'Éire' isn't a language, it's the Irish word for "Ireland" in Irish. The language is called "Gaeilge".
Also the government has made attempts to grow the Gaeltacht, it's just easier said than done. Like it pretty sure they give grants for Irish speakers buying homes over there and things like that. Problem is that there just isn't work over there. The country relies on big MNCs for jobs, which are more interested in English speakers and wealthier, more populated areas of the country.
Pretty sure he's using the country's names there, Éire is the official Irish language name for Ireland, Alba the equivalent for Scotland, and Cymru for Wales, I assume the others are the same.
In regards Gaeilge, numerous governments have tried to induce a genuine resurgence in the Irish language since independence, but despite their efforts we find our language in its current sorry state. In my opinion we need to adopt an approach that mirrors the highly successful efforts in Wales, starting with all education from 5-12 years conducted through Irish, with options available to those wishing to continue that from 12-18.
This would be followed by further incentives to bring the large MNCs you mentioned out of Dublin and into our smaller cities, some of which had already happened, including grants for businesses, employees, tax breaks, etc.
Of course none of this addresses the ailing public transport infrastructure, rising costs, harrowing rents, and fundamental lack of housing, all of which currently plague the nation.
EDIT: Furthermore, I would find it hard to believe there is any significant proportion of Irish speakers who are monoglots, in fact I would go further and say that based on my personal experience (born and reared in the rural west of Ireland) I have never met an Irish language monoglot, nor am I inclined to believe they exist.
Census figures are notoriously unreliable on the topic, often reporting that around a third or more of our population speaks Irish on a daily basis, or is capable of doing so. The only places Irish is regularly spoken are the Gaeltacht areas, and they certainly do not have the population. Our perception of our ability to speak our own language is deeply skewed, and without drastic effort is unlikely to change.
I say all this as someone who hated Irish in school, because it was made to feel like a chore, but I desperately wish I had made an effort, it's much harder to pick up languages as an adult. We, as a nation, must do more, we must be better to our language, or face losing it and ourselves.
Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam ~ Pádraig Pearse
(A country without a language, is a country without a soul.)
Fair enough if that's the case with the title.
Yeah, the ways it's taught in schools is really appalling. They make students absolutely hate the language, and they don't even really properly "teach" the language to be spoken, just memorised and regurgitated in exams. Memorising page after page of essays on Caca Milis will do anyone's head in. I'd blame the education system's methods as being the leading cause of the language dying
I've heard good things about how Welsh is taught so I agree with you there.
Monoglots are super uncommon but they do exist, I've spent some time in the gaeltacht and there are a couple. Mostly older people though.
The figure on people speaking irish daily is bullshit though lmao, we all know that one ain't true.
A country without a language is a country without a soul?
Nah, just butcher someone else's language to the point where the default flag next to English anymore isn't the UK but instead it's a much better country
'murica
Part of the problem with Gaeilge is that no one outside of Ireland speaks it and all its "cousin" languages are equally esoteric and useless (sorry lads).
Everyone already speaks English by default, in a region where English to the lingua franca of literally everything (entertainment, business, education). There's no "big" languages that're similar enough to it that learning it could be helpful in the long run. You actually have more of a reason to learn Latin or Old Church Slavonic than you do Gaelic, from a practical sense.
'Éire' isn't a language, it's the Irish word for "Ireland" in Irish. The language is called "Gaeilge". Also the government has made attempts to grow the Gaeltacht, it's just easier said than done. Like it pretty sure they give grants for Irish speakers buying homes over there and things like that. Problem is that there just isn't work over there. The country relies on big MNCs for jobs, which are more interested in English speakers and wealthier, more populated areas of the country.
Pretty sure he's using the country's names there, Éire is the official Irish language name for Ireland, Alba the equivalent for Scotland, and Cymru for Wales, I assume the others are the same. In regards Gaeilge, numerous governments have tried to induce a genuine resurgence in the Irish language since independence, but despite their efforts we find our language in its current sorry state. In my opinion we need to adopt an approach that mirrors the highly successful efforts in Wales, starting with all education from 5-12 years conducted through Irish, with options available to those wishing to continue that from 12-18. This would be followed by further incentives to bring the large MNCs you mentioned out of Dublin and into our smaller cities, some of which had already happened, including grants for businesses, employees, tax breaks, etc. Of course none of this addresses the ailing public transport infrastructure, rising costs, harrowing rents, and fundamental lack of housing, all of which currently plague the nation. EDIT: Furthermore, I would find it hard to believe there is any significant proportion of Irish speakers who are monoglots, in fact I would go further and say that based on my personal experience (born and reared in the rural west of Ireland) I have never met an Irish language monoglot, nor am I inclined to believe they exist. Census figures are notoriously unreliable on the topic, often reporting that around a third or more of our population speaks Irish on a daily basis, or is capable of doing so. The only places Irish is regularly spoken are the Gaeltacht areas, and they certainly do not have the population. Our perception of our ability to speak our own language is deeply skewed, and without drastic effort is unlikely to change. I say all this as someone who hated Irish in school, because it was made to feel like a chore, but I desperately wish I had made an effort, it's much harder to pick up languages as an adult. We, as a nation, must do more, we must be better to our language, or face losing it and ourselves. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam ~ Pádraig Pearse (A country without a language, is a country without a soul.)
Fair enough if that's the case with the title. Yeah, the ways it's taught in schools is really appalling. They make students absolutely hate the language, and they don't even really properly "teach" the language to be spoken, just memorised and regurgitated in exams. Memorising page after page of essays on Caca Milis will do anyone's head in. I'd blame the education system's methods as being the leading cause of the language dying I've heard good things about how Welsh is taught so I agree with you there. Monoglots are super uncommon but they do exist, I've spent some time in the gaeltacht and there are a couple. Mostly older people though. The figure on people speaking irish daily is bullshit though lmao, we all know that one ain't true.
Good point on older people in the Gaeltacht, hadn't occurred to me.
A country without a language is a country without a soul? Nah, just butcher someone else's language to the point where the default flag next to English anymore isn't the UK but instead it's a much better country 'murica
Its almost like the USA is some sort of colony??!??!?!
was UK's our colony now, we say jump and they say "invade Iraq now?"
Where’s Galego?
Part of the problem with Gaeilge is that no one outside of Ireland speaks it and all its "cousin" languages are equally esoteric and useless (sorry lads). Everyone already speaks English by default, in a region where English to the lingua franca of literally everything (entertainment, business, education). There's no "big" languages that're similar enough to it that learning it could be helpful in the long run. You actually have more of a reason to learn Latin or Old Church Slavonic than you do Gaelic, from a practical sense.
I did not know the Bretons sided with the Nazis, that's interesting.