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Hi,
I’m a graduate student at Columbia Journalism School who is working on a master’s project about the Irish language in the United States. I’m specifically looking to speak with families here who are raising their children bilingual in Irish and English. If you are a parent in this situation or know of one, I’d love to talk to you!
You can email me at kbb2121@columbia.edu.Kiley
I’m not trying to be cheeky here, but I am slightly curious how old your daughter is. Your profile says your proficiency in Irish is “intermediate”. It doesn’t seem one could get very far raising a child exclusively in a language one has only an intermediate ability in.
I’m not trying to be cheeky here, but I am slightly curious how old your daughter is. Your profile says your proficiency in Irish is “intermediate”. It doesn’t seem one could get very far raising a child exclusively in a language one has only an intermediate ability in.
She’s a toddler. I have enough more than enough Irish for her – when I don’t know what a word is in Irish, I look it up. So my vocabulary has grown quickly. I study every day, often for hours. I can usually understand anything I read in Irish, and am rarely at a loss for words at this point. My goal is to pass a C1 exam in a few months.
I recently documented all the words she uses, and she’s above average for her age. And Irish is by far dominant.
That’s cool. I am usually very skeptical of especially Americans’ spoken/listening ability especially. As a foreigner, learning to read and write Irish is difficult enough, but being conversational in it without access to natives is a whole other challenge that most do not succeed in. Where are you taking your C1 exam?
Just in case you haven’t come across it yet, here’s a blog by someone raising his children through Irish in the States.
http://gasuirlegaeilge.wordpress.com/She’s a toddler. I have enough more than enough Irish for her – when I don’t know what a word is in Irish, I look it up. So my vocabulary has grown quickly. I study every day, often for hours. I can usually understand anything I read in Irish, and am rarely at a loss for words at this point. My goal is to pass a C1 exam in a few months.
I recently documented all the words she uses, and she’s above average for her age. And Irish is by far dominant.
You are doing a wonderful job and even if you are using different pronunciations of Irish or even wrong grammar, it doesn’t matter — you are keeping the language alive which is more than most are doing.
It’s always best to be learning from native speakers, but if those are not available, so what?
I wouldn’t be discouragedGood luck
That’s cool. I am usually very skeptical of especially Americans’ spoken/listening ability especially. As a foreigner, learning to read and write Irish is difficult enough, but being conversational in it without access to natives is a whole other challenge that most do not succeed in.
I guess that would be difficult. I wouldn’t know because I’ve made several trips to Ireland and been immersed in Irish. I also started learning when I was a child, so it makes it easier to wrap my mind around. I don’t agree that being conversational without access to natives is that difficult. Simply the more you use the target language and suspend your native language, the faster and better you progress. Irish isn’t the only language I’ve learned, and I progress largely by practicing with natives, though of course they’re harder to find with Irish.
She’s a toddler. I have enough more than enough Irish for her – when I don’t know what a word is in Irish, I look it up. So my vocabulary has grown quickly. I study every day, often for hours. I can usually understand anything I read in Irish, and am rarely at a loss for words at this point. My goal is to pass a C1 exam in a few months.
I recently documented all the words she uses, and she’s above average for her age. And Irish is by far dominant.
You are doing a wonderful job and even if you are using different pronunciations of Irish or even wrong grammar, it doesn’t matter — you are keeping the language alive which is more than most are doing.
It’s always best to be learning from native speakers, but if those are not available, so what?
I wouldn’t be discouragedGood luck
GRMA. I appreciate your support. I’m sure we do make mistakes, but that can be remedied by immersing her with natives later. Through her mother she has family near a Gaeltacht, so arranging such a trip isn’t too difficult. Worst case scenario is she doesn’t sound native, or speaks a pidgin, but can later improve it.
Statements like this:
“I don’t agree that being conversational without access to natives is that difficult.”
sound a bit foolish when preceded by statements like this:
“I wouldn’t know because I’ve made several trips to Ireland and been immersed in Irish. I also started learning when I was a child”You don’t know, so why you think you have any grounds to agree or disagree with that statement is beyond me.
Statements like this:
“I don’t agree that being conversational without access to natives is that difficult.”
sound a bit foolish when preceded by statements like this:
“I wouldn’t know because I’ve made several trips to Ireland and been immersed in Irish. I also started learning when I was a child”You don’t know, so why you think you have any grounds to agree or disagree with that statement is beyond me.
I was referring to language learning in general- I’ve reached a conversational level in a couple languages without natives, and I’ve personally known others who have. Conversational isn’t setting the bar too high, imo. But then again, those languages had a lot more in common with English than Irish does, so I have to admit that you’re right. My statement, in the context of discussing the Irish language does sound a bit foolish.
You’re right, the word “conversational” isn’t very specific. In retrospect, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation if I had said “conversationally fluent” which is what I meant, but I can see how you would think I just meant able to converse at all. Sorry for not being clearer. I too have reached conversational level in several languages without any help from natives, but when confronted with natives, my shortcomings became immediately apparent. And, in consistency with what you said about proximity to English, the most glaring example of my failure to prepare for native conversation without natives was my trip to Hungary – a country that speaks a language bearing no resemblance or relation to English.
TjOC i think its great what you’re doing and is made equally impressive by the lack of fluent speakers around you as well as the dearth of readily available literature and media. It would be great to hear what your plans are to progress further
GRMA a cargin14. Media is vital- we have invested in a lot of books, music, nursery rhymes and videos. The internet is a great resource, of course. From what I have read about the topic, it seems reading aloud together is second only to speaking. So we read a good bit daily with her in Irish. We read in English much less. She loves her books so that helps. My future plans include getting her immersed in the language, (we can take a trip to Portland, Oregon for that) and spending a lot ón books lol. God has blessed us with another child on the way, this time a son. If we raise him the same way, it will be a big help- one more person she can converse with in Irish daily.
Statements like this:
“I don’t agree that being conversational without access to natives is that difficult.”
sound a bit foolish when preceded by statements like this:
“I wouldn’t know because I’ve made several trips to Ireland and been immersed in Irish. I also started learning when I was a child”You don’t know, so why you think you have any grounds to agree or disagree with that statement is beyond me.
It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t have access to native speakers.
Theoretically she can create her own dialect of Irish.
With the state of Irish these days, it’s not for you to criticize anyone who is practicing Irish.
Why don’t you go and fix the fake Civil Service Irish which is now in print in all the books?
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