http://ansionnachfionn.com/

Interesting article - second on the page.

The BBC examines the growing interest in Irish in North America,,,

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Interesting article. I'm surprised they didn't also address the growing interest in Irish in urban centers in Ireland. I think that's where the real hope for keeping the language viable lies.

A thing that's helpful for the Gaeltacht regions, though, is that interest in the language among people in North America also translates to cultural tourism, including immersion courses in the Gaeltacht. I know that many of the people who go to Oideas Gael come back year after year (I would, if that rich uncle I don't have would just hurry up and die!) When you have people coming in, spending money for food, lodging, etc., and WANTING TO SPEAK IRISH, it can be a very good thing.

Redwolf

Better than 'very good'. Great.

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I hear the Gael Scoils are getting very good attendance now, though, right? This generation of Irish (speaking) children may be vital, I believe. The children of the Gaeltacht and Gael Scoils hold the hope in their hands.

I think that TG4 and Gaelscoileanna are the best thing to have happened to the language in years. Schools can't save a language though; it has to be used in communities and homes. TG4 helps as watching children's programmes in Irish 'normalises' it. People need to see it alive in ordinary, everyday situations. When you look hard enough, they can be found, thankfully, but you definitely need to know where to look.

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I've been through the Gaelscoil process from baby infants to currently in University and the fact of the matter is, the vast majority that leave the system go on to speak English.

There are three major reasons, in my opinion, behind this: first of all: there is a sense of embarresment, as sometimes you get a distasteful look off people when you try to converse with them or with someone else in Irish. Sometimes you can get the opposite effect, but rarely.

Only the other day when I sent an email in Irish to my geography lecturer who is an Irish speaker, I was thrown dirty looks by people who WANT to be Irish teachers- telling me I was sad, suppose an American equivalent od loser.

Secondly, Irish, when I was growing up in school it was seen as the language of authority-we spoke Irish with our teachers and other adults but we spoke English with each other. Punishment was used as a method in trying to make us speak Irish, which in actual fact made the Irish language more authoritive. And if you know Irish people you'll know that we don't like it when we are told what to do and we end up doing the complete opposite. Even if we don't feel that strongly about it anyway.

Thirdly, when you are speaking Irish it seems as though you are being judged by everyone around you, to see how good you are , like a test. People are just waiting for you to make a mistake. This makes people very uncomfortable with speaking the language and could be the main reason why people are so hostile towards it. What people don't realise is making mistakes in language is an everyday occurance that is how language develops. Mistake are the drivers behind theses developments.

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

I agree with a lot of what you have said, but my husband and I (neither of whom were lucky enough to attend Gaelscoileanna) decided to see if we could give our children the benefits of bilingualism (and there are many, many benefits). This is not easy, given that neither of us are fluent themselves. The way we figure it is if we leave the responsibility of the future of our language only to those who are absolutely fluent, we have no right to complain about how the language is dying.

I remember someone saying in a similar discussion in ''the land that was, that his mother told him once that he was not to touch the piano until he could play it properly. I thought that was a wonderful analogy with the superiority complex some people have about our language. Clearly it is impossible to achieve fluency, or anything close, if we do not use it.

After a few initial questions from confused friends about why we would do this, we have had nothing but positivity about what we have embarked on. My grammar is far from perfect; I couldn't discuss the economy with all the technical terms associated with it; but I have relationships with my three young children that are through Irish. They do not question why we use Irish at home; they take it as the norm. It has possibly helped that in my daughter's class are a number of children who have a second or third language at home too.

If you continue to use your Irish with whoever is willing to do so, you will have no regrets. In my view, your classmates are jealous of your willingness to use something that they do not feel competent or confident to.

Lean ar aghaidh, a chara agus ní fheicfidh tú ar ais. Má tá páistí agatsa lá éigin, tabhair bronntanas mór dóibh - dátheangachas.

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This is a particularly good point, and it's a problem that plagues learners as well.

Redwolf

My experience is that people have mellowed considerably in recent years.

Of course, we should all strive to improve our use of the language. If we stopped everyone in Ireland speaking English because of poor grammar, we'd have a quiet country. 'I seen...', 'I done....', 'me bag...' etc. So, why are we so hard on ourselves if there is the odd grammar mistake in Irish? I'm not suggesting we encourage poor grammar, but should not exclude someone from using the language on the basis of it.

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Maith sibh, is rud iontach ar fad é an dátheangachas agus deirtear chomh maith go mbíonn sé i bhfad níos fusa chun teangacha eile a dh'fhoghlaim nuair athá níos mó ná teanga amháin agat. Is cinnte an rud é go n-osclaíonn sé do chuid aigne agus go mbíonn tuiscint eile agat ar mhodhanna teangmháile difreamhúla/ difriúla. labhraím gaoluinn lem' dhroitháir/ deartháir ach níl suim dá laghad ag mo dheirfiúr- agus caithimíd inniúchadh nú fiosrúchán a dhéanamh ar de chuis nú canathaobh/ cén fáth ná fuil daoine compóirdeach nú sásta chun í a labhairt?

'Sí mo thuairim mí gheall ar an sgéal so ná thá eagla ortha roim an nGaoluinn mar shíltear agus síltear i gceart/ i gcirt go mbíonn daoine ag déanamh breithiúnais ortha agus iad á labhairt. Agus mar a dubhairt/ duairt Redwolf go mbíonn an fhadhb so bac d' fhoghlaimeoiribh i Meiriceá is léir go bhfuil an fhadhb so i bhfad níos treise/ tréine/ láidre againne in Éirinn.

Tuigim cad athá á rá agat go domhain, ach ag an am céanna caithimíd tabhairt fén bhfadhb so. Mar is léir go bhfuil líon na ndaoine ar son labhairt na teangan i bhfad níos lú na iadsan athá ina coinnibh. Gan amhras thá feabhas ag teacht ar an sgéal so, ach thá'n feabhas so ag teacht ró-mhall.

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice