@IarfhlaithO

I’m curious about the term “native speaker”.

I recognize the importance of supporting the #Gaeltacht. Folks there have been raised in the teanga and are part of an unbroken line of #IrishLanguage usage

That said, I aspire to be a competent #caighdean speaker. I like to think that is a noble aspiration - call me deluded 😜

I guess non-native speakers, such as myself, will never have the blás, but I think it is a distinction that may not be helpful

Martin

#Gaeilge

@IrishStewPodcast @IarfhlaithO Don't believe the lie that you can't have the blas! It's entirely possible for learners to have good pronunciation if they are willing to put in the work. Most don't have it simply because they don't even care.

And it doesn't even take much work to be above average. Simply acknowledging that a different language comes with different sounds and that you don't have all of them in your English, and just trying to make the right sounds already puts you above average.

@caoimhin @IarfhlaithO

As I understand “blas”, it’s driven by the intersection of multiple factors:
- a fundamental grounding in the language
- how you learned the language
- the dialect of Irish you speak
- the accent used to form the words
- the lived experience of the place you come from
- a bucketload of other factors

I will never be of the Gaeltacht, but I do aspire to an caighdean - call it Irishtown #Gaeilge.

#Irishtown

@IrishStewPodcast @IarfhlaithO Nothing wrong with using the Caighdeán, I mostly stick to it myself. But it was never meant to be in opposition or an alternative to native Irish. It's essentially a style guide for writing Irish and doesn't really concern itself with the points you listed.

While sticking to the Caighdeán, of course I still try to use native Irish structures, idiom and sounds, because if I used (Hiberno-)English structures, idioms and sounds, why wouldn't I also use English words?