How to become an independent Irish-speaker without wasting your time.

We want you to know as much as possible about our methods and the reasons behind them before you commit to this system. This summary covers the most important points.

Language is a method of human communication that uses sounds in an agreed order: the agreement is by the language's speech-community. Culture is that community's activities. Like people, cultures cannot survive in a hostile environment. At Nead na Fuiseoige, we control, defend and enlarge this crucial environment, so you are allowed to experience our way of life fully and to become part of it.

Generic Language Acquisition: 1st and 2nd language.

Natural Language Acquisition is the basis for our methodology. To summarise Language Acquisition: it is ‘the problem of not understanding being solved by the individual person, with the help of other people, without translation, internally.' When language acquisition is under way, not a single word of any other language is either heard or spoken: other forms of conveyance of meaning are used. Speech is not forced and the new speaker should not make any mistakes: mistakes are not ‘banned' but, with exemplary pre-experience, the chance of mistakes is minimised: the correction replaces the mistake! 1st /2nd language acquisition is an unconscious process occurring naturally. It has a consistent order and obeys universal linguistic laws (see ‘Stages of acquiring a language' below). It is a form of problem-solving: you first identify the problem (I don't understand) and its source, then you solve the problem. You discover the regularities, then the exceptions – without formal grammar or jargon which you do not understand: (children do not understand grammar terms at all and adults do not understand them in Irish. To use the English jargon would bring you back to the dark ages of language 'learning') You need help to acquire a language. Your parents and others helped you with your first language. Our online and live activities will provide that help with your Irish. 1st /2nd language acquisition cannot use translation. The language is internalised, becoming a part of who you are: you link concepts, ‘work out' the inner patterns and remember them better because of this. We apply that now to our own language – Irish. The order for both 1st and 2nd language acquisition is: you HEAR (‘chunks of high quality, optimised, comprehensible input'), you UNDERSTAND simultaneously, with no wasted time or effort caused by misunderstanding or explanation: the ‘translation' is in the action that goes with the speech you hear. This instant understanding allows you to experience ‘natural grammar acquisition', or cognitive/mental mapping which doesn't need verbal rules. We have all gone through this natural process with our 1st language. Then you SPEAK: that is, you practice this and you use it. This is referred to by some as ‘output', or ‘production', and includes speaking and, much later, writing. Language acquisition is FREE. Your parents did not make you pay for your first language. We will not make you pay for your rightful language! This takes us in the direction of equality of citizenship and opportunity, currently denied to the majority of our citizens.

1st /Co 1st (Child) Language Acquisition. We are all, as humans, 1st language speakers of some language, yet none of us ‘learned' this language! We all ‘acquired' it from our parents and others, successfully, without any effort or expense, irrespective of our IQ or being ‘good at languages'. Around the age of 2 or 3, child language rapidly blossoms into fluent, grammatically correct conversation. There can be a year or more of variation in length of time to child fluency, partly due to the quality and quantity of parental and other input, but the pattern is always the same. All the 'mechanics,' or 'code' of the language are acquired in 3 years! The speakers of any language conform to the code of that language. Children hear a language long before they speak it and they crack its code without ever hearing a translation. They crack the code in CHUNKS not in words, making moulds/templates/mappings that improve with time! The confidence to speak can only come from this competence. Listening and understanding skills are always far ahead of speaking, which must be allowed to be a natural activity, like walking. Speech (and later, writing) is ‘production' - the result of language acquisition and cannot precede the ‘chunks of high quality optimised comprehensible input' formula of simultaneous listening and understanding. Context is crucial. A child hears a lot of simple ‘orders' in which the sounds heard consistently match and cue situations and actions, showing cause and effect, making them understandable and memorable. The meaning is in the action – translation is impossible. A child (and an adult!) understands concepts, intent, etc., not isolated words. (See Non Verbal Communication below). We begin to speak as our internal mental ‘map' of the language develops – this needs a big ‘sample' before coherent speech can emerge.

