This is a copy of a post I just made on Facebook, because we aren't all on Facebook, and I thought you all would get a kick out of it. This happened to me today:

"The coolest thing just happened.

I was in downtown Santa Cruz, and I wanted to ask the lady at the Downtown Association information booth a question. As I walked up to the window, she beamed at me and said "Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?'

I kind of blinked at her for a second, before replying with "Tá mé go maith, go raibh maith agat"...the whole time my brain is freaking out, thinking "OK, I've finally flipped. I'm having auditory hallucinations. I could have sworn that woman just spoke to me in Irish."

Didn't hurt that she had the correct pronunciation down cold too! To the point of not pronouncing the "n" and getting the séimhiú right in "chaoi" and the proper pronunciation of the Irish broad "t"!

I looked around a bit, trying to assure myself that I was still in Santa Cruz and hadn't somehow been magically transported to An Spidéal or An Cheathrú Rua. Nope. Two hippie wannabes smoking pot, a girl in dreads holding a sign that said "Got Leftovers?" and at least one homeless guy with a pit bull within 10 yards of me. Definitely Santa Cruz.

I panicked a bit, thinking I must know her from somewhere (Former student? One of Mary Mc Laughlin's former students? Cór Ainglí? Someone I should know from the DSG?). I finally just asked her outright "An Éireannach thú? Cá bhfuir tú do chuid Gaeilge?"

She laughed and said "Sorry...I only know a little." Turns out she's made a point of learning basic greetings in a wide variety of languages, including Irish and Welsh! She saw my harp necklace and took a gamble that I was from Ireland.

She did mention that I seemed to have more Irish than most of the people from Ireland she encounters in her job. Don't know if that's true, or if I'm just more willing to speak it, but I was seriously impressed that she'd put so much effort into not only learning a greeting in Irish, but learning to pronounce it so very well!

So be prepared, Irish visitors to Santa Cruz! We're taking over the place, phrase by phrase!"

Maith sibh!

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Scéal maith é sin !

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

sounds like she's big into her job! I'd say her experience of Irish people not knowing Irish may be a combination of guilt and reluctance to speak it, but also the fact that most Irish people would be unaware of 'cen chaoi (in)a bhfuil tú?' as people only learn 'Conas atá tú?' in school.

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I agree! I was really impressed!

I wasn't sure, because I don't know much about how the language is taught in school. As a learner from "outside," I was exposed to all three greetings early on. I may use "Cad é mar atá tú?" myself (although, if I were in Connacht, I'd use the local greeting out of respect for the local dialect), but I easily recognize all of them, and I'm sure the same is true of all of us here. I guess I'd kind of assume that a person educated in Ireland would recognize the various forms, even if they were reluctant or unable to respond.

Redwolf

Not necessarily, people in Munster and Leinster are generally taught conas atá tú. Whereas, in Connacht and Ulster it varies, some teachers may pay lip service to the local dialect, however many don't.

Personally, I've never heard of Cén chaoi (in)a bhfuil tú or Goidé mar 'tá tú, until I noticed the phrases when we were preparing for the aural exams in third year of secondary school.

Even though students may hear the phrases, usually most students are unaware of what they actually mean, as the variations are very rarely explicitly taught. Anyway, most students in the aural exam are too busy desperately trying to match the key words in the question they are being asked with any words that they can hear.

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I was in Calgary, Canada last Summer where I noticed several "Irish" pubs named Céílí. I mentioned the mis-spelling to the manager in the one near my hotel who politely told me that I was an assho.. and to mind my own business!

Oh lovely! He wasn't Irish by any chance? The mis-spelling could also be down to the fact that the 'Americanised' Gaelic font they use abroad tend to put fadas on everything.

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I know someone else who pointed out the misspelling of "Éire" (as "Eire") on a sign in a pub in the U.S. and got a similar reaction.

REdwolf

Erm, you've spelt Redwolf wrong.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).