Will I ever use Irish again??

ClaireNo

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

Peter03

I can't see myself ever speaking Irish again, completely worthless language.

James G

I once used to think that I'd learn Irish on my own, at my own pace, after I left school. At this point, though, I honestly have to say I'm sick of it. I'm sure it would have been different if I wasn't forced to learn it. I don't think Irish is very important, and having a universal language would be much more ideal than having to know English and Irish, so I don't think it should be pushed the way it is. But it would be sort of fun to learn it at my own leisure.

**Timbuk2**

I had loads of fun speaking Irish in the Gaeltacht. The spoken element of Irish is great. However, the absolute direness of the Irish syllabus for the Leaving Certificate (over 15 texts, stair na Gaelige, meaningless essays) has completely induced a hatred of Irish in me.

I can safely say that I will never use Irish again!

itzybitzyfitzy

I am delighted that i neva have to see irish again.
THE fact tat it was forced upon me made matters 50x worse!!
if u spoke irish in the us, they would think u were speaking russian or somthing!!

Iwasfrozen

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Hey, hopefully I can be of some use to you.

I won't be using the Irish language ever again. Not only because for practical reasons becasue I don't need to but also because I hate the dammed language. Fourteen years of forceed education has made me resentful and if I were religious I would thank God I never have to utter a syllable that that horrid thing again.

ClaireNo wrote: »

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?

One hundred percent yes. My Irish paper two exam will have been the last time I ever speak it.

Corkfeen

Irish is fantastic for commenting on people in places abroad..... They think your speaking russian or something.......:D

ldxo15wus6fpgm

I live about 20 miles from the border of a gaeltacht... I've met about 5 people that use Irish as their first language, and I've never needed to say anything to them. The times I've been in there, everyone spoke english to me.

I don't speak a word of Irish myself, but I've never needed to, and most people in my school think its a complete waste of time, so I'm probably better off not having to learn it... :pac:

paul08

id love to say that i will use it but in all honesty i probably won't... more to do with the teacher i had than anything else an absolute loose cannon who if you stopped concentrating or looked out the window used to give a big speech about the state of the country and how irish is our native language and so on.. i used to dread going to the class even though i liked speaking the language and also the paper 2 course is a load of bollocks to be honest its difficult enough studying literature in your first language never mind a second language that you are trying to learn. unfortunatly the language will be extinct within our lifetime unless serious changes are made in the teaching of irsh or in the attitudes or the people towards irish as there is a kind of snobbery attached to the language.

EuropeanSon

I loath the syllabus, the poetry etc, but if I was ever in the west or any other Gaeltacht areas I would have no problem having a conversation. I like speaking it, but just not the way it's taught in schools. I'd say if I do ever use it again, besides maybe helping a younger sibling, it will be very rarely.

Cliodhna.

aw:( id hate to say ill never use irish again... i hate the leaving cert syllabus but i love irish!!... Plan on readin the harry potter books in Irish to keep it fresh what a nerd!! ha

rockmongrel

It's handy abroad when you want to have a private chat, but most of my friends speak German or French better, so it's usually those we rely on. The gaeltacht is nice and it's fun to use the language there, but in fully practical terms, no, Irish won't truly be used again if I have another option.

ricero

no that language is dead with the dodo thank god il never utter another word of dat terrible terrible language

irish_man

No I cannot see myself or any of the current leaving cert students using Irish on a regular basis after the exams
(apart from those living in gaeltacht regions)

It's really a waste of time, sadly

johnmcdnl

I'd love to use the language in day to day stuff if I wanted too but tbh unless I moved to the gaeltacht 90% of assistants in shops or basically anyone I'd have contact with at all would probably look at me and not have a notion what I was going on about... I'll probably end up loosing all the Irish I know and it depresses me kinda because I've always seen Irish as a really strong part of our culture...

I'm only gonna get a C at best in the leaving and that's because of the fecking course that rewards people who sit there in their rooms at night and learn to recite essays of poetry out.. Irish is basically a literature class just like English which leads to 95% of student hating the course... I hated every minute of the Irish course in secondary school pretty much... I love the language.. I went to the Gaeltacht last summer and I loved living through Irish... I'd love to be able to use it but it's as simple as this...

if you try to use it in day to day life you'll be treated the same as a foreigner in your own country...

stainluss

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

No, I dont believe I will ever use Irish again.

I predict that within 10 years, it will be optional for LC and probably not neccessary for college entry to most courses

It will be then confined to being spoken in remote parts of the country (i.e. Gaeltacht areas) where people will use it just for the sake of it surviving.
Within 20 years, I think 9/10 people will not know, nor care about how to speak it.

So, IMO, its not looking too good for Gaeilge:p

rockmongrel

Also, I feel that if Irish was taught as a language like French/Spanish/German, instead of a mix of prosody/writing and phonetics, people would be far more inclined to learn it and enjoy it.

