Sir, – In school I was led to believe that languages were not my strong suit, and I was better off sticking with the sciences. This despite a grudging grá for our native tongue fuelled by annual trips to the Donegal Gaeltacht.
My limited Irish died a death once I left school. Then in my late 20s, I emigrated to the Netherlands, and despite zero knowledge of the local tongue in my suitcase, within six months, I was able to converse in Dutch.
This was made possible by being exposed to the spoken language, and ample opportunities to try it out for myself on a daily basis. I was learning like a child – conveying my thoughts verbally as best I could, with no regard for grammar.
Nor could I write a word of it at that stage. But I could listen, gradually building up an understanding of what was being said, and I could speak, gradually making myself understood. Well aware that I was speaking like a child at first, getting over the resultant embarrassment was the biggest hurdle.
RM Block
Perseverance won through, though, to the point where I was eventually fluent enough to converse on any topic. I am certain that there are many Irish exiles with similar experiences.
The lesson here is: to learn a language you first need to be able to speak it. Look how you learned English as a child; not through grammatical rules, not through textbooks, but through conversation.
Get that fundamental skill under your belt first, then the rest will follow.
We should adopt the same approach to teaching Irish. It’s not rocket science. – Yours, etc,
HUGH McDONNELL,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – I absolutely agree Irish should be taught as a language, not a subject (Letters, June 16th). I well remember Irish being drummed into us in the classroom, for one reason only, in order to pass exams, including at the end of it all, the Leaving Cert.
In the 1960s, you had to pass your Irish exam or you failed your Leaving Cert. I passed my Irish Leaving Cert exam with flying colours, but to my shame I cannot understand or speak a word of Irish. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN Mc DEVITT,
Glenties,
Co Donegal.
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Sir, - John Doyle (Letters, June 16th) reveals his survey of Irish language teaching proficiency during his biology class. It might be interesting to have an Irish teacher quiz a class of biology students on their understanding of glucose absorption in the intestine after consuming an extra-large pizza, no onions but extra olives. For balance, an dtuigeann tú. – Yours, etc,
EOGHAN MaC CORMAIC,
Cill Chríost,
Gaillimh.
