The Irish Language

There is not a language barrier here in Ireland because everyone speaks English. Over my spring break to Budapest and Vienna I learned to appreciate this lack of a barrier.  If we needed to ask for directs our first question was, “Do you speak English?” About half the time, the answer was no.  I now fully appreciate that the Irish teach English to all of their school children.

            Children growing up in Ireland must learn English and Gaelic.  Depending on where you live determines if your school will teach in English or in Gaelic.  In most of Ireland everything is done in English.  Most adults only remember a few phrases of Gaelic and it is only taught in school as a required subject.  In other parts of Ireland, known as the Gaeltacht Irish is the main language.  When meeting someone on the sidewalk, or a cashier at a store people speak in Gaelic first, then when they realize we are visitors they switch to English.  The Gaeltachts are used as a way to preserve the fading Irish culture.  They are found mostly along the west coast.   In these Gaeltachts schools are taught entirely in Gaelic.  Kids are punished if they are heard speaking any English at any time of the school day.  English is taught as a subject.  Here in Spiddal we are actually in a Gaeltacht.  This means we are able to hear the Irish language more and see more of the old Irish culture.    

            The Irish language is no easy language to learn.  In our Monday class we have been learning some basic conversation pieces.  We have learned how to say hello, introduce ourselves and discus the weather.  Gaelic is very hard to learn because the pronunciation of each letter is not similar to how we pronounce them. This makes sounding things out impossible.  When spoken by a fluent speaker it is a beautiful, flowing language, when spoken by me it is a serious struggle and no one knows what I am trying to say!