2nd Language Acquisition – (Virtual/quasi ‘native'). The first and essential ingredient of 2nd Language Acquisition is informed choice – this is what gives you the motivation to succeed. A child does not need this, as it has only the choice of its parents. The methods used to achieve 2nd Language Acquisition must be based on 1st language acquisition, but 2nd language acquisition has the major problem that the adult new speaker, having command of another language, is often given a translation. This immediately brings you back to the stone age of external, foreign language ‘learning'. Language-management strategies and agreement/consent are needed to ensure this does not happen. Adults cannot get any 2nd language as a 1st, deep-set, perfectly pronounced and spontaneous language, but they can replace this by a logically thought-out commitment which children neither have nor need. This can actually leave adults advantaged over children in some important ways. Apart from pronunciation perfection and its deep-set/first-language ‘status', adults actually acquire a language faster than children – but only if the hindrances mentioned above and others are removed! Our methods remove these hindrances, as you will come to understand as you read this and experience our online facility.

The stages of acquiring a language.

1st Language Acquisition.	2nd Language Acquisition.
1. Pre-birth: High quality input. ( HEAR )	Pre-starting: Information, decision and motivation.

(From here down, the stages are common to both 1st and 2nd language acquisition)

2. From birth/ starting onwards: Chunks of optimised, high quality, comprehensible input. (HEAR/UNDERSTAND). This is the non-verbal period, when the new speaker absorbs, analyses and deciphers the language's code but will not speak, as such.

3. Production: The ‘one-word' stage. The ‘two-word' stage (the ‘Coopla Fuckall'). The three-word stage (HEAR/UNDERSTAND/SPEAK). Then comes speech emergence and experimentation, using acquired ‘repertoire' or ‘tools'. Single words, phrases and sentences begin to be voiced as the new speaker fills in the pieces of the jigsaw and quickly breaks through to a flood of...

4. Basic (Native) Fluency, sometimes referred to as ‘basic interpersonal communication skills' - B.I.C.S. This is everyday, informal, social language.

5. Development, learning, etc. sometimes referred to as ‘cognitive academic language proficiency', (C.A.L.P.) This must obviously follow B.I.C.S. and usually develops at school (this is why the Gaelscoil needs urgent home and community support. See Note 1).

6. Fluency is confident, uninhibited verbal communication that is intelligible and sounds natural to a native speaker. It can not therefore come from translation, as translation puts an extra weak, unnecessary and fatally inhibiting link in the chain of communication. ‘Fluency' is a relative term that is often abused. We recognise a hierarchy in which we distinguish between:

2nd language ‘Learned' fluency – impossible!

2nd language acquired (‘virtual native') fluency;

1st language (‘native') fluency.

  HOW WE RECREATE 1st / 2nd LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.

Our sessions (online followed by live) mimic natural 1st language acquisition. When you use our service, it becomes your ‘parent' giving you input – but with one major advantage – you can hear the input as many times as you need. This will seriously speed your progress. The first element of a series of acquisition sessions is, like the child input, SOUNDS – these can be provided more efficiently by our online materials, as you alone know your own level and what suits you in terms of your strengths and weaknesses. Our videos give high quality, understood language input. Use of our MP3's and .pdf's, as directed, allows you an advantage in cracking the code without debilitating foreign jargon. In our .pdf's, we replace this jargon with colour-coding, which helps, rather than hinders your code-cracking. Your focus is kept on spoken Irish, with ‘reading' available as a helpful tool, but not dominant: you need to pick up the language ‘by ear', as a musician does with a tune. If ‘reading' helps this – and it will for many – print and use the .pdf's – but only use them as you actually listen to the language until you are fully confident you are recognising the characters and pronouncing them properly. As well as giving you essential language in its natural surroundings, our online materials give you a phonetics lesson without terminology, a spelling lesson without writing, a grammar lesson without boredom or stress, a literature lesson without books. The live sessions follow to let you develop your language skills in a real setting. We smash the old moulds and we shortcut nature! We recognise universal method, because the ‘laws' are universal – this process is common to all languages. Our system mimics 1st (child) language acquisition, but our methods are more efficient and therefore faster than a child acquires its 1st language. The difference is that we assist you systematically, keeping you at ‘peak performance' – because you don't have the time a child has! We give you assisted, contextually-aided explanation of meaning and chains of association – again as you got as a child – only more structured, therefore more effective. You are kept ‘swimming' rather than ‘drowning' – always being gently drawn slightly above your current state. This takes skilful direction and that skill is our gift to you.

