I was eating at a café with some friends today, and someone mentioned that their school choir sang an Irish song.

ME: Ooh you sang in Irish?
FRIEND A: Andrew, there's no such language as Irish, you idiot.
ME: um … Yes. Actually. There is.
FRIEND B: Yeah, it's called English.
ME: No, it's called Irish. It's a Celtic language related to Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. Want me to say something in Irish for you? Hmm?
FRIEND A: You're so frickin full of yourself. Okay fine, they speak some Celtic language or whatever. but IT'S NOT CALLED IRISH.
ME: Right.

Made me a wee bit angry. Twas a great exercise in self control.

Isn't the all-purpose response these days, "mura gcreideann tú mé, déan é a ghoogláil" (if you don't believe me, just google it)?

yeas...I saw that on lj...my condolences on the death of your friend, 'tho I advise taking the body out of your trunk before too much longer...despite the cold weather, the smell will soon be a dead giveaway...

oh, you mean you didn't...? Well...you're a better man than I, I suppose ;-)

Too bad you didn't have an IRISH-ENGLISH DICTIONARY in your pocket you can just hand them...

Hahaha, I've had that conversation. I keep TY Irish in my backpack for just that reason. I've actually bet people on the existence of the Irish language, and won a few lunches.

More seriously though, I try and make an effort to let people know that Irish exists. I meet people often who have just never thought about it, or have never looked into it and aren't sure. I think simply informing people helps the langauge to grow.

I were my Fáinne or Grá don Ghaeilge and speak the language to them whether they want me to or not! Hehehe!

In all fairness i live in Ireland agus 'sé Gaeilge caint na hEireann! ;)

I try, whenever possible (my vocabulary is somewhat limited) to use the Irish rather than the english no matter what the circumstances (except dealing with customers over the phone...but even dealing with customers in person), then repeat in english if my meaning was not understood from context.

that usually gets followed by, "what was that?" and then I explain

I do that with my sister, whom I'm trying to get to understand Spanish better, since she's studying it at school. However, I don't repeat things in English, I just point, use hand motions, and repeat in Spanish until she understands. However annoyed she may be with me, she actually learns a lot. =)

That seems like it could be a great way in Éire to get people subconciously use to / understand the language. In my Spanish class, the teacher always speaks in Spanish first, and then repeats in English. A tactic I really don't like though, because all my pathetically lazy classmates' brains completely shut off when she speaks Spanish, and therefore their ability to understand spoken Spanish is extremely low, even after 2 years. It may be difficult to understand spoken language at the beginning, but one can communicate SO much without sharing a common tongue.

That's the way the TEFL courses are taught, not to advertise or anything but they're a really great way to teach the language. I think Irish should be taught that way and only that way, I experienced the techniques with Portugeuse(never seen any of the language before) and I was up talking it in no time, and I remember the lot of it aswell. I do a Rang Comhrá at College and they try to use the immersion technique but it's completely useless thanks to the teaching being barely able to speak Irish herself and the class not actually being immersive, she always has to retreat to English and what she says in Irish is never understood. One time, she was organising a project for the class and everyone started to walk out because they thought it was time to go, I could see the people sitting there as if they were listening when they were actually waiting for her to stop talking so they could leave.

Sure and I've had that conversation too. Being an American, I've had to educate most everyone I know about the fact that Ireland has a language of it's own. In fact I just informed my friend a couple of weeks ago that Ireland has a language for itself. She'd lived in Europe for a couple of months and even met some Irish people in different countries and she still didn't know. My sister helps me educate the common folk because she has told all the girls that she runs around with out in Illinois about Irish, they didn't know either. Anyways people I spend time with get used to the concept of Gaeilge because I'm always trying to use the few words I've figured out how to say. It is something I very much want.
At any rate no one has written on this post for a while but I thought I would because I've experienced this. And I really very much wanted to write on this site because I recently discovered it and I've enjoyed reading all the interesting and engaging postings.

I met some some fellow Cubans at a rest stop in our interstate highway during Christmas vacation... I thought they were from Spain, but they were from Cuba (as I am). They were visiting their grandchildren on a Visa. The older lady thought I was American. I politely corrected her... I'm Cuban AND of Irish descent. Her grandson was interested and asked me if Belfast was the capital of Ireland (he left from Cuba to Spain and then learned English in England). I told him that Dublin is the capital of Ireland and that Ireland has it's own language, "Geilge". He acted as if he had heard that for the first time and thanked me. "I didn't know that Ireland had it's own language", he said. I'm sorry his grandparents had to back, but they assured me that we were now friends.

Small world.

Beannácht agus ahbhliain faoi shéan agus faoi shona duit!

Awww that's just lovely!

Not too long ago Belfast was much bigger than Dublin..

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh féin - Kimee agus Marcia!
Happy new year to you!

Marcia a thaisce--Soy yo Irlandés ‘encubanizado!-abair-Tá Gaeilge/Spáinnis agamsa…an mbeirt acu a labhairt con “la papa caliente en la boca!!”

Cubans-Los Judios del Caribe- have no concept of other languages! Cubans believe that their Spanish/Españglish is the ‘only’ language in the world!

Tengo muchos amigos cubanos…agus bímse ag cur ceiste seo san áireamh dóibh, “? Si me puedo yo hablar castellano, la lengua de ustedes.?!Por qué no pueden ustedes hablar Gaeilge, la lengua de nosotros, los gitanos irlandeses??”

!Vaya! Ní bhíonn freagra ar bith acu ach amháin,”? En dónde aprendió ud. el castellano?!”

A Don Tomás,

Is me D'Eireen agus Galicia. :)

Yes, although I was born in Cuba I am of Irish and yes, Spanish descent... primarily, Galician descent (my Spanish side). Both sides met in Cuba.

"Cubans-Los Judios del Caribe- have no concept of other languages! Cubans believe that their Spanish/Españglish is the ‘only’ language in the world!"

Perhaps it is not a belief, but lack of knowledge.

My personal experiences with Cubans and languages have been different. Everyone in my family fluently speaks and writes at least two languages. I had a cousin (R.I.P) that was fluent in thirteen languages. :) I'm now wondering if Gaeilge was one of those. :)

I started looking into the background of my ancestry about five years ago. Admittedly, I was also surprised to learn that Ireland had it's own language! So does Galicia!

Ath-Bhian fé mhaise dibh ar fad! (As a friend from Killarney writes it.)

A prosperous New Year to all!

A thaisce Marcia-Feliz Año Nuevo duitse! !Qué te vaya bien san Athbhliain!

Is léir nach bhfuil beaucoup Gaeilge/Spáinnis agatsa; mar sin, I shall write in English! OK!??

The Cubans do not lack Knowledge in anything! The Cubans are the most resourceful and knowledgeable and arrogant tribe in the Hispanic World!
If you study Cuban history, you’ll learn why the Cubans are known as”Los Judios del Caribe,” harking back to the Jewish Jesuit, Bart de las Casas(fresh from La Gran Torquemada Dominicana en España,) who established the first Santa Sede in Havana, circa 1508 ad, from whence ‘La Conquista del Nuevo Mundo’ went forth!

So, when it comes to Languages, the Cubans are still imbued with Jewish Jesuit arrogance; even though they can speak your language, they ‘demand’ that you first speak their language!

If only the Irish were as tenacious and arrogant as the Cubans in preserving the Irish Language!!…Taibhreamh na súl oscailte, measaim!!

Don Tomás de Baol Beo