In a description of an Irish Meetup in New York, I read that it was "a place for the Irish in New York: Irish-born, first generation, second generation, any generation...Speak Irish, don't have the cupla focal and don't even know what that means..."

I don't understand the way "cupla focal" is used in that sentence. Does it mean "a few words," or is there a different or more specific meaning? Is it quoted/used correctly in that English sentence?

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Brand new Irish learner inclined to ask questions. Writer, Words & Worlds of New York, a website about language-learning. http://www.ellenjovin.com

Yes, it literally means “a few words.” It's a set-phrase that usually means “a little bit of Irish” or “a smattering of Irish.”

Níl ach cúpla focal agam = I only have a few words (I can only speak a little bit of Irish)

In English, you need to use the plural “a few words” but in Irish, the word cupla/cúpla always takes the singular.

In Connacht and Ulster, there is a difference between cupla (a few) and cúpla (a married couple, twins). In Munster and in Standard Irish, cúpla (with a long ú) is used for both meanings.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

It does literally mean "a few words". It can be used to mean "School Irish", i.e., you started once (because all Irish children are forced to learn it at school) but stopped.

Theoretically everyone in Ireland has the "cupla focal" but only the enthusiastic ones take it to the next level.

(Crossed with Mick)

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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).

GRMA!

In school Irish classes in Ireland (meaning not the language schools, but the regular schools that everyone attends), is Irish typically taught with a heavy emphasis on grammar and writing? In language-learning there's that eternal discussion of oral skills versus written. I am impressed by the amount of hard-core grammar in my Irish books, and I am suspecting there is a lot of grammar in those school Irish classes. If so, are there also a lot of oral drills in class?

I grew up in California, and I remember some kids just really had trouble with language-learning back in the day--and that was for Spanish!

If you are not good at language, I would think Irish classes would be a lot harder than Spanish classes. Do some children get discouraged and develop an antipathy for their Irish classes? Or is there a larger cultural affection for the language that overrides the difficulties and makes people try harder despite the challenges?

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Brand new Irish learner inclined to ask questions. Writer, Words & Worlds of New York, a website about language-learning. http://www.ellenjovin.com

"Cúpla" only means twins or "a few" in Munster. Calling a married couple "a cúpla" is considered Béarlachas, but its starting to gain a stronger footing due to TG4 and further encroachments from English in Munster also. Instead, "Leanná(i)n" or "leanúin" is more favourable.

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

I was in 1st year in secondary school (about 12-13 years old) when a teacher explained to us that nouns have gender in Irish. I remember being angry that something important like that hadn't been mentioned in primary school. I felt like I had to re-learn all my vocabulary, like I was learning a new language from scratch.

I can't remember much about primary school classes, but in secondary school it was all about literature. We read a lot of short stories and poems by famous writers, and had to answer questions about the themes, mood, author's style etc. The secondary school curriculum seemed to assume that we were all fluent Irish speakers, and Irish class was much the same as our English class. I'm told that the curriculum has changed now, and that conversation skills are much more emphasised (I finished school in 2000).

I know a few primary school teachers, and they say that the new primary curriculum includes a lot of singing, drama and games, and that they have a lot of fun teaching the class. (Hopefully the kids have a lot of fun too).

One thing that really hit me hard as and adult is how different our school Irish was to Gaeltacht Irish. I used to find it very hard to understand native accents and dialects, and much easier to understand people who spoke with an anglicised accent. The difference between slender and broad consonants was never taught when I was in school (or if it was, I wasn't paying attention). That's something I discovered as an adult learner.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

That's good to know, Cian.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Mick, that noun gender detail is very interesting! I think I would have been annoyed, too.

Did you have to answer the questions about Irish literature also in Irish? That sounds rather advanced!

I have to say, the broad versus slender issue is not getting a whole lot of attention from me at present.

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Brand new Irish learner inclined to ask questions. Writer, Words & Worlds of New York, a website about language-learning. http://www.ellenjovin.com

The questions were in Irish, and we had to write out answers in Irish. I got through my Leaving Cert (final exams) by memorising sample answers that the teacher gave us.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

If you really want to find all about it, the curriculum for Irish, as well as for the other subjects, is there on-line, there are also teachers' forums (such as Teachnet.ie, Gaelscoileanna and so on - srl) and official websites that are there to support the teaching of Irish, but it would be too long to give them all here. You can also have a look at the Irish educational publishers' websites where you can see the titles of books for learning Irish that are in use in schools across the country - BBC Northern Ireland (Gaeilge) are now also in on the act. Here are two books that might interest you, if you wish to get hold of them - both published by Gill & Macmillan (www.gillmacmillan.ie) Shortcuts to Success - Irish Grammar Guide for Junior Certificate by Neasa Ní Chnáimhsí ISBN 978 0 7171 4728 1 and Shortcuts to Success - The Irish Oral - Leaving Certificate Higher and Ordinary Level - An Scrúdú Cáinte by Peadar Ó Ceallaigh & Elaine Mullins (includes CD) ISBN 978 0 7171 3832 6 (though some of the phonic transcriptions might not please a few of the members here).
Unfortunately many Irish people have painful memories of the way Irish was taught to them in the past, but as far as I can see there's been a lot of thought and teaching expertise put into the way Irish is taught nowadays. One important factor, though this is only my opinion, is that immersing children in the target language as is practised in Gaelscoileanna has had a positive influence, but the discussion is still open on that.
PS I'm not Irish and I don't live in Ireland.