I agree with the sentiment that it's up to each individual whether he/she wants a tattoo. I wouldn't get one myself (well, maybe a tiny one somewhere discreet some day), but I'm happy to help with translations if I can, and I wholeheartedly agree with Red that learners can pick up a lot of knowledge from the suggestions and corrections offered for tattoos. Since most of us have no trouble pitying the people who have gotten poorly translated tattoos, I like the idea that the forum is available to those who want to get them done correctly, and those who don't want to get involved don't have to.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I don't understand why some people get tattoos in languages they cannot speak (or pronounce, more than likely), such as Chinese or Irish.

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Is foghlaimeoir mé. Is fearr liom Gaeilge Chonnacht. Corrections always appreciated.

I think in many cases it's just because it's decorative, but with Irish it may be an ethnic pride thing, and that seems fine to me. It's not all that different from institutions having slogans in Latin, even though most of the people there may have no idea what the slogan actually says. Just try asking a random group of Americans what E Pluribus Unum means (it's on our currency, so nearly everyone has seen it), and I bet you'd get some pretty humorous attempts at translations.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

http://imgur.com/LA7OXTD

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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Oh dear. I wonder what she was hoping for?

Probably "Values" - there is no distinction between singular and plural in most East Asian languages, and it often comes through in their English.

(If she had a "+" instead of a star after it, it could have been "value plus".)

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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).

It could be anything really... one possibility is "valour", which is from the same root as "value", and many European languages don't make a distinction (even English was "worth" as approximately synonymous with both words). Maybe Chinese also has one word for both...

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A language belongs to its native speakers, and when you speak it, you are a guest in their homes.
If you are not a good guest, you have no right to complain about receiving poor hospitality.

If she is Japanese, another possibility is that her name or nickname is 直 NAO and she looked up the meaning in the dictionary and lo and behold ...

(Someone else tried to say this amongst the many comments under the picture in the link Bríd provided.)


One reason might be that even if you make a mistake, no one you know is likely to notice.

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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).

You'd think, but you never know! At a concert once, a friend of mine jokingly said to the audience "the nice thing about singing in Irish is no one knows if you've made a mistake!" She followed that up with "an bhfuil Gaeilge ag aon duine anseo anocht?" and a woman right in the front row put up her hand!

Redwolf

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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).