Author: annikacoberly

Throughout my time learning in Ireland this summer, I experienced a few moments of worry wondering if I was really making any progress in learning Irish after I would forget a simple phrase that I used many times before or completely lose my train of thought and slip into an English finish when speaking. However, even after numerous realizations of my progress while away, I have had to think twice almost constantly before greeting and responding to family members upon my return home because my first instinct has been to do so in Irish nearly every time. At least a dozen times per day, I find myself saying “Maidin mhaith!” (“Good morning!”), “Go raibh maith agat” (“Thank you”), “Gabh mo leithscéal” (“Excuse/Pardon me”), and “Slán” (“Goodbye”). Prior to spending four weeks in Ireland this summer, I had never spent continuous time dedicated to learning a language other than English and had only classroom time learning Spanish in high school and Irish in college. Now that I am feeling more inclined to use Irish phrases, I am convinced that conversational comfort and fluency is best developed in an immersive situation in which there are opportunities to use the language with everyone around.

After spending a semester in Ireland during the last academic year, I felt that I had a very good understanding of Irish culture and its similarities and differences from the cultures which I grew up in. Though this was true in many areas of day-to-day life, there were certain values and issues much more clearly present in or exclusive to the Gaeltacht areas (Irish-speaking areas) that greatly revolved around the language and the preservation of culture. The Gaeltacht areas in which the vast majority of the population use Irish in daily conversation are quite small when compared to the rest of Ireland where people generally use English in conversational situations. When our course included field trips outside of the Gaeltacht areas, we very rarely heard spoken Irish and written Irish was also less prevalent, but still present since it is recognized as an official language in the country. Therefore, if those of us learning wished to order food in a restaurant in Irish or use the language in a shop or any other business, we could only do so within the Gaeltacht. I grew up in a very rural area myself and was impressed by the relatively robust business parks, various shops, and multiple restaurants in the Gaeltacht areas in both Donegal and Galway but compared to the options and opportunities available in the larger towns nearby, choices were limited. In addition to these situations, educational and employment opportunities in the larger cities within Ireland tend to attract young people more so than those in rural areas, a familiar phenomenon in the United States, too. For a long time, this has created a tension between the desire to pursue higher education or different employment opportunities, presently requiring the use of English to do so, and the desire to preserve the language and the unique culture within the Gaeltacht communities as fully as possible, at times necessitating sacrifices. Clearly, my experience this summer provided me with a great deal of insight beyond the language learning process itself and sparked a greater interest in the social dynamics surrounding Irish and the communities that choose to maintain its legacy.

Though my time in this immersion course was relatively short compared to some programs that other SLA recipients participated in, I can confidently say that I was learning something new every day and at nearly every moment. With time for constant observation and participation in class, on field trips, in homestays, and while interacting with locals in town, I gained a much greater understanding of the Irish language’s life within the Gaeltacht areas and its native speakers. During my time in Ireland, I sometimes found myself feeling overwhelmed and convinced that it would be impossible for me to process so much information, tempting me to block anything new out after a certain point in the day. However, though I am still digesting many experiences and will continue to do so for the next several weeks, I am thankful that I allowed myself to soak up more than I thought possible so that I can continue to learn and make more concrete connections by looking back at home. I also saw that extended language studies are extremely beneficial for all individuals, no matter the level of fluency. Although I had a solid classroom basis to grow from this summer, I observed beginner students with no class experience and intermediate students that were self-taught or had fewer classes develop in an unbelievable way. Now that I have returned, my task is persistence in the classroom and any time I get the chance to practice, which will further solidify this summer’s headway.

Now at the completion of my final week in An Cheathrú Rua and in Ireland overall, I am very excited with the progress that I have made in my comprehension and conversational ability in Irish. Though I am still certainly far from being totally fluent, I feel much more confident speaking the words and phrases that I have and also sometimes going out on a limb if I don’t have the exact phrase to express what I would like to. It has been fantastic to put my multiple semesters’ worth of classroom preparation to use while getting a better idea of the casual day-to-day use of Irish among individuals spanning several generations. There have been countless moments throughout the course when a word or phrase that I have read or written multiple times is finally used in an in-person conversation, the radio, or the Irish language TV channel, TG4 and I could practically hear the puzzle pieces clicking together in my head. Just kidding, but it has been extremely gratifying to see real development each day!

