Dia dhuit! Conas ta tu? Is mise Henry Bacha. I am a sixth grader at Jones Middle School in Columbus, Ohio, and I have chosen to study Irish for a Social Studies project. I recently discovered Daltai na Gaeilge, and was wondering if you could please answer some questions for me.

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?
How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?
How often do you use or speak Irish?
Do you have any favorite Irish words?
Are more people learning Irish?
If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Slan!

Henry a chara!

Ta me go brea! Go raibh mait agat. Agus tu fein? Is teanga na mathair an Bearla.

1. I Pursued the study of Irish because my people spoke this language for 2500 years. I have only studied now about 3 months.
2. I speak Irish every day
3. I have MANY favorite words. Among those would be: uachtar roite, an aimsir, beannact
4.I don't know if more people are learning Irish. i am learning it with my 80 year old father and we are having a blast.
5. I don't know if Irish is in a revival or not, but I am learning something that I always had a longing for in my heart.

Thanks YOU for being interest in the language of our people.

Slan go foill,
Faber MacMhaolain

1. I love languages. Also, my ethnic background is Irish, English, and German and I already speak English and German.
2. I taught myself. It's taken me about two years to get where I am today.
3. I try to read and write Irish daily. I don't really have any opportunities to speak it.
4. I hate to pick favourites, but I'm fond of those words with no straightforward English equivalent like oiread, dícheall, and riamh.
5. I couldn't say whether more people are learning Irish or not. IME, I meet a lot of people who talk about learning Irish, but few ever do anything about it.
6. It's a lot easier to find resources for learning and improving Irish now than it was twenty years ago when I first became interested in the language.

1. I love to study languages in general, but Irish is my main target because I love the language and I am Irish myself and I want to speak the native language of the country. Not only that the sound of it, the dialects, the orthography just takes my fancy.

2. I taught myself by self study by reading books, doing lessons from internet, listening to native speakers from CDs and websites. I started to learn Irish seriously around November/December in 2005 and I am in the level that I am today.

3. I write Irish every day on the internet with friends, and speak Irish on mic every Monday night on Skype and soem Thursday nights too. Whenever I am in Ireland I speak Irish 24/7.

4. I can't think on the top of my head, but there are some.

5. I think so, we are at the point now if foriegners learn Irish we don't ask ''why are you learning'' or finding it suprising, because its very common now.

(Message edited by Trigger on May 14, 2009)

1. I was taught Irish (badly) at school so I had a smattering of the language. The turning point came when we sent our eldest daughter to our local Naíonra (Irish language pre-school). We sent her because it was convenient and very well run but we intended for her to attend English-medium national (elementary) school. However, she thrived at the Naíonra and I began to fall for the language in a way that was never the case when I was at school myself. She is now in her second year at a Gaelscoil (Irish-medium elementary school) and her three siblings will follow her. In order to support her in her schooling but also for my own benefit, I am now on the road to some sort of working knowledge of the language.

2. I am very much still learning. I have attended classes on and off for three years. I have some friends who are fluent so I speak with them. I get involved in some school activities through Irish (I am the proud member of the winning team in the latest renewal of the parents' annual tráth na gceist!), I read an Irish language newspaper every week, I listen to Irish language radio stations, I watch Irish language TV programmes, I look at websites like this one, I read the odd book.

3. Every day in some shape or form. I do my best to use my Irish with my children. I meet a good friend with fluent Irish for lunch every week for lunch. I take every opportunity that comes my way. My grammar and spelling is appalling still - I need to put some structure on my knowledge and make a genuine effort to learn a few rules!

4. I love the prefixes - it's sometimes like the language is a box of lego and you can build your own words and phrases. So- and mion- and iar- and il- etc. are a handy little toolkit.

5. I'm not sure. The Gaelscoileanna are thriving and bringing the likes of me along for the ride but the standard of teaching and learning of Irish in the general schooling system is a cause for concern. Then there's the Gaeltacht...

