Your opinion on my idea?!!

cusko7

Dia daoibh a chairde,

First of all I just want to say that I'm in 3rd Year in secondary school so go easy on me if you think my idea is stupid!

Anyway, I've just finished my mocks this week (jaysus thank god they're over haha) and I was just thinking of how I did in all my exams and then I thought of Irish...oh lord...if I don't fail I'll be very surprised!! Then I started thinking of something else, I can't believe I (nor anyone else in my family for that matter) can speak the language of our own country and that really made me feel angry but also ashamed.

I realise it sounds like I don't care for Irish based on how I did in my mocks but I actually love Irish and love its deep history. It gives us Irish our identity and tbh I just want to be able to speak my language.

So here's my idea! I am going to make my family start speaking Irish instead of English to each other every day and put some sort of penalty in order if they speak English! I know I could convince them to do this (I've often heard me Ma saying she could speak Irish and I'll just make my Dad do it) but do you think this is a good idea? I thought this would be a good idea as we would be forced to talk in Irish around the house since there would be some kind of penalty involved if we don't (I know that sounds extreme but it wouldn't be anything very serious just like chores or something haha). So what do you think of this? Is it a stupid idea?

Thank you for reading such a long question (sorry for taking up your time). I just want me and my family to be able to speak our own language and revitalise the Irish culture in some way!

Thank you for your help!
Slán libh

Paz-CCFC

Is maith an cuimhneamh sin, a Cusko! Is cosúil leis an swear jar é. It'll give ye a bit of incentive to speak it and it'll be a bit of craic.

If you stick with it, it'll really help your Irish and help you become a comfortable speaker. Presuming you go to an English-speaking, school will only give you a stepping stone. It's up to you to really build on it, and this is a fantastic idea to do just that.

Go n-éirí go geal leat.

Arthur Beesley

Punishment is a great motivator. Surprised this hasn't been tried before.

GaelMise

Its not a stupid idea, it is however a very difficult thing to do.
Its hard to break the force of habit.

hullaballoo

I think it's a great idea. It is difficult to break the habit of English but after a few days, if your family have felt the effects of the penalties, they will either stop talking or will make the effort.

It might be an idea to have some sort of strike or card system built into it. Eg. You're allowed one slip-up per week (yellow card) but the second time carries a serious sanction (red card) where the person has to maybe clean everyone's rooms or something.

Irish college works on the basis of these sanctions except there are 3 chances and the sanction is being sent home. Obviously that doesn't work if you're already at home but maybe the sanction could be being sent to Irish college! And yes, there are Irish colleges for adults!

cusko7

Thanks everyone for all your help!

Btw the swear jar is an excellent idea thank you for thinking of that! It will most definitely be a challenge to stop our habit of speaking English but we'll push through don't worry. Yeah Hullabaloo that's a good idea about the yellow and red card system...haha oh the dreaded irish college !! That should scare the ****e outta them alright

I'll have a bit of a meeting with the family tomorrow and let them know what everything will be like from now on Please keep on giving your opinions or ideas on what you think of this, I'm all ears...also, do you think I should give some exceptions to the rule of speaking irish all the time or should I just leave it and make them speak it no matter what?

Go raibh maith agaibh, slán go fóill