Language in Culture – Culture around Language. Our language is the steel which reinforces the culture in which it is embedded. The two are inseparable. This foundation will support any building! You will acquire our language almost as a by-product of the activities of this culture. You will gain access to this authentic culture, including its songs, drama, stories, play, games, sports, customs, food, geography, literature, music, art… which will be experienced, understood and enjoyed in the language that creates them. Without the language, they are meaningless. (See Note 2)

Our live sessions. From Day 1, we will make sure your language skills match the activity by careful language-management and small groups. At our communication-centred sensory language acquisition activity sessions, you will hear the activity's associated language and understand it immediately without a translation. We provide a stress-free, effective, entertaining and culture-based experience, incorporating a high standard of pronunciation, idiom and natural speech. You will get the language from a variety of speakers, but they will not confuse you by using different dialects as this will come naturally when you have command of one. Our activity sessions develop the important skills of listening and speaking, helping you communicate effectively in real-life situations. This approach is the fastest and most effective language acquisition system that exists. We give you the key that unlocks the door to a world that has been hidden from you. When you open that door, you will see our treasure – your treasure. As is the case with all that is valuable, it is only by giving that we keep. We use a lot of right brain, kinaesthetic instruction, which is non-verbal and processed in patterns giving one-take understanding, long-term retention and zero stress. Our methods impart language as quickly as is possible, cutting down on the drop-out rate and allowing the language to become part of your everyday life immediately. There are no tricks, so you can relax. We regard your mistake as our fault - if you use our online material well, you can get it 100% right every time – almost like a native speaker - before you use the language in public! You may well be speaking in the 1st session, but just as with child-speakers, we will encourage but not force conversation. You don't have to speak, but you will want to communicate! This methodology only works as an ENTIRETY and the closer you follow our guidelines, the better the result will be. If you hear of imitations of our methods, make sure they offer you:

1. Only 1st language (‘native') high standard speakers as Language Mentors.
2. Not one, but two of these Language Mentors for core language sessions (first 50 hours or so).
3. No translation. Irish only is used, no matter what level or age-group.
4. No visible grammar, though this is invisibly structured into our sessions.
5. No writing or composition until a basic fluency is reached – i.e. no ‘production' before acquisition.
6. The language is FREE. Our non-profit ethos guarantees that we work for you, not our own pockets.
7. A deeply researched and fully coherent methodology.

Immersion/submersion. It is no harm to hear full-flight language sometimes, (submersion) but it is better to hear 2 native speakers actually modelling in a structured way. This must (and our methods do) avoid language-shock i.e. the unconscious rejection of incomprehensible input. We automatically ‘switch off' when we are overwhelmed by a flood of language that we don't understand because we have no sensory context to help us interpret it - like tuning into a Russian radio station - or Radio na Gaeltachta if you have no Irish! Imagine being in an area with no common language – we recreate this, but speed your integration by ensuring you get context, not translation, to aid your understanding. The quality is crucial, as the quality of the language input cannot be exceeded in output: it is better to wash in clean water when it is available – and it is. Its all yours no matter who you are – and you and your family only have to do this once.

Our use of the Imperative (i.e. giving orders) at the early stage serves 2 purposes: orders give the meaning by the movement they cause, (i.e. in context, they show cause and effect and thus aid understanding and retention). This is infinitely better than translation. They are the stem – the simplest form of the verb, to which changes are added. The fact that you start with the stem allows you to identify these changes much more easily – optimised input! The other forms follow in a logical order. We work according to a ‘life curriculum' of core vocabulary and structures. Topics are broken down into a logical, though flexible sequence. Many different ‘activities' are needed to have a broad spectrum of language skills and we do enough to give you the foundation for your independence. You will be motivated by your continual success! The language is actually in use from the start, not as an add-on and useless academic exercise.

