Great Famine or the Penal Laws. Franco's oppression only lasted three decades, compare that to the centuries of oppression Ireland had to withstand. Thirdly, it is easy to learn to speak and understand Catalan if you know Spanish but the same is not the case with Irish Gaelic for an English speaker unless you go to a Gaelscoil or have fluent speakers in your family. Still, attitudes are changing I think, although it seems likely that most Irish speakers in the near future will be urbanite bilinguals unless something is done to prevent English from swamping the Gaeltachts.

[@ultrajn25]

It makes more sense to learn English. Kids who speak Irish only will be at a huge disadvantage compared to kids who speak English when it comes to opportunities. They should be encouraged to learn Irish as a second language.

[@kassistwisted]

But it's not an either/or choice. Of course children learn to speak English. They should also learn to speak Irish at the same time. Children who start in school bilingually have been studied and they have much higher cognitive function than their monolingual peers. I have a friend who was educated through Irish (her parents were English speakers. Her schooling was 100% in Irish.) She speaks both languages natively and it opened up a world of opportunities in radio and television that she would not have had as a speaker of English alone.

[@ultrajn25]

Kass McGann yes they should. It will only result in further economical marginalization of the Irish. When it comes to high paying jobs (almost all of them are in England) they will come second best to kids who speak English as first language. Most science and technology education is not yet available in Irish.

[@ultrajn25]

Kass McGann it seems this whole speak Irish nonsense has more to do with a collective inferiority complex than to anything else. Just my opinion. Most people in GB have stopped worrying about their and other peoples origins or race.

[@JudgeDee7]

ultrajn25 There's no disadvantage between people who have another language besides English as a first language and those who as English as a first language. I come from a place where most people I know are bilingual, and it does hinder them in the slightest, but only provides even more opportunities.

[@markmcelduff1771]

ultrajn25 yeah and that's why GB is a multicultured shithole.