I was on the phone recently to a cousin of mine in Ireland and I was telling him that I have got interested in Irish.

His reply? "Why the hell are you going to the bother!"

Because it's the most beautiful language in the world.

Because the best people in Ireland speak it.

Because it's there.

Acco, you will encounter insecurity everywhere, in any walk of life, especially from those who have tried and failed.

Ná caill do mhisneach! (Don't lose heart!)

yeah, some of our country men still have that attitude. I call it not appreciating what you have. Your cousin needs to live somewhere outside of IReland and not be around Irish people or Irishness for about a year... He'd soon crave trad Irish music and things of that nature (which he currently probably abhors and finds old fashioned) and if he was around others who spoke English and another language he'd soon feel a bit empty becauase he couldn't speak aon Gaeilge if there was another Irish person in the room while his new friends spoke several languages...

On a positive note my family back home used to have the attitude towards Irish "ah shur what feckin use is it anyways?" Not so much anymore. They are at least positive towards it and encourage the kids as best they can. One sister even talks about the only way to have the kids get good at Irish is to send them to the Gaeltacht for a few weeks (mainly because she sees that her inlaws do that with good results). One cousin sends her kids to a Gaelscoileanna (sp?) that opened up in my home town of Portlaoise. There's a lot more interest in the language than there used to be with people taking practical steps towards it even if those steps are small.

You're cousin's response "why the hell bother?" smacks of arrogance and ignorance. He probably thinks he's being clever by saying that. feck the bedrudgers that's what I say. Just keep on keeping on. Learn some Irish if you want. You might inspire a change in attitude on his part.

Slán anois,
Niall

I think it's wonderful that the Irish Diaspora's children are helping to keep alive the wonderful Irish language. I have seen many examples of it here in the United States.

A Acco, maybe you should try speaking to your cousin in Irish - deep down, he may actually like it!

A Acco,
When she was alive my mother (Irishwoman) used to say that it was a pity because she couldn't utter 3 words in Irish, and that it was a beautiful language and she would have loved speaking fluently her ancestor's tongue .
But my grandmother was full of contempt towards this outofdate language nobody but uncultured people could speak ! Did she mean that English was only meant for cultured people ? But my mother had been educated in such an atmosphere . Pity!
Anyway, I think my grandmother and some of the people around her were just victims of the ideas of that time .
I would'nt be so hard as Niall and say that your cousin is arrogant or ignorant . People do things sometimes because it's the only way for them to live a decent life an I would'nt judge my grandmother for that for instance - nor your cousin-. I think the life she's had was very harsh and she coudn't do what she wanted and she was'nt that free (even as far as her language was concerned ).
Maybe your cousin is surrounded with people who're not very keen on Irish . And what if he doesn't like it ! He's got the right . It's not his priority and you can't blame him for that.
On the other hand , I absolutely agree with Niall (an Brendan) : just keep on studying this beautiful language and let's add your effort to the one of all our Irish, American and other nationality Gaeilgelover friends.

A Acco,

Tell him that I know some *very* nice girls here in California who think that Irish is the sexiest thing that they have ever heard of.

As someone that came from Ireland I didn't appreciate our culture so much until I left it. Used not to be a big fan of trad music, now I think its great and am even playhing the darn stuff. Same wiht the language. In Ireland I wanted to like it (I didn't dislike it) but for various reasonse never fully appreciated the language or what I had there.

I think like the fellas cousin we take the language for granted and dont realize how much some foreigners actually value our ancient language. I think thats basically it, we dont value how rich the language is, we dont appreciate its 'oldness' we are maybe not made aware of its uniqueness and value. That's why we are amazed when some American wants to learn Irish.

Another thing is that young Irish people want to be seen as modern and we're not sure if the Irish language will be part of modern Ireland. People of IRish descent living in other western countries are trying to connect with the past and the language offers a connection.

