Comhdháil iontach
October 8, 2013
The pre-school organisation Altram was set up in 1990 to support all-Irish early years projects. Altram organises training and resources for staff members, committees and parents who have an active interest in Irish language nurseries. Altram organised an international conference last week in Derry.(By the way, the development of conference facilities in Derry is another example of the progress being made in this city.) Among the speakers was Doctor Antonella Sorace of Edinburgh University who asked the question ‘Why is bilingualism important?’. Doctor Piet Van de Craén from Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, spoke on the theme ‘Early bilingualism in the European Union.’ Aodán Mac Póilin (The Ulster Trust) spoke about the Irish language in Northern Ireland, and Áine Andrews from Altram gave a lecture on ‘Early years Irish education in Northern Ireland, successes and challenges.’ There were workshops on the Friday, showing resources for parents and teachers. The early years are extremely important. A child should start the second language as early as possible. A small child sees no problem with two languages: it is amazing how a young child can go from one language to another without thinking after a short while in an all-Irish nursery or primary school. But this is not a miracle: two thirds of the world’s population speak at least two languages. When someone starts to learn a language later, he sees a series of problems: grammar, vocabulary, translation, etc.: he is trying to learn a lot within a short period of time in an unnatural way. You can learn a language later on in life, but it is much more difficult. Bilingualism opens the mind (that is why I am so broad-minded myself) and it gives the child insight and self confidence – and much more, of course.
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