Do you believe that educating children in Gaelic has advantages?

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Sarah

Of course it has its advantages.

Suppose he wants to get into TV. The small percentage of fluent Irish speakers stand a much greater chance, purely because there is less competition for jobs. Look how many presenters TG4 has - and how many new recruits they take because once they are well known they invariably shimmy off to RTÃ‰ to make more money.

Even with call centre jobs, public utilities (ESB, Bord Gais etc) are happy to recruit Irish speakers because under the official Languages Act they must be prepared to communicate with customers as Gaeilge.

Suppose he wants to teach, the problem a lot of would-be teachers have is the Irish component of the course and the exam that goes with it.

Cub!â„¢

I was in an Irish school for two years, but there were a lot of bullys so I moved; to an English school (but of course we still learn Irish). Because of my two years in the Irish school I'm one of the best in the class at Irish, and also one of the best at English. When I moved my teacher thought I had dyslexia, but it turned out that I was just behind in English because of my time in the Irish school. I later caught up with the class and I'm now one of the best at English.
But, I do think it has many advantages to learn Irish. As personally I'd hate our native language to disappear!

barbara b

it's supposed to enable the child to learn other languages easier. As well as other advantages, already mentioned

Podge and Rodge Tribute Band

It is an advantage if you have a good looking son or daughter because they'll be guaranteed a job as a weather presenter on TG4 when they grow up.

Orla C

He'd be way ahead in terms of State or civil service jobs.

Flying mop dog

It doesn't have many advantages but when it comes to the Leaving Cert then Irish will be an easy grade for him.

alan m

He could teach gaelic in a gaelic school. However as the international language throughout the world is english his advantages are few.

The Nine Lives of Laura Gonzales

I think English is one of those subjects you really need to have a knack for. I went to a gaelscoil and I'm not a genius or anything, but I was in the top 2% of English students in the country in 6th class.

You say your son is behind in his english reading. His spoken Irish is bound to be really good, but how's his Irish reading? It might just be dyslexia or something like that. You can talk to his school about getting him tested.

Anyway, it's worth keeping him in his current school, even if only for the fact that (like Flying Mop Dog said) once it comes to the JC and LC, he'll have a huge advantage. I'm doing leaving cert Irish at higher level in an english speaking school at the moment and it's a breeze thanks to my primary education. =]

i go to a gaelscoil and im complemented at every subject

Jennatellwertz

Of course it does. When I was taking philosophy in college my professor brought up a good point. He said people who speak different languages think differently. Therefore if you know many languages you can think in many ways.
I am sort of jealous. I always thought Gaelic was a very interesting language, but rarely even get to hear it in the States.
I am the start of the third generation from my family that came to America from Ireland, and my grandmother would never talk about her family or past, and now she is deceased. I always tried to get her to teach me what she could, but she didn't remember much because her life was pretty tough.

kirrii

I think it is better for children to use the english language all the time. I see no advantage educating them in Gaelic although it is good to know the national language. You can go all over the world with english but the irish language is not used outside of Ireland to my knowledge.

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