Irish needs to be seen as 'cool' yes even 'sexi' as the fella above said. Now we just have to get more people living in Ireland to see it that way.

so again Acco, learn some Irish and see if you get a response from him.
niall



Jehan, re your grandmother. I can totally see where she was coming from. It was a different time and different perspective. She coldn't be blamed for that.

The idea of Irish being "a bother" is common especially in areas on the fringe of the Gaeltacht. Read Seán de Fréine's "The Great Silence" for more on this. I just found another book on the same subject An tAthair Colmán Ó hUallacháin's "The Irish and Irish -- a sociolinguistic analysis of the relationship between a people and their language"

Growing up in Ireland causes a child anxiety when faced with the two cultures. In my case my parents were so different from everyone else's parents on the road that I was sometimes ashamed. I tried to imitate what all the other youngsters were doing, following pop music and speaking as they did.

I knew when the teacher mocked people's mis-use of English he was mocking me and my family.

Yet in the house I heard things. I heard a cousin play Irish music on a mouth organ and my mother name each tune. There was some competition between them. Could he find one she did not know.

Later when I had succeeded in playing "Irene Good Night" on a mouth organ my father brought me to Waltons and bought a mileoidín -- a button-key accordion with three stops and a few bass chords. When I was failing to produce any tunes from it my mother took it up and played a tune easily. I hadn't known she could play. They had had an accordion in her childhood home and everyone played.

We had so much in our house that I felt I had to hide from others lest we be thought backward, "hick", "hillbilly" or "culchie".

Now I am proud of it all and do my best to promote every bit of it, especially the Irish. And there's much more of it around now thanks to Gaelscoileanna, Raidio na Gaeltachta agus TG4. Perhaps the best is yet to come.

Standing up for the use of Irish requires courage. We have a lot to be proud of and it is a joy to see people at home and abroad learning the language and playing the music. I know of people who emigrated to America and were immediately recruited as teachers of Irish in their new community. They wrote home in glee boasting of their earnings.

I myself sang a song in Irish at a social function in upstate New York years ago and was astonished next morning to be presented with the text of a song in Irish and asked to record it for one of the stars of the show.

I often think of Seán Pléimeann, the Waterford journalist of the late 19th century, who died in despair thinking the Irish language was to be no more.

Little did he think that more than a 100 years later people would be communicating with each other through Irish on such media as this and that our European neighbours would have shown us such respect by accepting our language as an Official Working Language of the European Union. It is a far cry from the days of British rule when my father and mother were young -- and despised if they used Irish.

quote:

Perhaps the best is yet to come.

A Thaidhgín,

There are so many beautiful thoughts contained in your posting above, and I think your remark about the future is very telling. With all the activity within the Irish language community, both in Ireland and abroad, I cannot help but think of Malcom Gladwell's book The Tipping Point. In this book, he talks about how things can reach the point where they are embraced by people at large. The book is not just some pie-in-the-sky dreaming, but is based on real-life example as far ranging as fashions, community re-building, etc.

I think that the Tipping Point may be just around the corner for the Irish language and that as you say the best is yet to come.

Táimid ag gabháil an treo ceart ar aon chuma. Is é mo mheas féin freisin go bhfuil méar Thaidhgín ar chuisle na treibhe mar atá ráite agat thuas.

Las mé tine chnámh ag crosbhealach idir an áit seo agus Droim Dhá Thiar (i Liatroim) i ndiaidh a hocht a chlog anocht. Rinne mé an rud céanna anuraidh. Trí dhream Gael a eagraíonn é, ar bhealach scaoilte go leor. Cláir adhmaid a cheannach agus stáitse damhsa a réiteach, ceapairí, suíocháin de gach chineál srl. Cuireann sé ionadh a ndóthain ar mhuintir an Bhéarla, agus ar chuid de mhuintir na Gaeilge chomh maith leo, oiread seo stráinséirí Gaeilge a bheith thart orthu. Ní raibh san iomlán ach 60-80 nó mar sin, ach tá sé ag imirt tionchair san áit. Níl ann ach gné amháin dá dtarlaíonn i rith na bliana ach measaim nach dtuigeann a leath de na daoine, in Éirinn féin ná taobh amuigh, a bhfuil ag titim amach i 'normálú' na teanga.

