Gaeilge: A Radical Revolution
- Downloads：7339
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-28 09:55:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Caoimhín De Barra
- ISBN：1782189076
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Everything you think you know about the Irish language is wrong。 It isnt your teachers fault you dont speak it。 Billions of euros are not spent every year on its promotion。 Replacing Irish with English has not been an economic blessing for Ireland。 As a historian of languages and someone who learned Irish as an adult， Caoimhín De Barra offers both academic and personal insights into Irelands complex relationship with its national language。 This book explains why most people dont learn Irish at school， where the deep hatred some have for the language comes from， and how people who want to learn Irish can do so successfully。 Drawing upon the history of other minority languages around the world， De Barra demonstrates why current efforts to promote Irish are doomed to fail and proposes a radical solution for how to revive An Ghaeilge so it can again become the first language of the Irish people。
Reviews
Gearóid
，
An excellent book that I thoroughly enjoyed that has clear structure and is well communicated by the author in a way that you understand his position， his reasons for having said position， and the things that need to be done to see Irish re-emerge as a language on equal footing with English。Most of the book is focused on laying out how we got to a position where Irish is a minority language that is facing demographic issues and a lack of use outside of a stunted education system。 These chapters An excellent book that I thoroughly enjoyed that has clear structure and is well communicated by the author in a way that you understand his position， his reasons for having said position， and the things that need to be done to see Irish re-emerge as a language on equal footing with English。Most of the book is focused on laying out how we got to a position where Irish is a minority language that is facing demographic issues and a lack of use outside of a stunted education system。 These chapters do an excellent job dispelling the myths and common criticisms that you would see laid out in the comment section of Thejournal。ieReading this book will allow you to reply with coherent factual answers that dispel myths like Magic Béarla or that if only we also taught Chinese instead of Irish， then Ireland would be rich， we would have more jobs than we know what to do with， and Mayo would win the All-Ireland football final at last。As someone who who is coming to push for Irish fluency in my 20s after school， I found the book did a great job in reaffirming and articulating a lot of the reasons I have for wanting to prove my Irish for personal political and cultural reasons。My only suggestion for improving the book would be to spend more pages laying out steps that could be taken to improve Irish。 While some of the authors suggested steps are certainly big and ambitious， I feel the book could use a little more fleshing out as to what a reader could do in their own personal capacity outside of emailing their TD to call for for a public vote on implementing a national Irish language transition plan。Overall I really enjoyed book and would recommended to anyone looking to improve their Irish or adopt a "one parent one language" system with their own child。 I also feel it would make an excellent gift for any Irelandshire friends you happen to have if you are looking to give them some insight into the role of the Irish language and why they should be more embracing of Irish as a language and as a part of our cultural heritage。 。。。more
CAG_1337
，
A crude polemic by a language zealot。 Why do adult learners of the Gaeilge like de Barra tend to fall into this camp？ It's rather like trying to get a reasonable argument out of a born-again fundamentalist from the Bible belt。 Critically， he consciously chooses to not even attempt to answer why Irish should be revived （excepting in his ending line 'because we can'） because， as he says， he isn't going to convince anyone no matter how well-pleaded his case may be。 He might be right， but this strik A crude polemic by a language zealot。 Why do adult learners of the Gaeilge like de Barra tend to fall into this camp？ It's rather like trying to get a reasonable argument out of a born-again fundamentalist from the Bible belt。 Critically， he consciously chooses to not even attempt to answer why Irish should be revived （excepting in his ending line 'because we can'） because， as he says， he isn't going to convince anyone no matter how well-pleaded his case may be。 He might be right， but this strikes me as intellectual laziness。 At the very least， everyone would know why he believes Irish should be revived。 The result is that there is a big whole in his book， and what remains will likely only appeal to the already devout true believers out there。 But that's likely his intended audience anyway; the book seems written for the choir。 For a more sobering and realistic approach， I would recommend the work of Aidan Doyle from UCC， whom de Barra seems fond of besmirching。*** Update。 Apparently， if you write a negative review of his book， this author will message you with an extensive response。 God， the fragile ego on this guy！ I don't think he realizes how gauche it is for authors to respond。 。。。more
Jonathan
，
This book does a fantastic job of laying out the groundwork of nationalism and Anglophone superiority that many people， even non-Irish， may find relatable。 As someone with an interest in sociolinguistics， minority/endangered language preservation and language policy， I tore through this book in a single plane ride。A particular point I found interesting was the teardown of the myth that being an Anglophone country is of uncontested economic benefit for a nation。 It had me thinking very much on la This book does a fantastic job of laying out the groundwork of nationalism and Anglophone superiority that many people， even non-Irish， may find relatable。 As someone with an interest in sociolinguistics， minority/endangered language preservation and language policy， I tore through this book in a single plane ride。A particular point I found interesting was the teardown of the myth that being an Anglophone country is of uncontested economic benefit for a nation。 It had me thinking very much on language policy in colonised regions of the world， such as much of sub-Saharan Africa， and the effect that their policies may have had on their post-colonial economic development。Highly recommended not only to people interested in the state of the Irish language， but to those interested in questions of nationalism and language policy in English-speaking countries。 。。。more
