# Any irish speakers??



## samanthajane (21 Apr 2009)

My kids go to an irish speaking school and usually daddy does all the home work as i can speak a fair bit but haven't a clue when trying to read or write it.

Would anyone be able to help translate the following or even know of a good site on line i could use. I've looked at a few and keep getting "no results found"

1) An sleamhnaíonn nó an rollaíonn sé?

2) An féidir é a chruachadh go héasca?

3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?

4) Faobhair chuara nó mhíne nó chuara agus ( i know thats "and" lol ) mhíne?

5) An bhfuil reannta aige?

And then also Ciúb, Cón, Sorcóir, Sféar and Pirimid. 

It's maths homework if that helps. He has to tick which answer relates to the questions 1-5, which is very hard to do when we dont even know what the questions are. 

My son's spent the last year in england which is why he's not as upto date as what he should be with his irish. I'm hoping he'll pick it back up really fast as i cant be doing this every night. 

Thanks


----------



## samanthajane (21 Apr 2009)

Ok so far for question 1 i have managed to figure out..... 
The _________ or the ________  six. 

The 2 words that i need the most, all the on line translations sites have no idea what they are either. 

I think the 5 possible answers are shapes?? i'm taking a total guess that sféar is a sphere and pirimid is a pyramid. Still doesn't help when i dont know what the bloody questions are!!!!


----------



## Ceist Beag (21 Apr 2009)

Here ye go samanthajane.

1) An sleamhnaíonn nó an rollaíonn sé?
"Does it slide or roll?"

2) An féidir é a chruachadh go héasca?
"Can it be proved easily?"

3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?
Am guessing here but I think this might be "Sharp faces or curved ones or both together" but I've never heard the words mine or cuara!

4) Faobhair chuara nó mhíne nó chuara agus ( i know thats "and" lol ) mhíne?
Again never heard of the words chuara or mhine but maybe it's a dialect thing so might be Munster Irish here? At a guess I'd say "Curved or sharp edges or curved and sharp edges".

5) An bhfuil reannta aige?
"Does he have choices"

Ciúb, Cón, Sorcóir, Sféar and Pirimid. 
Cube, Cone, Cylinder, Sphere, Pyramid

Hope this helps!


----------



## pavlov (21 Apr 2009)

*"1) An sleamhnaíonn nó an rollaíonn sé?

2) An féidir é a chruachadh go héasca?

3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?

4) Faobhair chuara nó mhíne nó chuara agus ( i know thats "and" lol ) mhíne?

5) An bhfuil reannta aige?

And then also Ciúb, Cón, Sorcóir, Sféar and Pirimid"

*1. Does it slide or roll?
2. Can you stack it easily?
3. Flat or curved surfaces/faces or both?
4. Flat or curved edges or flat and curved ie both?
5. Does it have points? as in a cone has 1 point

Cube, Cone, Cylinder, Sphere and Pyramid



Check out *www.focal.ie* and *www.englishirishdictionary.com*


----------



## Padraigb (21 Apr 2009)

Ceist Beag said:


> Here ye go samanthajane.
> 
> 1) An sleamhnaíonn nó an rollaíonn sé?
> Does it slide or roll?
> ...



Stacked, rather than proved.



> 3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?
> ???? Ye sure this is the correct spelling for this sentence as it makes no sense to me!!


It doesn't seem quite correct. Perhaps "smooth or curved faces, or both?"



> 4) Faobhair chuara nó mhíne nó chuara agus ( i know thats "and" lol ) mhíne?
> ???? Again never heard of the words chuara or mhine but maybe it's a dialect thing so might be Munster Irish here?



I think "Curved or smooth edges or both" -- but, like Little Question (I'm in translation mode here!) I am not quite comfortable with the Irish used.



> 5) An bhfuil reannta aige?
> Does he have choices


I think "divisions" is meant, "reann" being a variant of "roinn"; does it have divisions/sections?



> Ciúb, Cón, Sorcóir, Sféar and Pirimid.
> Cube, Cone, Cylinder, Sphere, Pyramid


Yup.


----------



## samanthajane (21 Apr 2009)

oh my god at my attempt to translate it.  

they said An was "the" and sé i thought was six because it had to do with numbers,  but the on line translation said it could mean he, him or it as well.

I'll try using those those 2 sites you mentioned in future.

Thank you both for your help. 

gu ra mot a got ( hahahahahahaha) aka thank you. 

lol told you a haven't a clue when reading or writing any irish. 

Go raibh mile maith agat ( of course i used the site )


----------



## Ceist Beag (21 Apr 2009)

Yeah yer right padraigB - spelling was never my strong point so I was phrasing the words in my head and then translating to English! 
So mistook cruachadh with cruthu and reannta with roghanna!


