good irish colleges?

james no.1

hi,

i'm looking for a good irish college that strikes the balance between work and fun/socialising for the summer of next year. does anyone know any that have an irish only rule for speaking where you will actually learn plenty of irish but also where you'll have a bit of craic?

Cheers.

jw93

james no.1 wrote: »

hi,

i'm looking for a good irish college that strikes the balance between work and fun/socialising for the summer of next year. does anyone know any that have an irish only rule for speaking where you will actually learn plenty of irish but also where you'll have a bit of craic?

Cheers.

Couldnt recommend Spleodar Camus highly enough its fairly strict on Irish but fair and I can gurantee that you will come out of it with much better Irish. It only runs in June and caters for 4th/5th years and fills up very quickly every year so if you want to go you would be want to be booking it before the end of September. Spleodar also run courses in Leitir Mor, Leitir Mealain, Ros Muc and Corr na Mona so give those courses a look aswell as those courses run in June,July and August. Heres the website: http://www.spleodar.com/ Information for 2012 courses will be available from 4pm on the 1st of September.

xclw

Colaiste Uisce. www.uisce.ie
they have a variety of different courses some are really exam focused, and you do all sports and everything through irish, it really helped me with my irish oral and you can be given the chance to go back and work there too

seriouslysweet

Plus one for Spleodar, unreal teachers, all so prepared and the craic is mighty!

randylonghorn

xclw wrote: »

Colaiste Uisce. www.uisce.ie
they have a variety of different courses some are really exam focused, and you do all sports and everything through irish, it really helped me with my irish oral and you can be given the chance to go back and work there too

I know nothing about it or how good it is in terms of learning Irish, but I really like the idea of making learning Irish fun and interesting.

I know all the colleges do try, but the more we can make learning Irish something enjoyable (both in school and out) the better will the standards of Irish become and the less we will see of people moaning and ranting about the language and knowing SFA of it.

And that's from someone who came to hate Irish in school despite the fact that half my cousins speak it as their first language, and logic would suggest that I should have been good at it / liked it!

iLikePiano99

james no.1 wrote: »

hi,

i'm looking for a good irish college that strikes the balance between work and fun/socialising for the summer of next year. does anyone know any that have an irish only rule for speaking where you will actually learn plenty of irish but also where you'll have a bit of craic?

Cheers.

Colaiste Sheoisaimh, in Carna Cill Chiarain....I went there this year and two years ago and it is honestly the best place for learning Irish I think. I've only ever went to Cursa A but I think if you are going, that's the course you should go to because the principal at that course is very strict on the irish. That's all you speak!! And if you are caught speaking english even once you miss the ceili! The third time you are sent home! So basically, only Irish and if you speak anything else, you will be in huge trouble with the Príomhoide!

But as well as that you have great craic. I had so much fun. We even went to an adventure sports place for a day (water sports or normal sports) and that was great! The Bean An Ti's are great and the food is amazing and the teachers are highly qualified and you do learn a lot. I did anyway! Got me up from a C to an A in higher level Junior Cert Irish two years ago! Highly Recommend it. Afterwards, you wouldn't believe how hugely improved your oral and aural has improved. Type Colaiste Sheoisamh in to google and the website will come up!

luciemc

xclw wrote: »

Colaiste Uisce. www.uisce.ie
they have a variety of different courses some are really exam focused, and you do all sports and everything through irish, it really helped me with my irish oral and you can be given the chance to go back and work there too

This. I went three years in a row back in the day! Loved it:D Made such good friends, learnt lots of Irish, really enjoyed the surfing, windsurfing, sailing etc. Only thing I'd say is that if you hate the sea you will not enjoy yourself!

