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ONCE THE UK leaves the European Union, Ireland will be one of two English-speaking countries still in the EU.
Minister for Education Richard Bruton has said that, in the context of Brexit, he wants Ireland to be prepared for the challenges ahead.
The government has said it is committed to doubling the number of foreign language assistants available to post-primary schools by 2026 under its Foreign Languages Strategy.
Bruton today announced a 25% increase in foreign language assistants, bringing the total number available to schools from this September to 140.
So we’re asking: Would you learn a second language in preparation for Brexit?
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Learning a second or third language is always good, but not because of brexit. English won’t loose its importance as an international language just because the UK is leaving the EU
@Rui Firmino: Also, Ireland will be one of two English speaking countries in the EU??
@Rui Firmino: Malta
Malta.
@Rui Firmino: Maybe they are referring to Malta? 62% of the population speak English. Interestingly, according to languageknowledge.eu 97.5% of Ireland’s population speak English. 94.5% in the UK speak English.
@man.over.board: I see. But they don’t really speak it as native speakers like in Ireland and the UK, though
@man.over.board: That,e gas
@man.over.board: it’s actually 97.5% vs 97.0%, but since the 2011 census, it’s estimated that this has risen to 98% of the uk population – I guess the immigration threats are impacting the daily language. The 93% figure is having it as a first language, where we still beat them at 94%. Considering both are fairly homogeneous, it’s not surprising.
@Rui Firmino: English only became the International business language soon after the introduction of international aircraft flights.
A vote was held in the early days of International flights to decide whether English or French should be the common language between pilots and aircraft control towers all over the world. French was narrowly voted down. All pilots have to have a working knowledge of English since then.
English as an International Business language followed suit.
@Rui Firmino: *lose
@Rui Firmino: Wait a mo. We’re Irish speaking, Well aren’t we?
@Canny Jem: really…good that english won the vote..french language is much harder to learn
@Thunder Snowman: You corrected someone’s spelling on the Internet. Congratulations.
Would Irish be a good one to learn
@FlopFlipU: yup, there’s jobs going for translators
Nein.
I’d learn nein.
@Phil O’ Meara: *Nein. Ich lerne nicht.
@Kim Prylowski: Gut gesagt.
@Kim Prylowski: Gut gesagt.
@Kim Prylowski: Gut gesagt.
@Garreth Byrne: bless us
@Phil O’ Meara: 9 ? Fair play to you Phil
Most people in Ireland don’t know our own first language while all the foreigners who have settled here still have kept their native language and are passing it on to their children
@☘: gradually the loose it thought it slips away unless they have a very strong reason to retain it
@FlopFlipU: looks like you’re struggling with English nevermind a second language ;)
@☘: it may as well be Esperanto for all the good article 8 had done for making Irish the “first and national” language. Irish people didn’t speak it when they drafted this, and the 95% don’t now, get over it. It’s as relevant as saying a women’s place is on the home, or blasphemy is a punishable offence.
@☘: and a lot of the “new” Irish have an excellent positive attitude towards learning Irish. You see people from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine etc also speak Russian as well as their native language. They have no hang ups over learning English or Irish. They are not insular or myopic like us Irish.
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: there used to be a chef in a midlands hotel , from India , who was well able to have a simple chit-chat in Irish, very impressive.
@☘: Gaelic was never spoken on the entire island and there are many different dialects. While Gaelic needs to be preserved its not our national language by any means.
@Gulliver Foyle: article 8 did not make it first and national language. It simply WAS the first national language spoken throughout the country. Then English also became our national language but it came a thousand years later. There are places around the country where Gaelic Irish is spoken normally and naturally everyday and is more dominant than English but English is by far the dominant language now nationally and has been for a while.
@prop joe: Gaelic Irish WAS spoken throughout the island and it IS our national language even if it’s not spoken by the majority anymore. English is also our national language now and is spoken by the majority.
A third language I think you mean, after English and Irish
@Fergus O’Connor: No, they mean a second language that you can actually converse in. Most people can’t converse in Irish over the way that it is taught. It is ridiculous that you can leave secondary school more versed in French after only five years than 15 years of Irish lessons. Sad, but true.
@Ronan Sexton: French is the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn so you should have a higher level more quickly. Irish is technically more difficult.
@SC: French isn’t exactly easier, Spanish would be a lot easier to learn than French, less accents
@The PURGED: I thought the opposite – so much of English comes from French words to begin with. English is a collage of older languages really.
We need to build more Gaelscoileanna. Children who attend a Gaelscoil are bilingual and will find learning a third language easier. It makes sense to give all of our children that advantage in life. There is no disadvantage to attending a Gaelscoil and many documented advantages.
@Siobhain: any proof?
