Stiúrthóir Cúnta ag teastáil ó Naíonra i gContae na Mí
June 11, 2013
Rialacha Nua Iontrála ina Bhagairt ar an Ghaelscolaíocht
June 10, 2013
Students today must struggle with the peculiarities of the modh coinníollach
June 10, 2013
This, I guess, is the dreaded day for many Leaving Certificate students.
Today it’s Irish (Paper I) and students without a convenient exemption must struggle with the vexatious complications of the briathra neamhrialta and the peculiarities of the modh coinníollach in a tongue the vast majority have never used naturally.
Likely most candidates will find themselves deeply resenting the remaining compulsory aspects of Irish as they grope to find an appropriate saor briathair to impress the examiners. And indeed I can’t blame them, for at school I didn’t care much for “ár dteanga féin” either. To a 1970s teenager, the language seemed preposterously unfashionable and irrelevant. Then, later events changed my viewpoint.
Encountering other nationalities, speaking their native tongue with pride, I began pondering the ironies of being constantly mistaken on my travels for an Englishman abroad. So I undertook a few Irish classes, did a couple of residential Gaeltacht courses and became cuísach maith as Gaelige. But then, like the terrier that caught its own tail, the question arose, what next?
Immediately apparent was the sad fact that Irish woefully lacked everyday utility. There were unpromising encounters with those, líofa as Gaelige, who usually seemed to inhabit the upper echelons of the public service. Opening a conversation with these exalted polymaths was invariably an intimidating experience. It wasn’t that they weren’t tolerant of those less linguistically endowed: it just always seemed strange and contrived for two English-speakers to struggle with a very one-sided conversation in another tongue that only one had mastered.
Then there were the inevitable encounters with the grammatically obsessed. Once in an Irish club when I ventured that the way ahead for the Ireland lay with a “dhá teanga” policy it was pointed out to me rather sternly that this tactic offered few possibilities – a “dhá Theanga” approach might, however, have some merit.
Otherwise, the attitude of most Irish people seemed one of benign indifference tinged with some embarrassment at an inability to answer even the most basic greeting as Gaelige. Indeed, Irish conversation seemed to make sense only between fluent Gaelic speakers or as a cunning ploy used abroad for exchanging private jokes about the idiosyncrasies of other nationalities.
Yet on my hillwalking trips across the Irish Sea, I noticed how ordinary people had proudly embraced Welsh as an expression of national identity. Why were things different in Wales, I wondered? Was Irish independence the culprit? Had it somehow removed our need for the national distinctiveness that is still desired by those nations remaining within the UK and also among the Catholic community of West Belfast, where there is now a thriving Gaeltacht Quarter?
Certainly, one reason any sentimental attachment to the language by Irish people was immediately defenestrated after our independence, was the rash over-enthusiasm of successive governments. We have a long history of rejecting that which is imposed upon us; the Norman Conquest, the Protestant Reformation, the Act of Union, Guinness Light. So compulsory Irish was all wrong for our national psyche and it is only recently that the language has begun to recover from this well-intentioned but dissolute policy.
Indeed, green shoots have sprouted. Gael Scoileanna have been a huge success and increasing numbers of Gael Coláistí teach through Irish at second level. For Leaving Certificate Irish, 40 per cent of marks are awarded for oral competence while TG4 has succeeded in making the language accessible in a way that the worthy, but extravagantly dull, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta never did. Salutations in Irish are now noticeably more common in daily life; and there was no fuss when the 2013 Hurling League final was broadcast with commentary as Gaelige.
Despite such positives, it is still rare to encounter functional use of Ireland’s first language. I have noticed, for example, that students leaving Gael Coláistí will almost inevitably revert to English once beyond the school gates. And so the old problem remains that while there is much goodwill towards the language, few opportunities exist to speak it.
My own pet solution involves designating the Irish section of our libraries as relaxing bilingual areas with people encouraged to come along, socialise and use whatever cúpla focal they have. Failing this, I’m afraid we must invoke the nuclear option and entirely ban the language. Given the peculiarities of our national psyche, this should ensure that within a short time we would be proudly embracing Irish as ár dteanga féin once again.
www.irishtimes.com
Foilsithe ar 10 Meitheamh 2013
The Irish Times, An Irishman’s Diary – John G O’Dwyer
Dioplóma i Múineadh na Gaeilge do Dhaoine Fásta
June 7, 2013
Féile Loinneog Lúnasa
June 7, 2013
Ceachtanna Feadóg Stáin ar líne do Scoileanna
June 7, 2013
Irish language classes at Conradh na Gaeilge
June 7, 2013
Conradh na Gaeilge is running its annual three week Irish language classes this June with classes commencing on Tuesday June 11 at the Conradh na Gaeilge offices, 45 Dominick Street, Galway.
The classes are run twice a week, and with three different levels, the courses are suitable to all with a desire to learn our native tongue. The fee for the course is €125 and it is a great starting point for those looking to immerse themselves in the Irish culture.
For further information and to register for courses see www.cnag.ie or call 091 567824.
www.advertiser.ie/galway
Campa Riabhach – Irish language summer camp
June 7, 2013
Ar mhaith leat cuidiú le páistí s’agatsa? Ní i nGaillimh nó i gConamara amháin atá fáil ar thacaíocht don aos óg maidir le Gaeilge.