Bubbly2

Coláistí Chorca Dhuibhne ..... www.colaiste.ie

Scuid Mhór

pretty sure spleodar camus is the best around. maybe i'll see you there???

byhookorbycrook

Corca Dhuibhne not the strictest on English.

xclw

Colaiste Uisce isn't as strict as Spleodar but I've been to both and to be honest Uisce was way better.
They don't send students home for speaking english like a lot of gaeltachts do but instead you do a kind of detention where you have to write out the rules as gaeilge.
Its only 2 weeks but i found i was thinking through Irish after the first 3/4 days cos I was speaking it so much.
Its so much fun on our course this year we got to make a film which was deadly.
you have classes in the morning and then in the afternoon its activities like the water sports or archery and stuff like that. I think this works better than classes because everything is done through irish and students actually pay attention and listen to the instructions for all the activities whereas in classes they are more likely so daydream.
and in terms of food and accommodation and all its one of the best gaeltachts for this stuff.

paperpackages

Coláiste Chamuis Camus is the place to go...I'm not being biased (although I did go there ) because every Irish teacher or Irish enthusiast I've encountered has said it's the best.

It has an Irish only rule but it isn't a problem for anyone. No one was sent home over my stay, they understand that some people need more help with the language and assistance is always given. By the second week I was talking in my sleep in Irish, literally!

It's a very tight-knit college. Everyone gets on well, even people who on paper wouldn't get along. As for craic, well be prepared for a lot of it! The teachers made the morning classes exceptionally fun and treated us like friends rather than students. During the day there are competitions and the céilís at night are better than any disco or night club! You also get to go visit the other colleges belonging to Coláiste Chamuis (Tulach and Ros a Mhíl) for competitions and whatnot. There are trips to Spiddal and beaches too.

Overall I couldn't praise this college enough, I beg you to go there because you'll have the time of your life. I'm very shy but made so many fantastic friends there and learned a lot of Irish. I want to go back now that I've written all this...:(

Sarah?

Colaiste Chamuis is the only one I've been to, but it's absolutely amazing! Not only are you expected to speak Irish all the time by the staff, but everyone there seems to love Irish, or at least really enjoy speaking it by the time they leave. I went after second year and by the second or third day I was thinking through Irish. Loved the attitude everyone had towards Irish, loads of people just adored the language, and those who thought they'd be able to speak English when no staff were around soon realised that it wasn't the done thing. [Edit: On the day we went to Spideal our bus passed a group from Lurgan, they were speaking English so nearly everyone on our bus started chanting "Bearla!" to remind them why they were in the Gaeltacht. :P Brilliant craic!! Not sure if they understood us though... :rolleyes: 'Twas all in good fun. :P]

If you find it difficult to speak Irish they give you loads of help too, so it's brilliant no matter what your level is. I think only one person was sent home on my course (which was in Camus), but they were just making no effort to learn Irish, so it was fair as the person was warned that he couldn't just speak English.

You learn so much there, if people don't know how to say something or what something is called in Irish then other students or staff usually explain how to say it through simpler Irish or sign language!

The craic is mighty there too, and there's loads of activities throughout the course. You get to visit the other centres (Ros A Mhil and An Tulach), go to Spideal, do a few sports every day and loads of other stuff from datanna dall (blind date) to a song competition (I still remember all of the songs from '08 - each house wrote there own one so some came up with hilarious ones!) and loads of chants which are iontach. Oh and if they still do the Oiche Na Cinniri that's great fun for any non-cinnire, loads of pranks and stuff. :pac:

The only downside is you only get your phone once a week, but then you can have it all day on either Saturday or Sunday (whichever day people are allowed to visit you) aswell so it's not that bad.

It's and excellent Gaeltacht for learning Irish, having fun and making new friends, which is basically the whole point of them. If you want to improve your Irish loads, I seriously doubt you'll find a better place.

I may be a bit biased seeing as I've been there, but anyone else I know who has been there, or any good Irish teachers will probably tell you the same.

Camus go deo!!

boggerbarbie

Lurgan. Not gonna write out a big long paragraph on why it's amazing, but if you go there you will not regret it