Corey Rigley
，
This book is very interesting and provides insight into the current landscape of the Irish language and its future possibilities。 I have a better understanding of other language revival projects around the world as the author explores several， and how they can be compared to Irish， and where those comparisons are actually invalid or impractical。 His economic analysis of how only speaking English affects Ireland， versus the benefits that would arise from being a bilingual country are very interes This book is very interesting and provides insight into the current landscape of the Irish language and its future possibilities。 I have a better understanding of other language revival projects around the world as the author explores several， and how they can be compared to Irish， and where those comparisons are actually invalid or impractical。 His economic analysis of how only speaking English affects Ireland， versus the benefits that would arise from being a bilingual country are very interesting also。 The author is dedicated to the language。 He grew up with English but is rearing his child in Irish。 He is positive in his suggestions on how the language's revival could take place， but acknowledges there is an element of Irish society that dislike the language and would prefer to have 0 state support for it。 His suggestions in his last chapter seem naive and fantasy-like， but he is right in describing how those same suggestions are a way forward。 I believe his suggestions would require huge mobilisation of Irish language supporters and protests for anyone to ever take them seriously， and I can't see the Irish people putting that type of pressure on our government or their neighbours， despite the majority of Irish people expressing the want to be fluent in the Irish language， or to speak it more。 Overall this book is a good contribution to the Irish language debate， I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the Irish language generally。 。。。more
Roundcrisis
，
An interesting account to the way native Irish people see the language。 Nicely written if a little bit repetitive at time。 The first hand account was eye opening
Dominik
，
Sheds some light on how a nation can lose its language and what amount of shame & trauma does it leave behind。 Also， it's mindblowing to see how monolingual English speakers are filled with this neocolonial feeling of contempt towards any other language。 Overall it's a very informative yet quite disheartening read for a language enthusiast。 Sheds some light on how a nation can lose its language and what amount of shame & trauma does it leave behind。 Also， it's mindblowing to see how monolingual English speakers are filled with this neocolonial feeling of contempt towards any other language。 Overall it's a very informative yet quite disheartening read for a language enthusiast。 。。。more
Daryl Feehely
，
The book does an excellent job at describing the many facets of the relationship between Ireland and the Irish language， from ancient history to modern day。 De Barra debunks all of the automated responses most of us Irish have inherited about Gaeilge， such as "It's the way it is taught" and "You'd be better off learning Mandarin"。At times the narrative is somewhat repetitive and a bit too reliant on a myriad of population surveys， however despite this， the book is an enlightening read and an imp The book does an excellent job at describing the many facets of the relationship between Ireland and the Irish language， from ancient history to modern day。 De Barra debunks all of the automated responses most of us Irish have inherited about Gaeilge， such as "It's the way it is taught" and "You'd be better off learning Mandarin"。At times the narrative is somewhat repetitive and a bit too reliant on a myriad of population surveys， however despite this， the book is an enlightening read and an important flag in the ground in the quest to reevalutate our relationship with Irish。 The author concludes with some recommendations as to how Irish could be revived， if the people and the state were serious about it。 Is fearr Gaeilge briste ná Béarla cliste。 。。。more
Nina
，
This book provides an easy-to-follow account of the decline of Irish in relation to Irish history， and outlined some common misconceptions of the Irish language and bilingualism in general well for those unfamiliar with linguistics。 Parts of the book however were quite biased in how they were presented which is understandable in something you're very passionate about and I personally agree for the most part with that bias。 However， this left me with the impression of a work of love over logic， w This book provides an easy-to-follow account of the decline of Irish in relation to Irish history， and outlined some common misconceptions of the Irish language and bilingualism in general well for those unfamiliar with linguistics。 Parts of the book however were quite biased in how they were presented which is understandable in something you're very passionate about and I personally agree for the most part with that bias。 However， this left me with the impression of a work of love over logic， which isn't what I expected in this book， although it was a pleasant read。 。。。more
Aine
，
“Gaeilge: A Radical Revolution” is a good summary of the mainstream story of the decline of Irish （I actually had to keep checking the publication date to check that it hadn’t been published in the mid-1990s）。 De Barra’s argument is that to make Ireland a bilingual country （1） the “celebrity appeal of certain citizens will be harnessed to try and make Irish ‘cool’ in the eyes of our youth and （2） the State should switch to being entirely through the medium of Irish so as to convince a generation “Gaeilge: A Radical Revolution” is a good summary of the mainstream story of the decline of Irish （I actually had to keep checking the publication date to check that it hadn’t been published in the mid-1990s）。 De Barra’s argument is that to make Ireland a bilingual country （1） the “celebrity appeal of certain citizens will be harnessed to try and make Irish ‘cool’ in the eyes of our youth and （2） the State should switch to being entirely through the medium of Irish so as to convince a generation of parents to “take one for the team” and speak to their children in a language that isn’t their first language。 De Barra’s goal is to have 75% of the population having the ability to speak Irish fluently。 His plan is to make Irish “economically useful” by switching the public sector to functioning through Irish， that everyone will have to deal with the State through Irish， and to make Irish-medium education valuable by having elite professions operating through Irish。