As with any language, written phrases tend to be much more formal and complete than those that are spoken, and Irish certainly follows this pattern in numerous ways. Since arriving in An Cheathrú Rua, the most striking thing that I have noticed is the way that phrases are shortened when spoken. I am used to answering in complete sentences more often than not, mostly because it provides more practice in the classroom setting, but it became very typical for me to hear someone answer, “go maith (good/well),” when asked how they were doing rather than in the complete sentence “Tá mé go maith. (I am good/well.)” In conversation, it is also super typical for four or five Irish words to sound as if only one or two words were spoken, or for only one syllable to be pronounced of a word that when written, appears to have two syllables. From what I understand, each dialect has their own way of shortening various phrases to allow speech to flow better, but Connacht Irish requires a fairly sensitive and sometimes creative ear to decipher the spoken word, understand what is being said, and write it correctly if necessary. At the beginning of this week, we completed a listening comprehension exam as a class and were required to answer particular questions in writing while listening to a recorded conversation. The speakers used one particular phrase, “Níl a fhios agam (I do not know),” several times and it sounded as though they were saying “Níl is am.” There is a lot going on when this phrase is spoken to sound like it does including specific pronunciation, but two syllables are actually omitted in speech from what is written. Luckily, this phrase is used quite often in daily conversation and most of us were able to tune our ear to its sound quickly, while using it and other useful phrases in the shortened version ourselves.

At the end of last week, we arrived in An Cheathrú Rua in western County Galway and brought the heavy rain with us…oops! It has been a small adjustment to reacquaint myself with the sound of Connacht Irish after hearing the Ulster dialect in Gaoth Dobhair for two weeks, but classes are going well and my new host family is fabulous! There are more students in the house this time and we all sit around a very full and lively dinner table every night while conversing and eating delicious meals.

It occurred to me a few nights ago that I had just eaten warm soup, fresh bread, and pot roast on the last day of July. The day was a bit brisk, so I enjoyed it very much, but it is not something I would generally think to eat during the summer months. Having spent a time in Galway last year, I remember the weather being very similar to what we’re experiencing now with rain, periodic sunbursts, and mild (but somewhat chilly) temperatures. It is significantly cooler, especially with the wind, compared to the dry burning heat that I am accustomed to at this time of year. Lucky for the students in the program, this cooler weather also includes “comfort foods,” which appear to be our host family’s specialty. I have greatly appreciated this form of hospitality and the obvious thought and energy that is involved when preparing each meal. They have made it possible for us (the students staying in the home) to sit down, practice our Irish through mealtime conversation, and spend intentional time with others rather than simply grabbing food to go and eat between the events of the day, which I find myself doing all too often throughout the academic year. Our dinners are events themselves and they have been some of the most fruitful times of learning for me throughout my time here.

The other students and I have also learned that the best way to conclude any meal, especially dinner is with tea and a sweet of some sort! Here in Connemara, the tea is not brought out until the very end of the meal at the same time as dessert. Personally, I have enjoyed drinking absurd amounts of tea throughout the day for years now (heavily influenced by Mom), and will sometimes order tea to eat with my dinner when I go out to eat. However, the post-dinner drinking of tea appears to be quite a solid tradition and one that I do not plan to alter in any way! Whether it is simply a custom sequence of the meal or a practical means of aiding digestion, as a few have stated, it has quickly become my favorite daily ritual during my stays in both Gaoth Dobhair and An Cheathrú Rua.

Now in the middle of the second week of instruction in Gaoth Dobhair (Co. Donegal), the other students and I have had numerous learning opportunities in multiple types of classroom settings and outside the classroom. One of my favorite sessions so far has been a presentation overview of the Irish Language Digital Archives. It was created as an online resource to preserve the language in as many ways as possible and contains a huge collection of verbal historical accounts, local folklore in the Gaeltacht areas, historical publications, as well as song performances. I was also impressed to learn that many family members of our instructors, host families, and other community members we have interacted with are featured in the records.

Our presenter was highly involved in the creation of the archive and although it is a tremendous resource, it’s creation was motivated by the estimate of multiple studies that the vast majority of spoken Irish language works in addition to the language itself, would die out in less than a decade. Many of those featured in the archives have passed since they were first asked to contribute, but the presence of the language itself has persisted much longer than the original estimate, according to our presenter. However, he did express great concern about the various threats to the language within the Gaeltacht areas themselves.

