Irish Translation Forum

Agallamh: Cad iad do thuairimí mar gheall ar stádas na Gaoluinne fé láthair sna Bunscoileanna in Éirinn?

Freagra: ?

Agallamh: Cad a dhéanfá, tú fhéin, chun Gaoluinn a fhoghlaim cé ná fuil sé foghlamtha anois agus tú i mbun múinteoireachta agus fé agallamh inniu? Má tá rang agat ar maidin cad a mhúinfeá?

Freagra:?

Agallamh: Muna mbeadh Béarla agat, an bhféadfá múineadh i Sasana?

Freagra:?

BAILIGH AS. Your arguments are poor. People are not rude but incensed. It is very seldom I have witnessed on this site such a reaction to anyone's comments. I ask you one question...Can you understand why people have found your comments objectionable? And, if you couldn't speak English in England and be interviewed in England would you have gotten a job there? You put the Irish language at a lower level and that is fine but don't be all upset about other people's reaction to that. You may be a good teacher but not in Irish. I speak Irish and English but can't teach geography, even though it's taught through English. You need to learn first not get a few answers on a website to get through an interview and then get all pissy about something you can't even see. You are the reason why the language is the way it is the national schools. No offence, no rudeness, just fact.

On the other hand, the mere fact that you're a native speaker of a language does not automatically make you a good teacher of that language. I had a French teacher in 10-12 grade (in what we call the gymnasium) who spoke the language fluently but he was crap at teaching it.

iora_rua wrote:On the other hand, the mere fact that you're a native speaker of a language does not automatically make you a good teacher of that language. I had a French teacher in 10-12 grade (in what we call the gymnasium) who spoke the language fluently but he was crap at teaching it.

We had that issue as well in a Japanese class my daughter took at her old school. The teacher was a native speaker, but she was NOT a good teacher (Her method mostly had to do with screaming at the students and trying to get them to change their pencil grip. It didn't help that her English was very poor, so we poor parents couldn't even understand what she wanted our kids to do). Anna's always wanted to learn Japanese, but after just a month or so, she left the class in tears and never went back.

On the upside, her new school has a FANTASTIC Japanese teacher, and she's just flying with it now...getting good grades and loving every minute!

Redwolf

I don't believe you have to be a native speaker to be a teacher, thats silly. But I believe one has to be fluent/someone who has mastered the language to teach it themselves.

But I agree native speakers can be bad at teaching their native language, English is my native language and I wouldn't be able to teach it but I would be better teaching Irish since I am learning it myself.

Benjamin wrote:I don't believe you have to be a native speaker to be a teacher, thats silly. But I believe one has to be fluent/someone who has mastered the language to teach it themselves.

But I agree native speakers can be bad at teaching their native language, English is my native language and I wouldn't be able to teach it but I would be better teaching Irish since I am learning it myself.

Same here. I'm actually more confident teaching Irish (at a VERY elementary level!) than I would be with English, because what I know about Irish I've learned recently enough to know that I'm not just going on instinct (and, at the level I'm teaching, people understand if I say "I'm not sure about that...let me check with some more fluent speakers and get back to you").

Redwolf

Redwolf wrote:

Benjamin wrote:I don't believe you have to be a native speaker to be a teacher, thats silly. But I believe one has to be fluent/someone who has mastered the language to teach it themselves.

But I agree native speakers can be bad at teaching their native language, English is my native language and I wouldn't be able to teach it but I would be better teaching Irish since I am learning it myself.

Same here. I'm actually more confident teaching Irish (at a VERY elementary level!) than I would be with English, because what I know about Irish I've learned recently enough to know that I'm not just going on instinct (and, at the level I'm teaching, people understand if I say "I'm not sure about that...let me check with some more fluent speakers and get back to you").

Redwolf

Hello Redwolf.
Do you teach adults, and is the class formal?
I hope you don't mind me asking. I'd say it must be very enjoyable for you.

Regarding the theme of this thread - the teaching of Irish to young people here in school, well it does help to have the language first - I have worked with quite a few people getting ready for their teaching interviews and I did often wonder how some of them were ever going to effectively teach Irish... but as has been said here already it shows in the results...

Hi braoin,

Yes, it's adults (16+, but most of my students have been 40+) and while it's a "formal" class in that it's sponsored by a local parks department, I've tried to keep it pretty light and fun...not too heavy on the grammar. There are a couple of people in the class who have real interest in the language (i.e., who remind me of me when I first started), and I'm already directing them toward more advanced resources.

It is fun, and good practice for me!

Redwolf