Beidh campa samhraidh ar siúl don dara bliain déag as a chéile do leanaí bunscoile, ón 6ú go 17ú Lúnasa. Cosnaíonn sé €45 ar pháiste ar feadh seachtaine nó €90 ar feadh coicíse. Tá lacáiste ar fáil do theaghlaigh. Tugann an campa deis do pháistí Gaeilge a fhoghlaim in atmaisféar súgartha. Bíonn cluichí, ról-imirt, ealaín agus a lán eile ar siúl ann. Má tá spéis agat ann, tar I dteagmháil linn ar 091 871718 nó oifig@lochariach
Help your child get ahead. For the 12th year in a row there will be an Irish language summer camp in Loughrea. The summer camp will run from August 6 to 10 and from August 12 to 17. The cost is €45 per child per week or €90 for the fortnight. A family discount applies.
The main aim of the camp is that children enjoy themselves as they learn and improve their Irish while having fun. Qualified teachers will be in charge of the camp and will use games, role-play, art, quizzes, and much more to make language learning an enjoyable experience.
If you are interested in the camp, contact the office on 091 871718 or oifig@lochariach. A deposit of €25 per child is required to secure a place.
www.advertiser.ie/galway
Examiners on trend with music and fashion
June 7, 2013
Little Mix, Michelle Obama and Kilkenny hurler Henry Shefflin all got a mention.
Music, technology, celebrities, and tweeting dominated this year’s Junior Cert Irish papers as examiners made a concerted effort to produce a current and culturally relevant exam.
Students opened up the higher level paper 1 and were greeted with a large picture of Little Mix, the 2011 winners of The X Factor. The girl group were used to test Irish grammar.
Although there was much online chatter over the inclusion of a comprehension piece on tweeting (#gtúit) as Gaeilge, teachers felt that some of the vocabulary used – including the word líonrú (networking) – would be unfamiliar to many teens. “I’ve been teaching Irish for over 20 years and I had to look the word up in an online dictionary,” said Robbie Cronin, ASTI subject representative for Irish and a teacher at Marian College, Ballsbridge, Dublin. Manchán Magan Paper 1 also featured a language test built around a TG4 programme hosted by travel writer Manchán Magan.
On higher level paper 2, the contemporary relevance continued, with students required to write about a video they saw on YouTube, or about a band or musician they like or to compose an angry missive to the editor of the local newspaper protesting over a referee’s decision in a sports game.
The response to paper 1 was mixed. A reading comprehension question about a lonely monkey in the Congo was probing but fair, according to Séamus Ó Fearraigh, TUI subject representative for Irish and a teacher in Gairmscoil Chú Uladh, Co Donegal, but some students criticised a question that asked them to write about the sad eyes of the monkey.
Mr Ó Fearraigh said that some of the essay topics – such as “How I Spent my Last Birthday”, “Fashion for People Today” and “Why friends are Very Important in People’s Lives” – would be challenging enough for people to write about in English, let alone Irish. Plain prose The response to paper 2 was more favourable, said Mr Cronin. “It received very positive feedback from both students and teachers. Generally the hardest parts for the boys I teach are the unseen prose and poetry pieces, which can be incomprehensible – not so this year,” he said.
There were no shocks or upsets in the ordinary level paper, where celebrities also featured: US first lady Michelle Obama and Kilkenny hurler Henry Shefflin – regarded by some as the greatest hurler of all time – both made an appearance. Questions were asked about Ms Obama’s children, her family, and her upbringing.
“The topic was current because the Obamas were in Ireland last year and Michelle Obama is due to make a return visit with her children,” said Mr Ó Fearraigh.
But not all students were happy. One boy took to Twitter to moan: “Why can’t I do honours Irish?! They got Little Mix while pass got Michelle Obama.”
www.irishtimes.com
Knocknacarra’s bilingual community national school
June 7, 2013
With only a few days to do so, the City of Galway VEC continues to seek expressions of interest for Galway’s first bilingual community national school in Knocknacarra.
The proposed bilingual model delivers the Department of Education and Skills’ primary education curriculum through two languages, Irish and English, to enable progression to post primary education through the medium of either Irish or English, and welcomes children from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
The bilingual community national school will aim to ensure that students are sufficiently competent in Irish to progress to Coláiste na Coiribe, City of Galway VEC’s Coláiste lán-Ghaeilge in Knocknacarra, which recently topped The Sunday Times’ table for university progression in Connacht, should they wish to do so.
Community national schools deliver the Goodness Me! Goodness You! programme, a multibelief programme which caters for children of all beliefs and none. It forms part of the daily teaching and learning in the school.
Full information on the programme can be found at www.cgvec.ie/cns
There has been a high level of interest from parents to date and the VEC is asking all interested parents to register an expression of interest at www.cgvec.ie/cns on or before June 10. You can also contact the City of Galway VEC at 091 549 400.
If successful, the City of Galway VEC’s bilingual community national school will open in Knocknacarra.
www.advertiser.ie/galway
