forbairt an dátheangachais

Bhí scéal spéisiúil ar BBC online mar gheall ar dul chun cinn sa dátheangachas i dTuaisceart Éireann agus sa Ríocht Aontaithe

Local UK languages 'taking off'


More and more state school children in the UK are being taught in Welsh, Gaelic and Irish, the BBC has learned.
The number of Northern Ireland children learning Irish grew from just 484 in 1992 to 3285 in 2008.
In Wales, 20% of schoolchildren are now being taught entirely in the Welsh language - up from 16% in the 1990s.
Some experts believe that bilingual children are at an advantage at school, because learning two languages boosts their ability to learn.

Welsh schoolchildren are still far more likely to learn their native language than Scottish or Irish children - however, the statistics suggest Gaelic and Irish are growing in popularity.

In 1997 just 112 Scottish pupils learned Gaelic. In 2007, 2,601 students were learning it, either in an exclusively Gaelic school, or in a bi-lingual one.

Devolution has meant profound educational changes, says the BBC's Colette Hume, in Northern Ireland, as a demand for speakers of these languages grows.
It seems having two languages in the brain stimulates it
And she said that the growth in demand for this type of education may reflect a growing sense of identity and confidence in the nations of the UK.
She visited a tiny Irish-medium school in Northern Ireland which opened last year with just 12 pupils, but now has 28.

In Scotland, the country's first Gaelic-medium secondary school opened in Glasgow in 2006.
The BBC launched a Gaelic channel, BBC Alba, in September last year, which promotes the Gaelic language, while hoping to appeal to audiences across Scotland.
The latest figures from the Welsh Assembly Government show that 40,756 secondary schoolchildren out of a total of almost 207,000 are being taught in "Welsh medium schools" - where most or all subjects are taught in Welsh.

David Reynolds, a professor of education at Plymouth University, said learning Welsh had "really taken off" and that any reservations about learning the local language seemed to have disappeared.
"In Wales, the evidence is that 40% of children are fluent in Welsh, and 20% of their parents.
"In terms of use, you are able to sell your language in a way you couldn't 20 years ago, and it is of direct use to you because of burgeoning employment in the devolved states."
Globalisation

Professor Colin Baker from the University of Bangor is an expert in bilingual education, and says bilingual children have an advantage in terms of intelligence.

Some parents want their children to identify strongly with their nation"They actually have a higher IQ," he said. "It seems having two languages in the brain stimulates it, adds extra associations into the brain and deepens thinking."
Professor Reynolds identifies a further reason why this trend towards learning a local language appears to have taken hold.

He said that in an increasingly globalised world, people are more keen to keep sight of their identity, and one way of achieving this is through learning your local language.
"Knowledge of your own local area gives you identity and roots, I think," he said.
"If you look at why it might be happening, I think it's a desire to root children, and also adults, in a local experience

mata tairsí eile

Seo scéal spéisiúl ón mblag The Virtual Linguist

'Prix de la Carpette Anglaise
The annual Prix de la Carpette Anglaise was awarded in France a few days ago. Carpette Anglaise translates as 'English Doormat' and the 'award' goes to 'the person or institution who has given the best display of "fawning servility" to further the insinuation into France of the accursed English language' (BBC story here). Runners-up this year included the supermarket chain Carrefour for describing itself using the English word 'market' and a French rock band called Nelson (after Admiral Nelson) who sing in English. The winner was the French higher education minister Valerie Pecresse who admitted she preferred to communicate in English when attending European Union meetings in Brussels.'

Meas tú an chóir gradam mar seo a chur chun cinn sa Ghaeilge? Cad a mholfá?
Caithfidh mé a rá nach dtaitníonn na teidil a bhíonn ar chlair áirithe ar TG4 Uaireanta- Feirm Factor mar shampla, agus gan amhras tá teidil gránna eile nach bhfuilim in ann cuimhniú orthu inniu!

É sin ráite ní bhíonn teidil na gclár béarla ar RTÉ thar moladh beirte ach oiread
'The All Ireland Talent Show'-bheifeá ag súil le teideal níos gasta ná sin..
ach is cancairt mise is dócha...

Athchuimhne ar bhliain den scoth!

Ba mhaith le Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge buíochas a ghabháil le gach duine a d’fhreastal ar an ócáid ‘Deoch na Nollag’ a reáchtáladh an oíche aréir i gceannáras na Comhdhála

Oíche spraíúil bríomhar a bhí ann agus bhí sé go h-iontach labhairt lenár gcairde ón gciorcal comhrá, ó na heagraíochtaí Ghaeilge go léir agus lenár gcairde dílse a thug tacaíocht dúinn le linn na bliana.

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Chuaigh na filí agus ceoltóirí ar chamchuairt timpeall Chonamara, agus críochnaigh an chuairt i mBaile Átha Cliath, le dhá oíche mhóra ceoil agus filíochta agus chas siad le filí mór le rá ó Éirinn ar nós Máire Holmes, Nuala Ní Chonchúir agus Colette Nic Aodha.

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