----------



## samanthajane (21 Apr 2009)

3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?
???? Ye sure this is the correct spelling for this sentence as it makes no sense to me!! 

Yep this is exacetly how it appears in his book!

can you imagine what sense it didn't make to me either. The kids dad did all his education in irish and even sometimes he gets stumped over the irish in their books, they had an argument for an hour once over the different words they both used for car!! School was saying one thing and he learnt another word for it. 

Thanks for your help as well.


----------



## thesimpsons (21 Apr 2009)

samanthajane said:


> 3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?
> 
> 
> I asked my 16yr old in junior cert in gaelcholaiste about this - "is it flat or round or both the same" is what she came up with.
> ...


----------



## mathepac (21 Apr 2009)

Well done guys, a few sound Gaelgóirí around.

I did maths "as Gaeilge" until Leaving Cert and some of the words in the questions above escaped me; they seem more "Englished" than I remember.


----------



## Caveat (22 Apr 2009)

I just think it seems odd that there is little consensus on the translation.


----------



## Smashbox (22 Apr 2009)

Sam, I wouldnt even attempt translating, its been a long time since I was in Irish class!

Hope the homework was right!


----------



## samanthajane (22 Apr 2009)

Yeah smashbox he answered them all correct once he know what they meant. Wouldn't of made much diffenece if daddy was here anyway as when he got home that evening he had a look and a few of the words he was like haven't a clue what they are.


----------



## Smashbox (22 Apr 2009)

Ha yeah it can be hard to help kids with Irish!


----------



## Padraigb (22 Apr 2009)

Caveat said:


> I just think it seems odd that there is little consensus on the translation.



I don't. The Irish is dodgy.


----------



## Caveat (22 Apr 2009)

Padraigb said:


> I don't. The Irish is dodgy.


 
That's what I'm getting at - this being homework, you would expect it to be fairly accurate and for a fairly unequivocal translation to be readily offered I would have thought.


----------



## speirbhean (23 Apr 2009)

Sorry lads for broadening this thread out but it brings to mind something that has been worrying me of late... myself and the spéirfear are expecting a réaltín )) later this year and thoughts are turning to Gaelscoileanna. I'm a fluent Irish speaker, however I didn't go to an all Irish school, so didn't study subjects like Maths through Irish and those questions had me completely stumped. I speak Irish every day on a home and professional basis but I still couldn't make head nor tail of them. Is it me? Would I be unable to help my little ones with homework from early on without spending hours going through the dictionary? Or is it the case (as I fear) that terms are used in school that are never used outside? Opinions would be much valued... as thanks to the pressure on schools in our area I've been told we have to register the little one for primary pretty much on our way home from hospital! I am determined to speak Irish to him/her but wonder is it better that he/she gets the Irish at home or in a Gaelscoil or both...
grma
s


----------



## speirbhean (23 Apr 2009)

thesimpsons said:


> samanthajane said:
> 
> 
> > 3) Aghaidheanna míne nó cuara nó an dá cheann chéile?
> ...


----------



## mathepac (23 Apr 2009)

samanthajane said:


> Yeah smashbox he answered them all correct once he know what they meant. Wouldn't of made much diffenece if daddy was here anyway as when he got home that evening he had a look and a few of the words he was like haven't a clue what they are.


Who helps him with his English?


----------



## Padraigb (23 Apr 2009)

Do remember that the large majority of children who go through gaeilscoileanna manage very well, even without the support of parents whose Irish is good.

Yes, there can be issues with specialised vocabulary but they are not big problems; the children normally pick up the vocabulary without difficulty. 

There is potentially a more annoying problem: the quality of Irish used, both in textbooks and in classroom interaction. Not all teachers in gaeilscoileanna are as fluent in Irish as I would like them to be, and not all translations of textbooks are as good as they should ideally be (there is a shortage of good English-Irish translators). But such problems are annoying rather than insurmountable.

Children in an English-language environment who attend gaeilscoileanna usually end up with good Irish, but not nearly as fluent as those who use Irish at home. In my opinion, you should give him or her plenty of experience of Irish in the home as well.


----------



## Smashbox (23 Apr 2009)

> Who helps him with his English?


 
His dad?!


----------



## speirbhean (23 Apr 2009)

Padraigb said:


> There is potentially a more annoying problem: the quality of Irish used, both in textbooks and in classroom interaction. Not all teachers in gaeilscoileanna are as fluent in Irish as I would like them to be, and not all translations of textbooks are as good as they should ideally be (there is a shortage of good English-Irish translators). But such problems are annoying rather than insurmountable.
> 
> .