We use two Language Mentors, who are 1st language speakers of the highest standards to guide all foundation activity sessions, so you get the best available model for your language development. This gives you ‘both sides' of the conversation - questions and answers, giving ‘believability' and diminishing anxiety. You cannot get the answer wrong! We're to blame for any mistakes. Our Language Mentors, who are appropriately trained and experienced in our language acquisition methodologies, will speak at a normal speed, irrespective of whether they are talking to fluent speakers or new speakers, but they will obviously need to use less sensory explanation with more fluent speakers. The language Mentors act as facilitators to your language acquisition – just as your parents did.

No TRANSLATION, writing, grammar or jargon. The reasons for this coincide fully with the reasons for an all-Irish environment below. If you use translation, the creation of the all-Irish environment necessary for language acquisition and fluency is not possible!

Translation and the use of English… 1. …are not natural in normal language acquisition. They fatally inhibit the development of the process of thinking in Irish that is necessary for fluency. You will never achieve a true command if you first think in one language then translate it into Irish that you simply have not got! This amounts to ‘production before acquisition. But acquisition must precede production! Ignoring this sets mistakes so deeply that speech therapy would be needed to fix this ‘learning' legacy – if it is fixable at all. This legacy is no accident; neither is its ending.

Translation and the use of English… 2. …fatally inhibit the triggering of the ‘internal motivation' mechanism that you need, so we do not use either. You will necessarily experience a discomfort zone, and ‘positive frustration', which, like being in an area where nobody speaks your language, triggers the ‘internal motivation' mechanism, which makes you try harder to pick up the language. If Irish is not exclusively spoken, the new speaker's internal motivation will not be stimulated and Irish language acquisition will not occur. You don't have to speak, but you will want to communicate. You should find the novelty of using only Irish fun, as it will bring you back to your miming days and will cause you to take part actively – a great ice-breaker.

3. Translation and authentic Irish cannot co-exist. This is true of any language. When we make the videos, we are careful not to put words into the Language Mentor's mouth: we just show an image or action and they put their own words to it: this is authentic, native, un-translated Irish and is totally different to the rubbish that was forced on us at school.

4. The use of translation, by encouraging the mixing of words and patterns from other languages, infiltrates, impoverishes and devalues the Irish language, showing a disrespect that is contagious. The basic structures of our language: the sound and syntax systems – the whole fabric of the language, are very different from English and cannot be mixed without damage to Irish. The rare exception and a natural development is ‘borrowing', when Irish has no ‘native' term. If you look at English computer terminology, however, you will see that established languages, as Irish certainly is, seldom need straight borrowings. Keeping Irish free of words and phrases from other languages is not any form of chauvinism or ‘purism' - Irish has many sayings, proverbs, idioms etc. to cover any necessity. You do not need translations from other languages: to do so creates yet another bad habit for new speakers and blurs the boundaries between what should be separate, co-existent, mutually respecting cultures. When you think about it, no culture is translatable. Encroachment of the dominating (some would call it ‘imperialist') language is a major problem for the threatened language, both in terms of use of English where we are trying to use Irish and the ‘internal' corruption of Irish by English. It is a constant struggle to keep the intrusion into Irish at bay. The translation method adds yet another easy way for the intrusion to take place. The imposing of other language structures on Irish, a fault common among ‘learners' (because ‘learning' is based on translation), will always produce an unusable hybrid language which has English structures with Irish words, is only basely comprehensible and is useless for genuine conversation which requires meaning to be clear and instant.

5. A ‘bilingual', translated language is a threatened language: it works through the dominant language; it is not independent, not allowed to stand on its own, not good enough, not necessary. (See Note 3)

6. Translation implies foreignness! Constant emphasis on translation and ‘bilingualism' is unnatural.

For these reasons, you should avoid Irish television programmes that have English subtitles. The reason for this is the natural inclination to concentrate on the subtitles, rather than listening to the Irish: it breaks the fundamental ‘no translation' rule. Subtitles are a fatal hindrance to the novice speaker and are not needed by fluent speakers. When you watch a programme with subtitles, you are being bombarded by 2 unrelated things simultaneously. The mind must choose between them and understanding will always win this battle. If you can only see a programme once, which is normal with TV viewing, subtitles ensure you will acquire just about ZERO Irish! TV material is not specifically designed to be ‘comprehensible', so it cannot on its own impart the language – especially when it has foreign language (translated) subtitles. Subtitles in English confine understanding to Irish speakers (who don't need them) and English speakers/readers – discriminating against other language-communities and forcing us all to operate through English – to the advantage of English, not Irish. Simple subliminal images and the use of some imagination are all that is required to replace these hindrances.

