Arguing on FB about Irish grammar and other topics doesn't seem to be very fruitful. There is a tendency for dogma to rule and who gets the most likes is implicitly correct. Witness attempts to explain of the copula, where pragmatics is ignored, semantics barely tolerated and it just disintegrates into rhyming off the 50+ forms the copula can take, original question be damned

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

The other issue with Facebook is that, with everyone and his brother chiming in, and replies being partially hidden in threads, people often reiterate the same thing over and over.

I enjoy Facebook, but I try to direct the people at Irish For Beginners here whenever I can, as I think the discussion forum format is much more useful for asking questions and getting clarification.

Redwolf

I've honestly tried to distance myself from learner'a stuff recently. I just got into too many heated discussions about things that are correct but not Caighdeánach. And just how people think Irish is some super special language that they're gonna save by themselves and think 'old' in.

Irish For Beginners doesn't tend to be that way, at least not so far. The biggest problem I've seen there is people posting links to poor resources (YouTube videos with poor pronunciation, etc.)...the same ones over and over again. The other issue is that everyone wants something for nothing, so if I dare question the value of Duolingo as a learning source, there's a chorus of "at least it's free!" and "can you suggest anything better?" (fortunately I typically can)

Redwolf

Are they going to resurrect the druidic religion too? I'm sure I'm not the only person here who has had to say no there is no little or no element to Irish culture that involved the 'old religion' etc

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___

What gets on my nerves in the FB group, is that learners who only know a few things try to answer questions, they are often wrong but they are sure they are right, and won't admit they are wrong. As Irish is linked to identity, people think they know everything about Irish since they are Irish. The same happens in Brittany. The less they know about the language, the less they accept that they could be wrong about it...

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Yes, that is often a problem. And they also get very attached to resources they themselves have used and get really pissy if you point out that the pronunciation or grammar is suspect.

Redwolf

While not Facebook, this is exactly what I complained about in my thread the other day... Mostly in relation to an 'Ulster' Irish speaker (who adamantly believes that there is Ulster Irish extant outside of Donegal... and who routinely says táim iontach tuirseach, which really strikes me as dialect mixing -- am I right about that) saying that goidé and caidé aren't real words and can't be used.

Saying goidé isn't Ulster means they know nothing.

It's hard to know is it due to bad and distorted education or a general cultural blindspot or what

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___