ENGLISH BELOW
Cé go bhféadfá a rá gurb ionann gach páiste sa tír seo, ní dóigh liom go bhfuil sin fíor. Tagann muid uilig ar an saol seo agus cosán na clainne leagtha amach romhainn, go pointe. Nuair a rugadh m’iníon, breis agus bliain ó shin bhí cúpla rud deimhnithe sula bhfuair mé deis féachaint uirthi, fiú.
Bhí ‘fhios againn go raibh muid chun í a thógáil le grá agus cineáltas i gcroílár a saoil agus bhí muid ag iarraidh an Ghaeilge a úsáid timpeall uirthi freisin. Cé nach í an Ghaeilge ár gcéad teanga, tá Gaeilge againne mar gheall gur cuireadh muid go Gaelscoil agus mothaíonn muid beirt gur chur an Ghaeilge ar bhóthar ár leasa muid.
Cuireadh muidinne chuig Gaelscoil tráth a bhí an ghluaiseacht Gaelscolaíochta ag forbairt agus nach raibh éileamh as cuímse orthu, mar atá i láthair na huaire. Deir taighde ESRI go bhfuil éileamh de 23% ann don Ghaelscolaíocht ach nach bhfuil ann ach 8.1% de bhunscoileanna ina nGaelscoileanna agus go bhfuil an figiúr sin níos ísle fós ag 3.6% nuair a thagann sé chuig leibhéal na n-iarbhunscoileanna.
Cé go raibh mise agus mo chéile ar aon tuairim maidir lenár gclann a thógáil le Gaeilge, ní hionann sin agus a rá go raibh sé éasca an sprioc a bhaint amach. Tá Béarla agus Gaeilge in úsáid againne agus cé go raibh an t-eolas uilig maidir le teanga a shealbhú againn, nuair a rugadh í agus bhí an saol bun os cionn ar feadh tamaill, bhí orainn iarracht bhreise a dhéanamh an Ghaeilge a úsáid léi.
Cúis bhróid dom é gur lean muid orainn agus anois gurb í an Ghaeilge atá aicise mar chéad teanga. Ní raibh sé i gcónaí éasca agus bhí orainn dul i ngleic leis na botúin agus na bearnaí a d’aimsigh muid inár gcuid Gaeilge féin ar an gcosán seo. Ag féachaint siar anois, meabhraíonn sé dom nach gá go mbeadh gach rud foirfe le go mbeadh fiúntas ann. Ceapaim go bhfuil nós againn a bheith dian orainn féin nuair nach bhfuil na freagraí ar fad nuair a thagann sé go tuismitheoireacht agus ní haon eisceacht í teanga eile a úsáid sa teach.
Diaidh ar ndiaidh, d’éirigh sé níos fusa, d’aimsigh muid acmhainní iontacha ar nós leabhar, amhrán agus cluichí. Chabhraigh grúpaí Gaeilge do thuismitheoirí le Gaeilge linn freisin agus muid ag thóir na treibhe. D’aimsigh muid daoine a bhí níos faide anonn sa tuismitheoireacht dhátheangach agus a bhí in ann muid a threorú.
3 rud a ‘dfhoghlaim muid le bliain anuas:
Níl sé éasca ach is fiú é. Coinnigh do mhisneach.
Aimsigh do threibh, beidh siad in ann tacú leat sna tréimhsí dúshlánacha.
Bíodh píosa spraoi agat. Tá oiread craic againn ag cumadh amhrán agus rannta i nGaeilge.
Some might say that every child is born equal in this country, but I’m not so sure about that. I think most people are born with a certain life laid out before them, depending on who their family is. When our daughter was born just over a year ago, a few things were certain before I even got to hold her.
We knew we wanted to bring her up with love and kindness in her life and we knew we wanted to raise her with Irish. Even though Irish isn’t our first language, both of her parents use Irish every day socially and professionally. We both attended local Gaelscoileanna and feel we greatly benefitted from the experience.
We attended Gaelscoileanna when the Irish medium education sector was developing but they were still a fairly novel concept and there wasn’t the huge demand there is now for a places. ESRI research shows that 23% of parents would like to send their child to a Gaelscoil and only 8.1% of the primary schools are Gaelscoileanna and 3.6% of post-primary schools are Irish medium schools.
Myself and my partner were both united on bringing our daughter up with Irish but it hasn’t been an easy road to date. We speak both English and Irish at home and even though we are well aware of the benefits of speaking a second language around children, we found having a newborn challenging experience, never mind adding in a second language.
I’m proud to say we persevered and her first words and therefore her first language is Irish. We often found ourselves questioning our decision when we made mistakes or didn’t have every word on the tip of our tongues. Like a lot of my parenting to date, it has been a humbling experience. I tried to remind myself that being imperfect at something doesn’t negate its value. Looking back on the first year of motherhood, in my aspects, I think I was too harsh on myself and using a second language with our little girl is no exception.
Bit by bit, everything got easier and we found very helpful resources, books, songs and games to help us. We found great support in meeting other parents bringing up children in Irish, especially those of whom were a bit further along the journey than us.
3 tips for bringing up a bilingual child.
It’s not easy but it’s worth it. Keep going.
Find your tribe, they’ll be able to help you when the going gets tough.
Keep it fun. There is so much joy to be found in another language