@Chris hancock: I have read several articles and studies throughout the years that support Siobhans post and it does make sense but I wasn’t filing links to those sites. Foreign national children also learn Irish faster in school than indigineous Irish students probably because they already have mastered more than one language beforehand. Apparently as reported on the journal last year being multilingual helps fight of the effects of Alzheimer’s disease- something to do with exercising various parts of the brain with different languages encouraging the brain (being a muscle) to stay in shape. I’m sorry, my explanation is not very technical but it went something like that (obviously not a direct quote)
@Chris hancock: There are loads of studies out there that show considerable benefits of bilingualism. A quick Google Search will give you lots of links. Here is the first one I saw when I google it that specifically deals with the acquisition of a third language: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110201110915.htm
An interesting development is that Gaelscoileanna have recently made the decision to introduce a third language into their primary schools. What is unfair is that the government do not build enough Gaelscoileanna to meet the growing demand for them. We are so caught up with the religion/non-religion debate that the Gaelscoileanna have been a little lost. Gaelscoileanna can be religious or non-religious so can cater for all.
Everybody in the business world uses English as the common ground between different speakers.
@Greg Blake: and interestingly, hiberno English (what Irish people proudly speak as their own language) is almost indescernable from international English, the language of trade. The furthest away is probably “queens English” which is mostly unintelligible babble with h being a vowel.
@Greg Blake: Everybody in the business world does not use English. You’d be surprised how rubbish many, many Germans are at speaking it.
@Philip Kavanagh: das stimmt. Die Deutschen wollen alle Denglisch sprechen, weil sie glauben es “cool” ist…..
@Riocard Ó Tiarnaigh: …, daß es “cool” ist.
Learning French for the last 2 months. We should be bilingual regardless of Brexit.
@Banking mafia: Spanish is a better choice and easier. It’s the third most spoken language in the world after English and mandarin
@Dave O Keeffe: Yep even though it sounds ugly, it’s a fair bit easier than French
What’s next,we will be driving on the left hand side because we’re the only eu country that drives on the right side
@dick dastardly: I drive on the left most of the time
@dick dastardly: Maybe ? If tarrifs are placed on 2nd hand imports . It may make sense !
I’m all for a switch to driving on the right. Better option and better availability of infrastructure into the future. If Sweden could do it we can.
As long as it’s all at the same time, not county by county … ;)
@dick dastardly:
Lol……
I already speak a second, foreign language. It’s called English.
We should be learning Spainish. Most of us go on holidays there and its spoken more than English throughout the world
@prop joe: and it is a very simple language to learn ,muy facile.
@prop joe: Until they go to Catalunya and they hear Catalan and wonder why are they speaking weird Spanish
Oh no, better learn Polish because once brexit kicks in polish companies will no longer communicate in English for no reason at all……. Hhmmmmmm
@RossKeogh: The UK is our largest trading partner not just because of its proximity but because they speak English. The language barrier is one of the main reasons Irish companies target the US (3000km away) rather than France or Germany (much closer). If there is no Brexit deal (or a bad one) Irish companies might be cut off from their largest market. Most of them (SMEs) will fail to successfully enter European markets if they do not have the language capabilities.
“English is the language of international business. If they don’t speak English, there’s no point in doing business with them.”
Quote from the head of the president of one of Ireland’s biggest law practices on his return from signing numerous agreements in China.
As an Irish speaker I find that learning other languages comes easy.
Did the EU only in the last week or two state that English will remain the common language of the EU?
Dozens of irish companies who trade at all in europe need a german, or french or italianb or russian speaking rep.. Combine that with business or engineering degree and it coud be the basis of a wide job choice anywhere in Ireland..
Yes .. all these customers could potentially speakl english, but if you want to sell something best to speak their language.
If we want to improve foreign language ability here we need to hire native speakers to teach them. Change rules around qualifications needed for teaching french, German etc in schools. Hire them in May, crash course on an empty university campus for the summer in curriculum and Irish edu system. Then they start in September.
@Oisín O’Connor: I speak German and French. My teachers in secondary school (all Irish) were excellent. If Irish people want to improve their foreign language capabilities, they need to start using what know rather than blaming the education system.
@Oisín O’Connor: Native speakers are not always the best option, it is best to have great teachers with a native level than natives who are crap teachers
Only 2 why not more? I’m quadrilingual and my child will speak at least 3, speaking one in modern Europe just isn’t enough
Whats the other English speaking country?
@Andy Bennett: In Europe or in the world
@Andy Bennett: Malta
@Lisa Saputo: English speaking country?! I did not know that…Cheers
After Brexit Ireland will probably be the most monolingual country in the EU
The rest of the EU will have to learn Irish!
C’est oui, sur la momente .
I’d say in 10-20 years time Irish people will be speaking 4/5 different languages and that includes Portugues, Polish and Arabic.
What’s needed is for our idiot incompetent politicians to learn how to run the country properly.
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