 
Yes this is what worries me. I'm far from being perfect myself but have a reasonably high standard of grammer and fluency, and I am worried when I hear some (and I stress some) teachers make quite basic mistakes. But I still want my children to attend a Gaelscoil and see Irish as part of their daily lives rather than just some language Mamaí speaks to them... I guess the answer is send them to the Gaelscoil and keep a close eye on the grammar at home! A bit like with other subjects really...
GRMA


----------



## mathepac (23 Apr 2009)

Here is a site I find useful -  with links to clip-art, uncial fonts for Mac & PC and so on as well as reciprocal links with Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, Breton and I think Catalan sites.

Let me know what you think.


----------



## samanthajane (24 Apr 2009)

mathepac said:


> Who helps him with his English?


 
ha ha! I know the poor child has no hope. 

I'm assuming your talking about to the "know" and i should of put "knew" and i spelt difference wrong.  (but got it right this time)

My grammer and spelling is very bad when i'm writing ( i'm a bit dislexic, so dont be too hard on me)


----------



## Caveat (24 Apr 2009)

..


----------



## samanthajane (24 Apr 2009)

speirbhean said:


> Sorry lads for broadening this thread out but it brings to mind something that has been worrying me of late... myself and the spéirfear are expecting a réaltín )) later this year and thoughts are turning to Gaelscoileanna. I'm a fluent Irish speaker, however I didn't go to an all Irish school, so didn't study subjects like Maths through Irish and those questions had me completely stumped. I speak Irish every day on a home and professional basis but I still couldn't make head nor tail of them. Is it me? Would I be unable to help my little ones with homework from early on without spending hours going through the dictionary? Or is it the case (as I fear) that terms are used in school that are never used outside? Opinions would be much valued... as thanks to the pressure on schools in our area I've been told we have to register the little one for primary pretty much on our way home from hospital! I am determined to speak Irish to him/her but wonder is it better that he/she gets the Irish at home or in a Gaelscoil or both...
> grma
> s


 
I wouldn't worry to much your child will learn and pick it up, and he'll be flying because you speak it all the time at home as well. 

I wouldn't of needed to help him read his homework this time last year, it's just because of the 2 terms not doing any irish apart from speaking it that has him that little bit behind. 

His dad did all of his education in irish and he speaks irish every day, not just to the children, and he didn't have a clue about the questions either. 

They have classes that are starting soon for the parents and i was thinking to taking them so i could help him when i needed to if dad wasn't around, but i'm beginning to think whats the point. Even some of you who have been speaking irish all your life or learnt a lot in school where at a loss with these questions. 

Why has the language seemed to change over the years. It's not like we could start calling a spoon a fork, it just wouldn't happen, a spoon is a spoon.  

I know there are different slang terms for words, off the top of my head, in scotland a baby is a burn ( wrong spelling probably) but it's still a baby as well, thats just a slang term. 

Often his dad will say the irish they are learning today is totally different to what he learnt at school and that was only 10 years ago.


----------



## mathepac (25 Apr 2009)

samanthajane said:


> ... Why has the language seemed to change over the years. It's not like we could start calling a spoon a fork, it just wouldn't happen, a spoon is a spoon...


I suppose a sign that a language is "alive" and evolving / adapting is that it changes over time - refer back to examples of written  English from medieval times, through to Victorian times (Dickens) and  to spoken TV/radio ads from the 1950 / 60's to today.

While I accept that the ability to change and adapt is good, some of the changes I see and hear in Irish are alarming.

The Irish of my youth and school-days always had a musical and poetic quality for me, a way of indirectly saying things that engaged the imagination in the process of understanding that was softer somehow and less harsh and analytical - feminine if you like.

A brief, simple but maybe poor example :

English - "He is a man".
Irish today - "Tá sé fear" - a literal translation that was grammatically incorrect, but seems acceptable today.
My Irish - "Is fear é" literally (almost) "It is man he is"
A more poetic and indirect translation could be "Tá sé ina fhear" literally "He is in his man[liness].

These native Irish constructs brought to our other official language were I believe what made our spoken and written English in Ireland unique, more attractive and a superior language to English elsewhere, certainly in literary circles.

We now seem to have lost the plot and officialdom is not only striving to Anglicise Irish but to further Anglicise already Anglicised place-names and sign posts. An example is the village of Toomevara in Co Tipperary. The original Irish place name is "Tuam Uí Mheára". This has now meen mangled to "Toomyvara" on sign-posts to fit the Anglicised pronunciation. 


samanthajane said:


> ... I know there are different slang terms for words, off the top of my head, in scotland a baby is a burn ( wrong spelling probably) but it's still a baby as well, thats just a slang term...


I think the word is "bairn"  in common regular use in  Donegal / Derry and robbed by the Scots (just like whiskey [note the correct spelling], piping, Gaelic (pronounced "Gay-lick" not Gallic, which pertains to things French), etc 


samanthajane said:


> ... Often his dad will say the irish they are learning today is totally different to what he learnt at school and that was only 10 years ago.


I agree and I don't think its better.


----------