Aids to thinking in Irish. The simple fact is that if you can translate, you will. In the short term, it makes things easier, so we must use strategies to counteract internal/mental translation. To encourage thinking in Irish, we speed things up and include problem solving that requires quick thinking: solving puzzles and problems such as arithmetic, devising routes going from one place to another, food preparation, etc. This is all done at a brisk pace to keep the crack going. You soon realise that translating mentally is too slow and quickly move on.

No formal grammar. We subject no new speakers to formal grammar until they are conversationally fluent in Irish. Internal mental (cognitive) mapping replaces formal grammar, though the grammar is woven into the fabric of the whole process, as are various branches of linguistics, phonetics, 1st and 2nd language acquisition best practice, etc. Grammar cannot be discussed until a deep fluency has been achieved - unless this is done in the oppressor-language – and you already speak that! We distil all the jargon (Béarleagar!) by use of the ultimate Irish spelling and grammar system: Gearrchló21, colour-coding and mental mapping aids and give it to you in a comprehensible and unobtrusive form, as the language itself is given.

Reasons for no writing or ‘composition': Children are usually more than 5 years old when they start writing. Writing (as opposed to reading), grammar and translation at the conversational/acquisition stage, will be merely a hindrance and thus delay progress. Writing is the ‘production' of already fluent speakers. Any form of ‘production' can only come after acquisition. Writing is ‘production' and a new speaker is not ready for meaningful production yet. The same is true of ‘composition' before one is competent to compose! It sets your bad habits instead of modelling good ones, amounts to ‘production' before acquisition, and is thus impossible! New Speakers telling stories, experiences etc. out loud is ‘production/composition' – necessarily involving translation, as the experience was in English - and will be avoided. Writing is many times slower than conversation - boringly slow, and serves to preserve the status quo of English dominance. Both writing and grammar, when used at the crucial early stages of what should have been language acquisition, were subtle millstones around the necks of Irish people who, instead of getting their own language, got another English lesson in their ‘Irish class'!

The Irish-only environment, agreement and language management. This leads us inevitably to the creation of a totally Irish-speaking environment (with the exception of a foreign language area, explained below) which is essential and needs your consent from Day 1. You will have trusted us by choosing our methods and we will not betray that trust. To this end, we must manage the linguistic environment. The goal is to communicate! As Irish people, we choose to do this in Irish. Only using Irish will cause Irish acquisition and strengthen our language bond and identity. This language-management is needed to make the use of English unnecessary and is not so big an issue as our dominators make out, when you consider that only 7-10% of everyday communication is in language (see N.V.C. below): language is a badge of identity which we, as adults, CHOOSE. This informed choice is the crucial element in 2nd language acquisition. If you doubt your choice for any reason, you will lose motivation – this ploy was and still is used to put millions of people off the language. We will make sure that this ‘agreement' is no hindrance, by training your non-verbal communication skills, if necessary, to facilitate Irish communication. In our acquisition sessions which are unashamedly Irish in context, no other language will be spoken, acknowledged or responded to - except at the introductory first session, at the reviews, in designated areas and in low tones. The only exceptions are emergencies such as fire, accident etc. This is what would happen if you were in a foreign country – and at Nead na Fuiseoige, English-only speakers are. You cannot get the motivation to speak Irish without this. Everyone is responsible for maintaining the Irish Only Agreement - new as well as established speakers. The Irish Only Agreement is needed as the use of any other language would leave people understanding Irish but having no need, motivation or inclination to strive for the speaking stage. If new speakers know that the staff understand them and are prepared to respond to them in English, they may well not bother to persevere with the next step of spoken Irish. If we allow English to intrude at all, then soon it will be all that is spoken and acknowledged, with perhaps the odd phrase of Irish as an empty token. We must preserve and expand the boundaries of our culture's space/environment. Languages need their own exclusive speaking communities and environments (Domains). This role is not, and was never designed to be fulfilled by the so-called ‘Official Gaeltacht'. It has another sinister purpose. Our ‘Irish only agreement' creates a real Gaeltacht.