6. I have no excuse for not achieving a level of proficiency. There is a wealth of resources available to me with little effort. If anything, I have been a bit lazy, letting it all wash over me without 'hitting the books'. I have nothing but admiration for the achivements of learners outside of Ireland, who have to work so much harder than I.

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?
I have spoken both English and Irish all my life

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?
See previous

How often do you use or speak Irish?
Daily

Do you have any favorite Irish words?
No

Are more people learning Irish?
Yes

If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you
It means that my children are no longer as obviously different for speaking Irish as I was at there age. There are significantly more resources (Radio, TV, books, magazines) then previoulsy. And it is slightly easier to find occasions to speak Irish. There is a lot of material on the web, which is useful, and gives a powerful outlet.

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?
I grew up in Ireland where, of course, Irish is compulsory at school. My mother was a member of Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League) and, thankfully, she managed to implant the pro-Irish language instinct in me.

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?
In school, during holidays in the Gaeltacht and, most of all perhaps, autodidactically. It is hard to say how long it took because of the sometimes indefinable nature of compulsory school-learning compared to the more purposeful effort when people learn on their own initiative. A person with a reasonable language-learning ability could learn Irish in approx. 3 years; due to the lack of immersion opportunities and the more difficult grammar compared to other more run-of-the-mill learner languages it takes somewhat longer to learn Irish.

How often do you use or speak Irish?
I read and/or write it every day.

Do you have any favorite Irish words?
Not that I could single out at the moment. I like the way one can compose Irish words from "component parts". This makes the meaning of previously unencountered words quite transparent once one possesses a certain basic stock of words. In this way it is very like German, for example, and makes Irish adaptable to any field of human activity.

Are there more people learning Irish?
I believe so.

If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?
The presence of Irish in the modern communication systems gives me the opportunity to link in to an Irish language network. In this way living in Germany is not much different, I have found, than living in the non-Irish speaking part of Ireland, for the most part.

Go n-éirí leat!

(Message edited by ormondo on May 16, 2009)

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?
- I've always loved languages. My ethnic background is Breton (among others), which is Celtic too, and when I was about 15 I began to get interested in Celtic things and especially in the Celtic languages. I began to learn both Irish and Breton when I was 16 (and I'll be 30 next month). Actually, I chose to learn Breton and Irish in particular because my great-grandmother spoke Breton and because Irish sounds very nice and looks very nice when it's written.

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?
- With books and songs, at home, at the beginning. Then I had Irish classes at the university (3 or 4 hours every week). Then I spent one year in Northern Ireland, in Coleraine University, to become more fluent ; when I was there I spent much time in the Gaeltacht.
It's hard to say long it took, because there are always things to learn (learning never ends), and because it takes more or less time according to the time you have and to the facilities you have to help you learning. I began to learn Irish in 1996 and I'd say I was quite fluent in 1999. But if I had Irish classes before, it may have taken less time, I dunno.

How often do you use or speak Irish?
- Daily. I read and write Irish everyday on forums and on MSN with friends, and I speak it on Skype too, about once a week (but I had to stop one or two weeks ago, or more, because I had much work to do, I hope I'll be able to go back on Skype soon).

Do you have any favorite Irish words?
- oíche ; leabhar ; rua...

Are more people learning Irish?
- I think so. Especially there are more and more people from outside Ireland who want to learn it.

If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?
- There are more opportunities to use Irish, more resources about Irish. And thanks to internet it's much easier to use Irish because it's easy to find other people who speak it or who are learning it. Internet is a blessing for language learners.

I hope I'm not late with this:

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?
I was reared bilingually and Irish came easily to me and my older siblings at school. In Primary School in those days there was considerable emphasis on the Irish language and being good at it I enjoyed it.

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?

I have known some Irish all my life. I still need to check on the spelling or meaning of particular words -- as I do in English -- and I listen to Raidio na Gaeltachta every day and learn some more.

How often do you use or speak Irish?

