I was thinking about buying a Fáinne Airgid. But was wondering what the proficiency level should be first. I know that most people here in the US won't even know what it is, but I would still like one once I have achieved the proficiency level.

I hear there used to be a 'colored' Fáinne for people who had a little Irish but wished to ues what they had. But I couldnt find anyplace to buy such a Fáinne, if they still exist.

Thanks in advance.

The "cúpla focal" fáinne was blue (iirc).

I waited for Daltaí to give me my fáinne airgid. I started doing the one-on-one workshops at the immersion weekends (3x a year) and I assume one year my conversation partner (one of the teachers) put my name in for it.

I don't feel I'm terribly advanced (even though I've been at it a long time), but I figure if I met the standards of some of the teachers for the FA, it was good enough for me!

You can buy them online now without a test.

http://www.aro.ie/aroshop/sites/gaelporten/products.aspx?cid=1660&treeid=1

I think people should be able to judge their own ability as to which fáinne suits them.

The "cúpla focal" one looks rather untidy. I think it should also be a fáinne, maybe in green or red etc. At the very least a fáinne shape to it.

Is maith liom an Fáinne. Tá Fáinne Óir agam.

Regarding wearing the Fáinne outside Ireland: Is there a possibility that the circle emblem might have other meanings and references abroad?

Having a suaitheantas for Irish speakers is a great idea and I am in favour of it but it only has relevance in situations where there are very likely to be other Irish speakers around to see it.

If I was manager of a supermarket in Ireland for instance I'd be delighted to have members of staff able to speak Irish. I'd encourage them to wear the Fáinne. On the other hand would that be regarded by Unionists, North & South, as a provocative emblem?

As far as I know the meaning is not "Look how well I've done in Irish (but never speak it because I prefer to speak English and Irish is too much bother" but rather "I want to speak Irish with you" or "If you want to speak Irish try me." Obviously you devalue the emblem if you don't know Irish fairly well or if you're unwilling to listen to a learner, or if you're the town bore, crank, eccentric etc. :-)

It works best in a school, a sports club or anywhere young people of roughly the same age meet.

I live in NJ; I wear my fáinne every day. Once I got mine from Daltaí, I bought one for every suit lapel in my closet and a few extra for rugby shirt collars, etc.

If nothing else, people will ask me, "what's that?" and then I get to tell them about Irish ("I always thought they spoke English there" "Irish is a language?" etc).

Maith thú, Antaine. I wish you lived here in Ireland.

At Irish Dance Feiseanna here we notice the high standards achieved by the numerous overseas participants from the US and the UK. Wouldn't it be a great step forward if the language could also become a similar popular "essential" cultural activity among those who value and maintain their Irish (Gaelic) roots. I wonder will TEG be availed of by Irish language teachers and learners abroad? www.teg.ie

Thank you all for the feedback. I doubt a Fáinne would have any resemblence to anything here , other than maybe people thinking I support the Oprah Book Club or something (Her symbal being a big silver O).

I can write Irish better than I can speak it, so I wish they still had the Colored Fáinne. I live in New Mexico, so going to a Daltaí Gathering if out too. I plan on working through the book 'Speaking Irish' at some point, I suppose at the end of that, if I can understand everything, I will buy a Fáinne Airgid.

It already is.

http://www.teg.ie/gaeilge/datai_scrudaithe.htm

There are exams in Paris, London, New York and Prague.

Dea-scéal é sin, a Aonghuis.

What about people that are learnign a Dialect, like myself. Is the TEG in standard? if so, do they recognize Dialectical answers? i.e. bhíos for bhí mé or tosnú for tosú etc.. etc.....,Or possibly theres a box you check for which dialect the test will be in? I would love to take the test. But I dont want to have to study Standard right now to do so.

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What about people that are learnign a Dialect, like myself. Is the TEG in standard? if so, do they recognize Dialectical answers? i.e. bhíos for bhí mé or tosnú for tosú etc.. etc.....,

I would imagine that in most official or state-run exams, the focus is on the standard and the examiner might not even be aware of dialect forms at all and dock you marks for what he or she thinks are "errors". Most teachers of Irish nowadays are learners with a very mixed range of ability in the language. I know of individuals teaching Irish to adults whose own Irish is quite weak. Unfortunately, there is no real way of getting around that as there is only a small number of learners who would have near native speaker fluency and pronunciation, so it's often a case of choosing between poor Irish or having nothing at all.