This ethos applies in residential accommodation as well. You will be lodged in exclusively Irish speaking homes and we respect their decision. For the duration of your stay here, the environment will be 100% Irish speaking. We ask you to use only the bedrooms in your accommodation as your Láthair na dTeanga Eachtranacha (L.T.E., see below) and only ever to use Irish anywhere else. Our agreement, therefore, applies even when away from Nead na Fuiseoige for any reason - accommodation, activities, or socialising. We will not force English on those who have chosen Irish as their home language and our activities will never be the cause of English being heard in this area. The domain will always be preserved and consent to our principles is necessary from the outset. Careful planning has been done and will not be undermined by anything less than careful management. Let the English develop their language. We will develop ours. We aim for Irish as a first language for Irish people, as was enshrined in our constitution in 1937 but has been suppressed ever since. Any other method reinforces English as the dominant language and therefore works against the aim. The novice should understand and respect that others want to speak Irish. This will cause Irish to be ‘set' as their language of choice from then on. This, in a family set-up, is the only occasion when deceit is appropriate – let children think that Irish is your 1st language! We must recognise the distinction between adults and children/teenagers: young people may not understand the reason for the Irish only agreement. If they do not understand and fully agree, they must not be here! People without Irish should be in a minority or under agreement. Your Irish-only agreement is a paragraph in your New Speaker Logbook (see below) which you sign. All this establishes a solid foundation for a wide range of activities in Irish. Our activities set achievable targets and we make sure you attain them – there are no formal levels.

Posters will be visible at our live sessions, reminding people that Irish is the only language to be used. These are in Irish, but will be explained to new speakers.

Foreign-language area (Láthair na dTeanga Eachtrannacha, or L.T.E.). One area in the course venue will be set aside for using other languages in low tones. We will identify and emphasise this at the start of a session. This is to minimise language/culture-shock without compromising the outcome. You can ‘escape' to L.T.E. for a break any time, but we will carry on in your absence. During these timeouts, the Language Mentors will stay away except in an emergency. They are mentors – role-models: that must be Irish role modelling! L.T.E. will always be available to allow new speakers a break during the fragile early stages, but should not be needed after 20 hours.

Non Verbal Communication (can be vocal!) A definition of ‘communication' includes Non Verbal Communication and language. It is the meeting of minds, with words accounting for only about 7-10% of communication. Language is a badge of identity which we choose. N.V.C. transcends the communication of language, allowing us to send and receive messages without use of ANY language. This is how you got the meaning as a child, before you had any language. To make your transition to an all-Irish environment as smooth as possible, we give you the videos on this website and then use Non-verbal communication, so you understand instantly. Your lack of Irish at any stage will never be overwhelming.

New Speaker Logbooks. These will document your transition from the unsustainable Anglo-American to the Irish way of life. They are your record of progress and should be brought to each session to help your Language Mentors to help you. They can be downloaded from this website. You are advised to keep a log of what you have done to help you, us and others. Evaluation after a session is always an integral part and the format is summarized in your New Speaker Logbook. This information helps keep us aware of what stage of acquisition the new speaker has reached and how things are going generally.

Leads on to community. The home is the community's basic unit - the foundation of community. We create a natural homelike environment that makes language acquisition a comfortable experience. The home is the place where language is used most and where the most common language is used, so it is recommended that new speakers practice and use what they have acquired in a session aloud at home and later in the wider community. Our programme is based as closely as possible on personal and home language usage. We will extend this by encouraging you to participate in activities in the local area and beyond. We want more for you than the learning of a language: we want you to become part of its community quickly and to extend its use. Using your Irish aloud at home efficiently achieves the following important objectives:

It ensures that what you have acquired will not be forgotten by the time you return for the next session and that it will have an influence on others. This may be the first time Irish has been heard in your home and it begins the creation of a new ‘domain'. A ‘domain is any location, however limited, in which that language is exclusively spoken. This includes what we refer to as ‘internal home domains' i.e. your child's bedroom, your kitchen, etc. can become an Irish domain after that ‘theme' has been acquired. Partners, family, friends etc. become used to hearing you using Irish around them, removing any paranoia and other negative emotions. Our material and activities develop the language of the home and community, enabling and encouraging new speakers to put Irish into everyday use with other members of their family at home and in the wider community. This develops and maintains an Irish speaking way of life in a widening range of situations. The more relevant Irish is to your life, the quicker you will reach fluency and bring others with you. The holistic Iomláine approach creates and sustains community. It goes beyond language to include culture, principles, values and way of life. All this will create strong and confident Irish speakers, who are more likely to use the language throughout their life. Community and state attitudes are important and affect acquisition and use of language. Shame, shyness, confidence, etc. can weaken or strengthen motivation. Our positive, self-sustaining process replaces the constantly-repeated self-fulfilling prophesy of the colonial and neo-colonial days which are happily drawing to a close. We are now in the de-colonising phase which precedes and pours the foundation for independence. The shame of being Irish is being replaced by confidence. We will use Irish, not only in Nead na Fuiseoige, but everywhere. You will meet many Irish speakers, some of whom will have been trained by us as language imparters and they will see you well on the road to a network of people who will always be willing to use Irish with you and to help you. Our injured communities will become strong again. Ours is the community of the Irish language - Pobal na Gaeilge, to which you are welcome.

The Future: We will stop speaking English when this system is up and running. By this we are not excluding people, except those who are so against reason as not to be on our caring list. We are reaching out and bringing people in by this. Using the language is the only way of passing it on: we have made this repair job as easy and as pleasant as possible. There is no forcing – you accept our guidelines by choice because you trust us and you know they are necessary for your success – and you want to succeed! Iomláine/Nead na Fuiseoige is creating a choice for the Irish people: for you and for your children. We will ask our new speakers never to use English again with others known to have Irish – especially children - and to tell others about our service. This is not a competition or a race and you need no head start on your friends. Your decision will make the future better for all and you will only have to do this once!

The next generation. There is a full Information Booklet in this website for couples who want their children to be 1st language Irish speakers. Our language will become the first language of our country again when we have made that happen: the foundation is strong.

Bail ó Dhia ar an obair.

Buíochas: Thanks to all who voluntarily assisted in this project, putting the common good first. Our work is available for anybody to use as they see fit, with two conditions: that the methodology is used in its ENTIRETY and that work is guided by what is required, not by profit.

(Note in the clip below that it is not James Asher, but a native Spanish speaker who imparts the language.)

Note 1: Community effort is voluntary and requires neither funding nor bureaucracy, which serve only to limit, control and squander resources. It requires commitment and action based on the application of honest research. It requires realism and courage, because whether or not we like them, the facts remain. Ignoring the facts will not change them and will only serve to further waste the effort of good people! This website provides a solid foundation for effective action. Anyone genuinely interested in becoming effective in the promotion of Irish should read 'Reversing Language Shift' by Joshua Fishman, with an open mind and a readiness to change anything that needs changing, irrespective of what is currently being funded and promoted by sources whose credentials are suspect, to say the least. Difficult decisions will have to be made. Refusing to accept the facts and to act on them may give an easy life in the short term, but will work against our language. We must be clear about our motives: is a course of action taken to further our language, or to ensure an easy life or to avoid facing the fact that we have been misguided by people we trusted? Effective action wastes nothing. We have work to do and we will do it.

Note 2: This is why the Hiberno-English establishment created and fostered a Hiberno-English pseudo culture, rather than promoting the Irish one. It has supported and funded the rehashing of all facets of our culture through the English language, actually making them facets of English culture and assisting in our own oppression. It does so to this day. The English and Hiberno-English want the Irish language (in fact, all languages and thought except that which fully corresponds with their world-view) dead or destroyed and are infiltrating relentlessly and subtly, so we sometimes even help them ourselves.