I originally picked up the book because it was on the shelf in Hodges Fidges and I thought it might have some interesting takes because the back cover said the author was a historian。 After reading the book I am surprised that the author enjoys studying history， never mind lecturing in the subject。 There was very little engagement with the sources。 Many sections start with “I spent five minutes on Google and this is what I found”。 There is no description of what sites he was going to， who the readership was， where the author was coming from， whether the site was known for clickbait， or if the author was a bit of a troll just trying to get more clicks。 In short， there was no acknowledgement of how representative or otherwise any of the quotes were。One example that comes up more than once is a debate held in Loreto Secondary School Bray about whether learning Chinese is a better option than learning Chinese。 There is little or no acknowledgement that the school is in a town where there are a good number of Chinese speakers so the debate is not arbitrary， that the school actually offers Chinese as a language option， or that the debate was part of an Irish language workshop being run by Conradh na Gaeilge。 That same report actually states that the students in Loreto Bray have a “really good level of Irish”。Refusing to look at how a few articles over the course of a decade match with reality links in with another area of concern: the refusal to engage with the reality of Irish life as it is today。 For example， De Barra when he talks about his future plans he keeps repeating that it’s about “Irish citizens”， which just sounds jarring to anyone living in Ireland today and seeing with their own eyes that our society is made up of citizens and non-citizens （with an equal right to the language）。 Although he may not have intended it， the impression of the final chapter is that citizens are to be the 75% who engage with the State and indeed are part of a national project， with the other 25% left outside and just so happening to not be Irish citizens。That refusal to engage with the reality of Irish life also becomes clear when De Barra writes about the reasons for learning Irish。 For many people I know speaking Irish has been because it’s the language they grew up with， because family speak it， because it’s the language of the area （Galway in particular）， because they’re musicians or nerdy， to take a stand against creeping homogenisation， or to understand a bit more about the place that they’re living in。 But for De Barra none of these reasons exist and none of the ever widening range of people who speak Irish exist as Irish is only and explicitly part of a national project。It’s not just that De Barra disagrees with other ideas – he’s completely dismissive of them。 For example， he has no time for the vast majority of historians of empire who say that Ireland has a place in empire but the colony category is complicated and he doesn’t seem to understand the difference between Irish people being racialised in the British / US press and the colour bar， Apartheid， segregation， etc。 He goes all out in support of anyone who says anything in Irish， spending several pages on Enda Kenny’s refusal to speak English when Mick Wallace’s translation set wasn’t working when anyone who say the video knew that the problem was Kenny’s clearly sneering antics （and the TD beside Wallace was Clare Daly， not Clare Byrne）。It’s also frankly bizarre that a book which deals with the revival of the Irish language and plans to bring about an Irish revival through economic compulsion does not investigate the major issue which is economics。 There is little talk about giving people who live in disadvantaged， rural areas where they speak Irish a reason or the ability to actually stay。In the end it is difficult to figure out who the revival is actually for。 It seems to be for a small set of people who want to make themselves into a new elite。 And that’s just not my language。Two stars because some of the points about the education system were interesting but I’m glad I got this from the library; I would have been annoyed if I’d spent good money on it。（There’s also a couple of just weird things in the book， like the following: “Indeed， what I find remarkable is that whenever a newspaper article is written about Irish language schools， the writers always seem to accept the ‘elitism’ as a given truth， and put the onus on Gaelscoileanna representatives to disprove it。 This would be the equivalent of interviewing people from Pavee Point to see if in fact all Travellers are thieves and liars， as large segments of the Irish population believe。”） 。。。more
Robert
，
This is an incredibly well written and argued book。 The author presents his views in a clear， intelligent and mostly reasonable way。 He takes an honest and realistic approach to the state of the languages and avoids falling into the trap of sentimentality or wishful thinking。 The chapters on the teaching of Irish， other revival attempts and the socio-economic influences are particularly good。However， although I came close to giving five stars， the chapter on the hatred of Irish brought the book This is an incredibly well written and argued book。 The author presents his views in a clear， intelligent and mostly reasonable way。 He takes an honest and realistic approach to the state of the languages and avoids falling into the trap of sentimentality or wishful thinking。 The chapters on the teaching of Irish， other revival attempts and the socio-economic influences are particularly good。However， although I came close to giving five stars， the chapter on the hatred of Irish brought the book down。 The author doesn't pretend to be anything other than one sided， but that does leave him with a blind spot。 He pours scorn on critics of Irish but never acknowledges that promoters of the language could ever be rude or make mistakes （in fact those who try to revive the language are curiously absent from the book）。 Unfortunately， this does give the impression of a victimhood complex as the author lists all the mean internet comments he has seen （without acknowledging internet comments are horrible no matter the topic） or quoting Unionists criticism （without acknowledging the political aspect of this， or that the book is supposedly focused on the language in the 26 counties）。 Every negative article that has appeared in the last two decades is quoted， without a word about the positives， which gives a lop-sided view。Also， this is probably a comment on how few other books there are on the language， but the author seemed to be constantly quoting the same two or three other works。 。。。more
Garret Cahill
，