All my family can speak it very well although some seem to prefer English. In general we are not aware what language we are speaking as we switch from one to the other frequently. We speak it every day and being known as Irish speakers we often speak it in the shops or at church etc. A number of our neighbours speak Irish and many of our friends. There are probably as many Irish-speakers in our area as there are in many of the weaker Gaeltacht areas.

Do you have any favorite Irish words?

Yes! Sleamchúiseach; géarchúiseach; neamhchúiseach; neafaiseach; and cuidsúlach.

Are more people learning Irish?

I think so. Attitudes seem to have turned in favour of the language since the Poles, Lithuanians, and Rumanians flooded into the country. The Language Act and the Official Status in Europe gave us a great boost.

If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?

Not very much except we are not embarrassed to speak Irish. The development of this medium has been a God-send: dictionaries and the corpus of Irish literature online. Daltaí na Gaeilge prompts me to write a little Irish every day.

had to do it in school and then actualy willingly pursued it in college.

school - my mother was a ''native'' speaker, it is a long and onging process

daily. either spoken, written, reading or listening - sometimes all of the above

always loved ''rí-rá'' and ''uaim''.

yes - substantialy more.

the revival started in the 19th century, how it affects me is that irish is still around.

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?

It was the language of my ancestors for thousands of years. After studying history, I saw how steps were taken by the British to eradicate it - I think this is wrong and I don't want that centuries-old plan to succeed. Also, it sounds cool and is just awesome in general.

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?

I've been studying for 12 years. I started taking classes from Daltaí at Brookdale College in NJ, did their immersion weekends and a lot of work on my own from books.

How often do you use or speak Irish?

I use it every day. I speak it with family and friends (they know a little bit) and teach it to whomever will sit still long enough ;-)

Do you have any favorite Irish words?

"críochnaithe" was always one of my favorites because of the way it looks and sounds. also "aghaidh"...I like spelling and pronouncing it for people, telling them it's "spelled just the way it sounds"...and after twelve years, I can honestly say I see the truth in that statement, lol

Are more people learning Irish?

I think more people are learning it than were learning it fifteen or twenty years ago. I think that's true for Ireland as well as in the US...the effect of Daltaí on the US northeast is noticable and impressive

If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?

not *everybody* looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm learning "Irish"...it makes me very happy that more people are learning it and the attitudes toward it in Ireland are getting better. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I think the first steps down a positive road have been taken. Living in the US (I've always lived in NJ), I don't have much practical application for the language - in other words, I don't get to use it with the local shopkeeper or as a bonus on a job application, but I find it fulfilling to be part of a movement that is preserving an important part of our human civilization.

Well, here's mo chuid beag. I don't really know if it's helpful.

1) Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?

Nowhere near my mother tongue, which is in another language family. But I got interested about a year ago.

2) How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?

I only know a little, 99% of it I learned here at Daltaí. I'm learning all the time, taking my time.

3) How often do you use or speak Irish?

I use Irish only here at the moment. Not very often, but when I have the time. It's currently a cumbersome process which takes a lot of thinking. I can't say I speak any, but I taste the different sounds in my mouth.

4) Do you have any favorite Irish words?

Let me think. Mo chuisle. LOL!

5) Are more people learning Irish?

Worldwide, definitely. In my little circles, none that I know of. Some of my friends seem to think it weird that I put any of my time into it. I know there are a few people in my country who for a reason or another have some proficiency, and are learning.

6) If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?

I'm afraid I hardly have the right to answer this. But I'm happy that the language survived long term suppression to a time where resources can be made easily available. The Internet is a great tool.

