Irish revival
I'm not an Irish native speaker, but I can speak every bit as good as a native speaker and I'm one of 250,000 people who speak Irish fluently, not to mention the 80,000 remaining native speakers. Irish is an official language of both Ireland and the EU. We have our own tv station TG4 and 5 all Irish-language radio stations. One in ten school children receive their education in Irish at both primary and secondary level, consisting of 168 irish-language primary schools and 44 secondary schools outside of the Gaeltachts. We have one Irish daily newspaper, one weekly newspaper and a monthly newspaper. We have a large range of software available in Irish. We have our own Irish language commissioner. Is fearr le Ghaeilge briste ná Béarla cliste - It's better to have broken Irish than perfect English.
Sent by: Daniel
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Irish-Gaelic is also spoken in Canada as well as in Ireland.
In addition to the Irish Gaeltacht,there is also a gaeltacht in Canada.
I'm in that 250,000 as well.
I love my language and am fiercely patriotic. People are always attacking me in school about it being a "dead language" but I know that's not true. I take an active part in the events in my local school during Seachtain na Gaeilge. TÃr gan teanga, tÃr gan anam: A country without a language is a country without an identity.
I used to hate Irish until i went to the gaeltach a few years ago during the summer and realised its a great language. I have since returned to the gaeltach every year since and plan to keep going. There are many things that shows us that Irish is on the come back. These are: More and more people are going to gaeltach summer schools every year. More gaelscoils are opening, primary and secondary, and more people are attending them. People like Des Bishop, who learned Irish really gave a boost to the language as I know people who learned it just because he did and who now realise that Irish is a language that needs to be preserved and maybe restored. There are also many things that prevent Irish from coming back: There are many people who say Irish is a waste of time and money they are the people who struggled learning it in school and who never really spent time 'living with Irish'. Also many people don't bother with Irish as they realise they'll find no use for it after their exams. Those people shouldnt be like that, they shouldn't look down at it, it is a part of who they are!
I'm an adult 10 years living in the UK moved here from Cork after the leaving cert. Having had 15 years of learning the language and hearing it in school. I find my love of Irish growing ever stronger as I get older. Irish has a fantastic way of expressing emotion in a way that English has no single words for. As you travel the world more and more you realise the importance of having a language of your native country. It's as much a part of your country as the music the art and the geogrpahy.
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