Hello Everyone,

I was thinking about why learning Irish is so popular. As an American, I find the Irish language beautiful and wonderfully different, but on a deeper note I love learning Gaeilge just for the fun of it, and because I feel I'm taking part in a cause larger than myself. I wonder if these are popular reasons to learn it?

Swisscheese

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Irish Gaelic Tutor
http://www.Irishgaelictutoring.com

My reasons for learning seem to change with the wind.

I was one of those lucky people who "had Irish forced on me" meaning I had to learn it in school, but hated it as a subject. But later on, playing trad music got me interested in learning the lyrics for Irish songs, and after that, I wanted to have conversations in Irish.

English-speaking Ireland is strange, because the Irish language is all around us, like in the placenames and in the way we speak English. But at the same time, it seems very foreign and exotic.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Same. When I started I was young and idealistic, you know one of those who thinks all of Ireland should speak Irish and to hell with English, but Ive grown up a lot since and now I just want to learn it as a personal hobby, to hell with the politics etc. I want to be able to just have a daycent old chat in Irish down the pub and not be too worried about reading old books and all that. Dont get me wrong I'd love to read Peig one day, but my goal for now is to just get me conversationally fluent. I don't particularly feel any deep connection with the language, but having an interest in history and it is nice to be able to speak a language (to some degree) my family were speaking only 100 years ago, but at the end of the day theyre dead I can't have a chat with them so thats where it stops for me! I actually think I am bipolar when it comes to Irish, some weeks I'll be loving it speaking it all the time, but then I'll have a poor day learning and I'll stop for a bit. I think the important thing for my future fluency is that I always return to it eventually.

Actually I must confess I have started learning French for a holiday next year, but I will return to the Gaeilge after

I had no choice really I was in an Irish learning environment since I was 5, where I have completed all my schooling through the medium of Irish. It wasn't until I started college two years ago that I was taught in English. Unlike most students of the Irish medium education system, I enjoyed Irish immensely and I felt and do feel a real cultural connection with it. I also love archaeology, history, etymology, Irish mythology and anthropology and that interest in all things ancient and cultural has led me to love Irish even more. I believe I have a cultural connection to Ireland that no monoglot Anglophonic speaker does, but that sort of opinion ignites debate and controversy.

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

I fell in love with Irish traditional music at the age of 13 (I'm...er...a little bit older than that now!), and have wanted to learn Irish ever since. It has always seemed to me that one can't play or sing (especially!) traditional music properly without an intimate understanding of the culture (language, history, folklore, etc.) that gave rise to it. Along the way, I fell in love with Ireland and the Irish language for their own sakes.

Redwolf

Because it's challenging as heck and I love to torture myself.

No really, that is why. Because there's a bigger payoff when I finally get something right.

I learned Spanish in school, as well as a little bit of French and German. Those all came very easily and I've retained a lot of the Spanish even though I never use it. (The French and German have been lost.) There's a much bigger learning curve with Irish, and for that reason, it's more of an achievement to learn it.

And the other reason? It's because of you people. You're all contagious. I started coming to irishgaelictranslator.com for small random translations. I'd get what I needed and thank you and go on my way. At one point, one of you said, "Oh, and by the way, this is how you pronounce it" and wrote it out phonetically (don't remember who... I'd search up the thread and call you out but I'm afraid I'll get a virus! lol). I started saying it around the house because it sounded cool. My 3-year-old picked it up and started saying it himself. In the middle of the night. In perfect context. When he was half asleep. All on his own. I thought wow, how amazing would it be to learn a new language? My kids could learn with me, we could do it as a family!

I found myself reading other threads just to be reading them. Clicking links to help with pronunciation, articles you all would post.

And the more I learned, the more I realized how beautiful it is.

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I'm very much a beginner learner. Don't hesitate to correct me, as long as you explain why. This is how I learn best!

I remember hearing my grandda speak it to my gram when I was very, very young. And the stories! I would sit in his lap in that gold chair in the corner of the living room, chaos around us (my da was the oldest of 8) but I was safe in his lap with my ear against his chest, and the most wonderful sounds would roll out. I always fell asleep, of course, I must have been 3 or 4, but it's tied up in my earliest, safest memories. Now I wish to pass it on to my sons. It's too pretty to let die. And I am a Riaghain.

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Táim ag foghlaim Gaelainn na Mumhan

Tá fáilte roim nach aon cheartú!
I am a learner. Any translations offered are practice and should not be used unless confirmed.