(Message edited by curiousfinn on May 17, 2009)

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?
I had little to Nonee Irish till about 7/8 years ago ,i guess in honesty it started as a class when i was unemployed , Now i couldnt imagine life without it

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?
I was lucky that there was a daily class close by , as well as that i soon found out about other classes , and at one stage i was doing 16 hours of classes a week as well as much as i could do at home as well ,how long? it varies from person to person and on how much time you put into learning , i dunno how long exactly it took me as i am still learning and will be For life/

How often do you use or speak Irish?
Daily , with friends socially and online , i have a regular chat online with friends from online , i meet friends in a Cafe twice a week to chat in Gaeilge , and meet other friends in a House twice a Week.
early on i made a conscious decision to build up an Irish circle , meaning i atttend any class, course , meeting or Irish event that had an Irish theme so i got to know who was involved in Irish and now i work as an Irish language assistant in schools and have my own class and also teach guitar through Irish , i still try to attend anything Irish , i sometimes still cant believe how strong this Passion is that drives me on , Long may it last.

Do you have any favorite Irish words?
Sneachta, Rua, and many others

Are more people learning Irish?
Without a doubht , especially in Northern Ireland and throughout the world, via internet and summer courses in Ireland. The amount of people in Derry Learning or already fluent and working throught Irish , would amaze you and also the and people who live here and are unaware or at least not as aware of it as i am ,if it still is kinda underdround , it will explode soon , of that i am sure.


If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you ?
As i said in the first place i started Irish when unemployed and now i am employed by Irish , to get paid for doing something that you love is Paradise on earth , i have worked voluntarilly for years through Irish , and i would again if it was the case to do so , but with the contacts i have made over the years i get asked regularilly to do classes ans attend events ,
Tá saol an madadh bháin agam/ I have the Life of Reilly

Teifeach

1: I found the language to be an enjoyable challenge, and wanted to become fluent in my native language. I felt it was an important cultural aspect to maintain, for me.

2: I am still learning Irish. How long is it taking? Well - 13 years of school, and when I was 23 or 24 I started re-learning it again through the medium of books and cds. I started up a conversational group in my city about a year and a half ago - and I've learned the majority of what I know through that. I feel that language immersion is the only real way of learning.

While the stuff I studied in school gave me a decent grasp of the basics, which allowed me to build up my Irish at a decent rate - I would certainly attribute my Irish through using it in a conversational group.

3. I speak Irish and use Irish every day of every week. I have many friends who are fluent, some of who I have met through politics, some through cultural movements.

4. Favourite Irish words.. Hmm. I'm not sure. I like them all :)

5. Are more people learning Irish? Hm.. well, the education is still as terrible as it has always been - so I reckon the same level of Irish still exists in school.

But the interesting movement lays outside of schools, where conversational groups are popping up all over the place. It is certainly on it's way to being revived, but still has a long road ahead.

6. The revival of Irish allows me to meet more people who speak the language, which aids my in learning it further. But it also allows me to travel and meet great people.. Some of my most enjoyable weekends have been through Irish language activism.

I hope I'm not too late but here's another testimony for you Henry, I don't know whether it could be useful to your project but still here it is .

Why did I pursue ... Irish?
I pursued this knowledge of Irish because, first of all, I love languages and I've been trying to learn many of them since I was born. It's quite a hobby for me .I travelled a lot during my childhood and adolescence (in Africa and Europe) and was in contact with many cultures and languages . I then learned some tongues I still practise today and some tongues that I've forgotten but which I could be able to re-learn if I had to. Irish is special though since my mother was Irish . I began learning it when I was twelve . Sentimentally speaking, Irish is very strong for me, nevertheless...

How did I learn Irish and how long did it take ?
I'm afraid I've been learning Irish since I was twelve and I am still learning it!! . I'm over fifty by now and I've never been able to speak it really although (as I said before) I can speak other languages without any difficulty. But , as far as this one is concerned ...!!!
During about twenty years or so I practically forgot it . My job had - still has - nothing to do with languages and didn't give me much time for studying. The little time I had left I used for my job and not for my languages.
The beginning? I had seen some letters in Irish on my mother desk , ancient ones she had said... and I've just wanted to understand what was written in them . But my mother wouldn't know.
I bought this Buntus Cainte book (excuse me for the lack of fadas)a little time afterwards , and started learning . Then I bought other books just for the pleasure of reading these words I coudn't understand but I knew my grandfather and grandmother could have pronounced.


