Turas Siar 305 - Agallamh suimiúil a rinne Caitlín Nic Conghóile leis an Dochtúir Séamus Ó Catháin, a chaith blianta fada ag bailiú béaloidis i gceantar Dhún Chaocháin.

Bhoil, ceol go speisialta, cluineann siad ceol.

Well, music especially, they hear music..

Sea

Yes.

Na teanga, na canúna an dtuigeann tú agus níos fearr b'fhéidir tá daoiní ann, níl aon cheol iontu ach tá siad in ann teanga a fhoghlaim ina dhiaidh sin. B'fhéidir nár cheart a rá go gcaithfidh ceol a bheith agat le teanga a fhoghlaim ach cuidíonn sé agus is dóigh liom tá daoiní eile anois tá siad in ann teanga a fhoghlaim ar bhealach i bhfad níos meicniúla.

The language, the dialects, do you understand and maybe better there are people, they have no music in them but they are able to learn a language afterwards. Maybe it shouldn’t be said that you have to have music to learn a language but it helps and I think there are other people now who are able to learn a language in a much more mechanical way.

agus

and.

Ach bhí sé i gcónaí ina nós agamsa a bheith ag éisteacht agus déanadh aithris.

But it was always my habit to listen and to imitate.

Agus de réir a chéile ag teacht isteach ar an rud.

And gradually coming into the thing..

Ar cheart níos mó béim a chur ar an gcaint sin, b'fhéidir?

Should more emphasis be placed on that talk, perhaps?

sa dara leibhéal sula dtagann sibh go dtí an ollscoil agatsa.

at the second level before you come to the university yourself..

Á

Á.

Bhoil is dóigh liom tá na ranna Gaeilge sna hollscoltacha agus ní ní hé sin mo ghnaithesa anois ach

Well, I suppose the Irish departments in the universities and that’s not really my business now though.

Cluinim daoiní atá sna ranna sin ag clamhsán faoi chaighdeán na Gaeilge ag na mic léinn atá ag teacht isteach go dtí an Ollscoil le Gaeilge you know go bhfuil nach bhfuil aon chur amach acu ar ghramadach nach bhfuil nach bhfuil bunrialacha na teanga ar eolas acu. Tá cuid acu agus tá siad líofa go leor.

I hear people in those departments complaining about the standard of Irish of the students who are coming into the University with Irish, you know, that they have no knowledge of grammar, that they don’t know the basic rules of the language. Some of them do, and they are quite fluent.

Ach lofa líofa atá siad.

But they are rotten fluent..

dTuigeann tú, níl aon cuid mhaith acu, cuid mhaith acu.

You understand, they’re no good, many of them, many of them...

agus

and.

Rinne Rinne m'iníon is mo mo mhac féin, rinne siad Gaeilge go dtí an leibhéal na hArdteiste agus ansin rinne Sorcha, rinne sí Gaeilge san ollscoil ach níl.

My daughter and my son did Irish up to Leaving Certificate level and then Sorcha, she did Irish in university but not...