Molaim do gach éinne cibé is féidir a dhéanamh chaon lá go ceann deich mbliana a choinneáil ar bun. Tá i bhfad le dul chuig an tipping point, ach ní beag a bhfuil déanta cheana féin.

Scéal Acco thuas, tá níos measa cloiste agam féin na blianta siar. Eachtra teanga a thugtar a leithéid. Is spéisiúil an ghné é den iompar teanga, nó den cothromú idir an dá theanga. Is cuid lárnach d'obair an dul chun cinn iad. Gach am a labhraíonn tú Gaeilg, is féidir go dtarlóidh eachtra den chineál sin amach mar gheall air. Ní raibh i gceist ach caint faoin teanga san eachtra thuas a bhain do Acco, ach is eachtra spéisiúil teanga í. Molaim do gach éinne eachtraí teanga a thionscnamh oiread agus is féidir. Ní spreagadh go dtí iad, ar an dá thaobh. Bogann tú an lár i dtreo na Gaeilge le gach eachtra teanga. Ní miste mar sin iad a dhúiseacht!

Acco a chara, you may not realise it, but your language incident may shake your cousin a bit more than yourself or more than you may realise. It is important that in your next communication, that you're quite resolved and confident in your Irish language interest. No need to be pushy, just solid and resolved. The fact that a blood relative in not on the same wavelength just means that he/she hasn't developed as far as yourself, as of yet. Their loss, and you may indeed regard it so.

When you search around a little more, you shall find a cousin or two who are more in line with your way of thinking. They're there, but you may not have been in contact with them yet. Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir sna cúrsaí seo.

A Acco, a chara,

I've encountered that sort of attitude, and it used to really bother me. Now I just do my best to avoid those people, and seek out like-minded people.

Le meas,

Paul

haigh , i agre with all on this , particularly Paul , move on , no need to fret bout people like that , you will meet and become friends with far more people than you will get this sort of Negativity from , as this post suggests , Ádh mór ort a chara

I am not sure about seeking out like-minded people. Smac-muirí is talking about outreach. Reinforcemnt amongst the language community is valuable but sometimes you have to put the missionary hat on. I think that, deep within most Irish people, there is an identifcation with the language and a gap that needs to be filled. For many of us, our school days damaged our connection to the language but other things, like our first freedoms discovered in trips to the Gaeltacht or our pride in hearing an Irish song in a foreign bar, resonate powerfully. People respond to Irish.

Tá mo chuid Ghaeilge lág fós ach tógaim chuile deis chun é a labhairt. Fuair mé amach go bhfuil Gaeilge reasúnta laidir ag roinnt de mo chairde agus is minic a bímid ag caint as Gaeilge. Cheannaigh mé Foinse an deireadh seactaine seo caite agus thosaigh an fear óg taobh thiar den chuntar ag labhairt Gaeilge dom. Nuair a chasann mé ar tuismitheorí cairde m'iníon sa pub nó sa club, labhraimíd Gaeilge. Uaireanta, cloiseann daoine eile agus stopann siad chun cúpla focail a labhairt (tar éis cupla pionta go hairithe!). Seans go measann daoine eile go bhfuil sé beagán "pretentious" ach táim ró aosta bheith buartha faoi sin. Tá an lár ag druidim duinn agus tá an teachtaireacht ag leathadh.

Maith thú An_chilleasrach
scéal maith ar fad , seachas ní aontaím leat go bhfuil do chuid Ghaeilge lág, Tá Gaeilge mhaith agat gan dabht , lean ort.