The Daltaí Boards: How do you use your Irish?

Dia daoibh.

I'm curious how folks use their Irish in everyday life. I know that it can be difficult to find other people to speak with, unlike major languages like Spanish and French, and so it interests me to know just when and where people tend to find the most opportunity to use it. Where do you end up speaking as Gaeilge the most? Forums, chatrooms, at home, at work, at school, social functions, etcetera. How often do you get the chance to really speak the language? All the time, often, occasionally, rarely, never.

I am creating a learning program via interactive comics and texts for teaching basic conversational skills in Irish, making this topic important to the development of the materials. I'm wanting to know just how Irish tends to be spoken outside of the Gaeltachtaí, so that I can choose the best themes for the project. It's easy enough to come up with generic themes, but I was wanting a more realistic image of how people actually use the language in their lives. When it can be difficult to find people to talk to, it probably affects the range of topics that folks find the opportunity to discuss. For example, I really doubt that most people need to know how to call a taxi in Irish, which is the kind of stuff that tends to be taught in the major languages.

Personally, I only use it on the internet. I have not tried to find anyone in my area that can speak it, as I doubt that it would be easy considering my location. I live in an American suburb, and to my knowledge it would be much more realistic to find other speakers in a place like New York or Los Angeles. I have only begun to really get into actually talking to people as Gaeilge, so I'm still a bit uncomfortable about using it outside of study, but I'm finding that it's not too hard once you get over the initial nervousness.

Go raibh maith agaibh.