TaraR

I Went to an All Irish Primary & Secondary School And I Haven't Used A Word Since I Left. Its Pointless In My Opinion Because There Is No Use For The Language Unless You Want To Be A Irish School Teacher.

orlabobs

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

Personally I'm extremely proud to be Irish. Despite being of a race which has received a lot of bad press. The thing is, and I'm sure everyone here will agree with me, is the teaching and curriculum for Irish is abysmal. Instead of getting us to be able to speak and love the language, they're forcing us to learn reams and reams of poems and essays. I don't see how that possibly reflects on life. When would anyone go into the pub and decide to have a conversation on the effects of alcohol on young people, or on the theme of a poem.
The SEC is pushing it's young people into hating and resenting Irish class. It simply is not right. And although I would love to be fluent in Irish, I am not. I'll always try and keep a little bit of Irish, but unless the curriculum is changed soon, it will be a dead language.:(

Dante

Never, I just don't see any practical point to it in this day and age. I throw in the odd word or two around the house or with mates but thats about it.

EvilLlamaThingy

Never. Ever. Again.

lc2010

Well I think I'll use it very rarely, perhaps only when abroad, which is a shame as I actually have a decent grasp of it. I blame the system itself that syllabus has made me hate the language. The funny thing is i actually didn't mind studying for the oral as it was half useful however it's been a different story over the last few weeks.

As for employment opportunities it will have absolutely no bearing!

ClaireNo

You know, education seems to be playing a massive part in all of this. Outdated, boring and far-removed from the enjoyable aspect of it. Maybe a review of the learning of the language would benefit students, no?

Hopefully that might happen before students completly zone out.

Tora Bora

Excellent asset to have if you are stopped by the police for no bell on your rothair:D They let you off rather than have the hassle of processing you in the staisuin:cool::cool:

gant0

I'm never ever going to speak thar worthless language ever again.Well to be honest I haven't spoken it since 1st year.The school syllabus for Irish just instilled a hatred for the language in me at an early age!!!

dan_d

Funny - you've to learn just as much for English, yet nobody is vitriolic about that.
Odd.

Iwasfrozen

dan_d wrote: »

Funny - you've to learn just as much for English, yet nobody is vitriolic about that.
Odd.

No one doesn't.

uncle-mofo

It's a pity, I promised myself in 5th year that I would stay in higher level Irish and I have. I really wanted to be able to speak my native language fluently but the way it is taught is absolutely terrible. In my opinion there should be upwards of 50% of the grade going for the oral exam, and another 30% for the aural and the remainder going for comprehensions or something similar. Thanks to the current Irish course I will be leaving secondary school with an absolute hatred of the Irish language thanks to all the poetry, prose, and essays. Another thing is the complete difference in standard between Higher level and ordinary level Irish, an A1 in ordinary level Irish requires much less effort than a C3 in higher level, this is why so many students are dropping higher level.

**Timbuk2**

dan_d wrote: »

Funny - you've to learn just as much for English, yet nobody is vitriolic about that.
Odd.

With English, you get a choice. There are eight poets - you only need to do 5 max to be guaranteed to answer anything that comes up on the paper.

You get to choose the three comparative texts you want to do, not be constrained to a very small list that consists of An Triail, Maidhc Dain, Peig and A Thig na Thit Orm (and probably a few more). You also only have to study 2 modes to be guaranteed to answer anything, and there is an internal choice within each mode.

The Shakespearean isn't even that bad, as if you know your characters well, you can answer on any theme that comes up also. Quotes are much easier to learn as they are in English.

For Irish, you have to learn everything. You can't cut down, because there is always a compulsory poem (Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa) and a compulsory Prós (Fiche Bliain ag Fás). Quotes are much harder to learn as they are in Irish. Also, in Irish, some people might not understand the question. That means that no matter how hard they have studied, they can't justify their work with their answer. Take the An Triail question this year - nearly everybody was confused by it. It's highly unlikely that you wouldn't understand a question in an English exam

Paz-CCFC

ClaireNo wrote: »

Hi Guys,

My name is Claire, and I'm a student journalist at Westminster University, London. I'm completing my Final Project on the preservation of the Irish Language, and would love to get some feedback on just how useful it is to young students today.

Do you think this is the last time you will ever use Irish. Is it something that you would consider an asset when you look for employment?



Looking forward to your comments and views on this subject.



Thanks,

Claire

Gan dabht, úsáidfidh mé ár dteanga, sa thodhcaí. 'Sé Gaeilge atá mar pháirt de mo chéad rogha don choláiste agus, fiú muna bhfaighim é, déanfaidh mé staidéar éigean ar an dteanga, fiú más mion-staidéar é.

Without doubt, I'll be using our language in the future. Irish is part of my first choice for college and even if I don't get it, I'll do some study on it, eve if it's only a little bit.

itzybitzyfitzy wrote: »

if u spoke irish in the us, they would think u were speaking russian or somthing!!

You're faith in the Irish language is based on the Americans' understanding of it? FFS Of course they'd think we were speaking Russian or something...both Irish and Russian are foreign to them and from the other side of the world!


Something that people who feel that the syllabus is turning people against it should bear in mind the changes in the Higher Level course in 2012. Stair na Gaeilge is being removed (which I have to say actually helped me in Geography!). Also, HL poetry is no longer obligotory - the teachers have the choice to teach the first third of 'A Thig Ná Tit Orm' (well, that's the Páirt 2 I did...not sure about others) or the HL poems. You still do the OL poems. It'll be a much easier course.

Also, the Oral will now be worth 40%, though the Aural is being reduce to 10% (I think).

I have waited for 14 years to say I never have to do it again. So, no. But I don't have anything against the language per se, I just am hopeless at it and detested the entire way it's taught.