The Leaving Cert results are out, the stress of trying to cram for so many subjects all at once has been lifted and there are some subjects you'd happily never hear of again. That said, you want to hold onto the Gaeilge you have from school, here are a few tips on how to not lose what you have.
You might not think it now, but you probably have the best Irish you've ever had, right now. If you've been studying, preparing for oral exams and the like, your standard of Irish is better than you think it is. To keep it up, you'll need to remember the parts of learning the language you enjoyed and focus on them. If you liked listening to native or fluent speakers and getting to understand new words and phrases, there are so many ways to practice that skill.
Tá níos mó Gaeilge ag nach mór gach duine sa tír seo ná mar a shíleann siad agus níl sampla níos fearr ná iad siúd a bhfuil an Ardteist díreach déanta acu. Nuair a bhaintear an brú dóibh, tá daoine óga amuigh ansin ar dheas leo coinneáil orthu agus foghlaim agus ag cumarsáid ach nach bhfuil fhios acu cén áit le tosú.
Podcasts, radio shows and television and online content are all great sources of conversational, natural Irish and don't forget, you're not going to examined on this anymore, it's just for yourself.
Beo ar Éigean
The award-winning, OG Irish language podcast from Sinéad Ní Uallacháin, Áine Ní Bhreisleáin and Siún Ní Dhuinn covers a multitude of topics and dialects and guarantees you a laugh. Níl ach riail amháin ag na BAÉs sin é nach ndéantar plé ar 'cheist na Gaeilge' ach bí ag súil le go bpléifí gach ní eile faoin spéir. Available weekly wherever you get your podcasts or as a radio show Saturday nights on RTÉ Radio One at 8pm.
Na Seansálaithe
Na Seansálaithe is the brainchild of Hugh Carr, James Ó Flatharta and Áine Mhaoir, all of whom worked as interns in TG4 and became friends. Tá splanc iontach idir an triúr agus iad ag insint scéalta grá ag roinnt chuimhní cinn lena gcuid éisteoirí. Bíonn eagrán nua ar fáil uatha gach Aoine, in am don deireadh seachtaine. The Seansálaithe will be hosting a live podcast at this year's Electric Picnic sa Phuball Gaeilge in Mindfield, if you'd like to see what they're about.
BLOC TG4
TG4's online offering for those who are making and consuming a lot of online content where you'll see lots of new faces and fresh ideas. Cé go bhfuil na míreanna gairide tábhachtach, tá luach leis na sraitheanna atá níos téagartha, sraitheanna ar nós Óg sa Ghaeltacht agus Béadaí.
Get off your phone
Ní thaitneoidh seo le roinnt ach má tá spéis agat sa Ghaeilge, beidh ort iarracht éigin a dhéanamh í a labhairt, sa bhfíorshaol, mar a deir siad. If you want to able to converse with any sort of fluency, you're going to need to practice your spoken Irish. It's a complete mindset change to have a 'normal' conversation in Irish when you're used to being corrected or marked up until now, but believe me, getting to your local Pop Up Gaeltacht or Ciorcal Comhrá or joining a Cumann Gaelach if you're going onto third level education, is life changing.
Bain triail as do chuid Gaeilge, seo do dheis le craic agus spraoi a bhaint as an teanga nuair atá sí fós ar do thoil agat.
