“Irish Speakers” is a deceptive metric.
When we consider the gap between the number of people who speak Irish, and the number of people who can, it seems that the effort to teach Irish in school has not really been a failure. It’s just that we live in a mostly English speaking country and one cannot think in Irish, in English. If that’s the case, the barrier to fluency isn’t educational, it’s contextual. What if there is a way to “switch on” thinking in Irish? If Irish as a first language of cognition could be activated at the touch of a button; wouldn’t that be worth exploring?
na ring gael is open source software for mobile devices. (landscape mode only. Tested on Android Chrome) I believe it has potential. Would anybody like to get involved?
feictear go hiontach é!
An bhfuil agat nasc don chód?
(Tá mo gaeilge uafásach, gabh mo leithscéal)
Hey! Go raibh maith agat!
It’s… a mess. 🫣