Moving to Ireland - kids learning Irish

dazzerb

Probably a silly question but it has been a long time since I was in primary school!

Living abroad now but I will have two girls starting in primary school in Ireland in September 2010. They will be going into senior infants and 1st class and neither have or will have a word of Irish amongst them.

Question is do I need to worry? Not too worried about the younger one but don't most kids have a good amount of Irish when starting 1st class?

Also would an Irish School be an option for them? Would they struggle or do these schools do a good job accommodating for kids starting late with zero Irish?

Thanks!

Nuggles

They'll be grand.

They'll probably have more Irish than the teacher when they arrive.

dlofnep

They'll be grand! Put on TG4 for them in the morning, and let them watch some Irish cartoons. They'll probably be ahead of their class in no time.

mr chips

It won't happen immediately - your two will have to catch up with other kids who've had two more years of immersion education. Settling into a new linguistic environment at school, without having a corresponding change in their home/social life, means it mightn't be quite as swift an adaptation as if eg you moved to Spain and they were surrounded by Spanish outside the school environment as well as within it. (Or am I mistaken - do you speak Irish with them at home?)

However, they're still pretty young and should be able to adapt. The more support you can give them, the better. It would probably be worth investigating whether the school might have an after-school club or other immersion activities that will help the kids to adjust as quickly as possible.

Pygmalion

dazzerb wrote: »

Question is do I need to worry? Not too worried about the younger one but don't most kids have a good amount of Irish when starting 1st class?

I'd be surprised if they know much more than "Hello", "Sit down", "Be quiet", "Please" and "Thank you"

I might be remembering wrong but other than a couple of instructions given in Irish the Irish education doesn't really kick off until 1st class anyway.

mr chips

Perhaps some clarity is needed here from the OP.
If your kids are going to be going to a school in Ireland, which is nevertheless an English-speaking school, then there won't be a tremendous amount of catching up to do.
Since this thread is in the "Gaeilge (Irish)" forum, I assumed that the "Irish school" meant a Gaelscoil, a school where Irish is the language of instruction for all subjects, and wrote my reply accordingly.

dazzerb

thanks everyone. Sounds like they will be fine in normal national schools.

I was also asking about the option for an Irish Speaking (Gaelscoil) school as well. Seems like these are good alternatives to local national schools in may areas so would like the option to consider these too as long as they do not stress the kids out too much.

Also my wife and I last spoke Irish when doing our leaving certs back in 1987, i.e. we'd be useless!

Thanks again!

uch

dazzerb wrote: »

Also would an Irish School be an option for them? Would they struggle or do these schools do a good job accommodating for kids starting late with zero Irish?

Thanks!

I'd recommend an Irish Speaking school as I think they get a better education because any of the teachers I've encountered seem more enthusiastic in Gaelscoileanna, as regards their age don't worry about either, I changed my daughter from english Primary to Gaelscoil at second class level and she was fluent within a couple of months so I would think your oldest would be the same and your youngest won't have any issues.