How often do I use or Speak Irish?
As you may have noticed, I am french and I live in France , and , unfortunately enough nobody around me speaks Irish, so that I never speak Irish but in some special occasions when I tell my chidren what this or that word would be in Irish (for them to remember this beautiful language). But I'm afraid they 're just very polite with me and don't really care (they have other problems ... adolescence). My wife sometimes asks me to translate some words because she likes the sounds of Irish, it's like music she says.

Do, I have any favourite words.
No, not really, I really like the music of this tongue and I love them all words.

Are more people learning Irish ?
I wouldn't be able to answer this . I'm not qualified to. Nobody around me speaks Irish but my friends are always interested in what I can tell about it . I discovered Daltai Na Gaeilge two years ago and I was really astounded at the importance of Irish particularly in the US.

How is the revival of Irish affecting me .
I'm very pleased with this revival and my hope is that it's going to continue in this way for long . As was already said before , the internet is a blessing for that .

Gaeilge abu!

Moved to "Native Speaker" (if only it were that easy!)

(Message edited by ormondo on May 21, 2009)

ormondo - not quite sure what that post means

enlighten me? ldt

Hi, Henry. How is your project going? If it is not too late to jump in:

quote:

Why did you pursue a knowledge of Irish, or was it your mother tongue?

I have no Irish background (is mór an trua í - more's the pity), despite having been given an Irish name at birth, but simply fell in love with the sounds of the language when I became interested in Irish music at university. Enya's old band Clannad got me interested in the music and their older albums led me to the language. Now I sing Irish songs in a band and at sessions and am interested in sean-nós (old-style) singing.

quote:

How did you learn Irish, and how long did it take?

I was fortunate enough to find a copy of Micheál Ó Siadhail's (then newly-released) Learning Irish in our university library and I was hooked. That was 25 years ago and I am still learning!

I tried learning on my own, and then when I went to live in Tokyo, Japan, I found an Irish professor Séamas MacElwain, who taught Irish on Saturday mornings for free. He introduced me to Buntús Cainte and other sources and even lumped Dineen (a heavy old dictionary) all the way back from Ireland just for me!

Later I made five trips to Ireland to learn Irish music and language.

I also took up teaching beginners as a way to make myself learn more and study in more depth.

quote:

How often do you use or speak Irish?

Not often until I found na Daltaí forum. Although there are many more study groups in Japan now, I moved back to Australia and haven't been able to hook up with many speakers here. I know they are there, but people don't tend to mention it in everyday English conversation much.

One advantage I have, though, is that singing in a band, people come up and ask me about the Irish songs I sing (sometimes they even ask in Irish/as Gaeilge!) or they tell me they know someone who speaks.

Unfortunately they tend not to be locals - most often they are Irish backpackers. I hope my singing inspires them to take another look at their own language when they return to Ireland.

quote:

Do you have any favorite Irish words?

All of them. I love the sounds, especially the broad "dh/gh" and "ch" and all of the distinctions between broad and slender. The language has a logic all its own. I love finding old words in songs that send me back to that heavy old dictionary I mentioned earlier looking for their meanings.

There are tens if not hundreds of terms of endearment, but something as simple as a stóirín "my little treasure" or a ghrá mo chroí "love of my heart, my true love" - it has a ring to it like no other language.

quote:

Are more people learning Irish?

Certainly there are more foreigners learning - and more and more of them have no ancestral connection to Ireland. Our classes in Japan were always full of people who, like myself, had been drawn in by the music, Enya would be a major influence for these people, others are Liam Ó Maonlaigh, and other singers in the more recent "rockier" bands.

quote:

If so, how is the revival of Irish affecting you?

It means that more people are willing to hire Irish music bands that sing in Irish to play music for their events. It means that more people want to learn and there are therefore more opportunities to teach and to translate. And it simply means that I am more and more likely to find people to speak Irish with in my travels.