As for wearing the fáinne, I doubt if anyone outside of Ireland will know what it is and many people in Ireland will not know what it is either! The Fáinne is a good idea in theory but I don't know any Irish speakers who would wear one and of the small handful I have seen some of those could be called "cranks"! I don't think that it is without good reason that people avoid wearing the Fáinne. Perhaps all of the negative stereotypes that go with wearing the pioneer pin might put people off wearing the Fáinne; I don't know.

An príomhchúis nach gcaitheann mise fáinne (níos mó) ná nach bhfeileann sé do na baill éadaigh a chaithim. Bhíodh fáinne agam agus mé sna déaga - i mo seaicéad míleata!

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Bhíodh fáinne agam agus mé sna déaga - i mo seaicéad míleata!

Seaicéad míleata? Cé hair a bhís féin ag fearadh cogaidh?!

Recte: an phríomhchúis (tá "cúis" baininscneach).
mo sheaiceád.

Ba déagóir mé. Is leor sin!

quote:

Ba déagóir mé. Is leor sin!

Tá go maith. Ní luafad an cogadh ;)

Recte: ba dhéagóir mé. Ba + séimhiú.

I know I've quoted this before, but it seems relevant. I have a copy of the 1926 Encyclopædia Britannica on my shelf. It is a reprint of the 1911 edition with several volumes added to update the information after the tumultuous decade that came before. In the "new" section appears the first entry the encyclopedia carried on the Irish Language - written by Douglas Hyde:

"Formerly many people might have been noticed, especially young men and women, wearing a gold ring on their dress in the streets of the bigger cities and towns. This was to show that they spoke Irish and wished to be addressed in that language. It was observed that many of these people came to a violent end, and the wearing of this ring was consequently to some extent discontinued."

That article was probably written duing the black and tan era, and would already have been out of date when published.

Fashions come and go - wearing the Fáinne is one.

Not sure if this was posted before

http://www.fainne.ie/

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Is do dhaoine le cumas bunúsach sa Ghaeilge atá an Fáinne Airgid. Léiríonn an Fáinne Óir go bhfuil líofacht sa Ghaeilge agat. Tá an Seanfháinne (Ór) ar fáil chomh maith dóibh siúd gur mhaith leo é.

quote:

"Formerly many people might have been noticed, especially young men and women, wearing a gold ring on their dress in the streets of the bigger cities and towns. This was to show that they spoke Irish and wished to be addressed in that language. It was observed that many of these people came to a violent end, and the wearing of this ring was consequently to some extent discontinued."

That may have a grain of truth to it but I think the reasons why people nowadays don't wear the Fáinne are quite different. For a start, there's the whole badge-wearing thing. I for one dislike having some cause or other emblazoned on my lapel for all to see. I think personal opinions and ideologies are a private thing and should only be brought up in a relevant context. What is more, I don't see the point in telling the whole world that I can speak Irish. Since you'll only ever speak Irish with other Irish speakers at Irish language social events, what's the point of it anyway? Also, I'm not on some proselytising mission to "convert" the masses to the Irish language. If people want to speak Irish, that's great. If other people don't, that's ok too.

I think in the past being an Irish speaker probably had a much more negative image than it does nowadays. Before TG4 and the "weather babes" and Dáithí and Gráinne and Síle and the rest, the wearing of a Fáinne - commonly with a pioneer pin as well - might have conjured up the image of the fundamentalist Roman Catholic, IRA-supporting, homophobic, Brit-hating, sexually repressed Gaeilgeoir. It didn't matter whether any of that was actually true or not - all you needed was the initial seed of doubt in people's minds and the stereotype took wing and flew off on its own.

(Message edited by carmanach on February 07, 2011)

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the wearing of a Fáinne - commonly with a pioneer pin as well - might have conjured up the image of the fundamentalist Roman Catholic, IRA-supporting, homophobic, Brit-hating, sexually repressed Gaeilgeoir.

Perhaps that is still the case. I notice that several Sinn Féin politicians wear the fainne religiously.

A rubberband would be a good alternative to the fáinne like the Lance Armstrong 'Live Strong' wristbands, at least they'll appeal to the youth

They have rubber wrist bands at www.udar.ie that say Gaeilge on them with a thumbs up.