In Gaoth Dobhair, specifically, the traditionally Irish-speaking secondary school has moved to instruction through English in more courses to accommodate the increased number of students without Irish who have started to attend the school after it received some of the highest ratings in the region for student performance. Additionally, more than forty percent of the houses in Gaoth Dobhair are vacation homes and are not necessarily owned by families that speak Irish at home or have any Irish at all. In hearing other community members in conversation during my stay here, similar concerns have been raised, especially regarding the number of young children who begin their schooling with a grasp of the language. Our presenter also serves on a surveying board that tracks the numbers of beginning nursery school children that use Irish as their primary language in the Gaeltacht areas throughout Ireland. He said that this age of children (3-4 years) is especially valuable because the children just speak whichever language is most natural and the surveyors can easily track the new growth of the language or lack thereof. He shared that some areas are doing better than others and still much better than what was originally projected, but there is still a need for more protection of the language and increased resources for those interested in carrying it on.

Overall, these presentations and conversations have made me much more aware of the status of Irish according to native speakers and how they perceive the language’s importance in their lives. Throughout the years, it has unfortunately become a seasonal language that is most prevalent in the winter when the tourists are gone, but many would prefer it to be the sole language of business all year long. Nonetheless, every instructor, community member, and presenter that I have encountered has been thrilled to have a relatively large group of international students eager to learn the language and it reassures them that the language is still full of life.

In less than one week’s time, I have had a phenomenal time exploring and learning in beautiful Gaoth Dobhair! Since my arrival last Friday, I have quickly become acquainted with the other international students, the breathtaking landscape, and the always lively Gaeltacht. Since it has been a year since my last official Irish class, I felt a bit rusty getting back into the swing of things in the classroom, but I am steadily becoming more comfortable speaking each day while expanding my vocabulary and understanding of the language.

The most helpful lessons so far have been those around the table eating meals with the other students in my program in our host family’s home! We’re all at different levels and the conversation is usually quite broken while searching for words or phrases we don’t have yet, but it is still super helpful to build the habit of thinking in Irish rather than English. Our program has students taking beginner- and intermediate-level courses with lots of opportunities to socialize and each day, a significantly greater amount of Irish is used in conversation as we all grow in confidence together. I have definitely appreciated the chance to learn from a greater number of students, many of which have taught themselves the majority of what they know through online self-study courses. We have all developed different strengths depending upon our instruction thus far and I have thoroughly enjoyed gaining insight from others who have learned mostly outside of the classroom setting!

In addition to the hours of language instruction and practice both outside and inside my host family’s home, the class has been able to visit some of the most important location in the area, one of which is An Ghleann Neimhe (the Poisoned Glen). With such a name, everyone in the class was quite interested to learn its origin. One of our instructors, a local folklorist from the area, told us that the official culturally-accepted origin story involves a giant from Oiléan Thoraí, Balor. Balor was a one-eyed creature and his eye was apparently filled with poison that spilled into the valley after he lost a battle against his nephew in the glen, giving the spot its present-day name.

However, prior to hearing this version of the story, another member of the community had explained the name in less mythical terms. She told some of the other students and I that the glen was given its name after a group of Irish Republican Army members poisoned the stream that runs through the glen. They did this as a defense against the Black and Tans (a reinforcement group in the Royal Irish Constabulary) trying to come into the area during the Irish War of Independence in the early 20th century. Though I am guessing that her version developed long after Balor’s tale, it gives great insight into Gaoth Dobhair’s history and its unique location in close proximity to Northern Ireland, especially the cities of Derry and Belfast.

There is still a veil over the truth regarding the true origin of the Poisoned Glen since we’ve heard even more versions, but these two perspectives involving Balor and the IRA certainly give a taste of the importance of both folklore and political tension in this region.

Hi everyone! In just a little over a month, I am excited to head to Ireland to begin the Irish language summer immersion program hosted by NUIG. This summer, the first half of the program will be taught in Donegal and the second half will be taught in Galway. The late change in the program was unexpected after an anticipated month all in Galway, but I am thrilled to enjoy another gorgeous part of Ireland and meet even more Irish-speaking families that will help me to develop my comprehension and speaking skills further!

Personally, I have anticipated taking part in this program for quite some time after applying during both my freshman and sophomore years (I am now a rising senior), but being unable to attend due to COVID-19 complications. Of all the opportunities I have had at Notre Dame, learning Irish will always rank high among the top, and I am extremely grateful to be able to develop even more after four semesters of fantastic classroom preparation. Returning to Galway is especially exciting for me as I spent the Fall 2021 semester studying at NUIG and I am fairly familiar with the general region. I absolutely loved Connemara and left my semester wishing that I had spent more time in the area and surrounded by the Irish language, which I will now have the chance to do. My time at Notre Dame, both on campus and abroad, has always exceeded my expectations with richer and more fruitful experiences than I ever imagined and I anticipate that this adventure will pleasantly surprise me in the same way!