Note 3: Irish is a ‘threatened language'. It is not endangered by accident of nature, but being systematically destroyed, by all necessary means, by an imperialist, threatening, aggressor ethos that sees itself as superior and demands full extinction of all other ways. The lack of an Irish Dictionary, for example, is an active attack by ‘our own' government, establishment and bureaucracy that squanders billions on strategically counterproductive scams that work subtly to undermine the language. Here is an example of one of these subliminal attacks:
If you want to use Irish when referring to the English word 'subliminal', for example, you must go through the following laborious and deliberately devious process:
'De Bháldraithe': subliminal, a. Psy: Fothairseachúil.
It is impossible to see that you are dealing with a compound word. You must now search for the word Fothairseachúil in:
'Ó Dónaill': fo-thairseachúil, a2. Subliminal.
You are back in English now, whether you like it or not, but you want to understand the concept, so you look up the word 'tairseachúil', going from the 'f's to the 't's...
tairseachúil, a2. Psy: Liminal.
You are back in English again and still none the wiser, unless you already understand the word 'tairseach'. So you go to the English Dictionary, (where this whole process is designed to lead you), and you get...
liminal / limm in'l/ • adjective technical 1 relating to a transitional or initial stage. 2 at a boundary or threshold. - DERIVATIVES liminality noun. - ORIGIN from Latin limen ‘threshold'.
You now need to look up 'subliminal' in the English Dictionary to get a definition.
subliminal /səb’lImIn(ə)l/ adj. Psychol. (of a stimulus etc.) below the threshold of sensation or consciousness. ° subliminal advertising the use of subliminal images in advertising on television etc. to influence the viewer at an unconscious level. subliminal self the part of one’s personality outside conscious awareness. °° subliminally adv. [sub- + L limen –inis threshold]
You are back in English again, for the third - and final time: You have received the deliberate subliminal message loud and clear: 'The Irish Language is useless and English is the ONLY language that is worth knowing or using' - and you have just received yet another English lesson - whether you wanted it or not... This message reaches the depths of our minds and is constantly 'rammed down our throats'. You have just had to use 3 books and a lot of searching to get the meaning of one word! Unless De Bháldraithe and Ó Dónaill were aware of the strategic objective in this process, they are not to blame. Such strategic decisions are made 'higher' up the command structure and are done 'discreetly' (i.e. undemocratically: with neither consultation nor consent). Iomláine opposes the objective that is behind these subliminal messages and we will do what it takes to undo the harm that has been done and to ensure that these calculated insults cease. If you think this is all a bit far-fetched, look for any other language but English in the O.E.D. (apart from the etymologies), look at the methods used by T.E.F.L. (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) tutors and compare them to the current methods used to 'teach Irish' in our state-funded schools. Why is the Irish language treated differently to all others? When you answer this question honestly, you will understand the problem. When you understand the problem, you have a better chance of solving it... We understand where we are coming from - and where we are going.

The way it WAS: Irish 'Learning' - another English lesson.

2nd Language Learning is what many of us were subjected to at school. This classroom ‘learning', with you as an outsider to the language's cultural setting, replaced the new speaker's native input and practice with a lesson in English, confining Irish to exterior and marginalising ‘academic' application. It dehumanised our language, making it virtually impossible for a ‘learner' to make progress. The mental processes that were activated by these consciously counterproductive ‘methods' actually resist language acquisition. (See Historical Note below)

Historical Note: 'Learning' has thus always formed the basis for the ‘National School/Scoil Náisiúnta' system (the name simply translated into Irish, it remaining what Pádraig Mac Piarais called the ‘Murder Machine') and other ('Irish') state-funded systems that are still current. The British pursued a sustained campaign to annihilate the Irish spirit, liberally using terrorism, fear, oppression and genocide. This was followed, when the people were weakened, by school-based linguacide. When they decided their work was safe in the hands of a few mercenary natives, the British took their army to other countries, leaving a threatening garrison in the north-east (which hasn't gone away) and a trusted surrogate Hiberno-English system to carry on their work using more subtle methods. The fear and shame of the 'National School' era was soon replaced by the more subtle and effective Scoil Náisiúnta, where boredom, compulsion, divisiveness, and institutionalised self-hate were the new methodologies. Irish was made a fear-inspiring or boring ‘subject' with a view to its annihilation. Constant misinformation was and still is a vital weapon in the preservation of this status quo that was arrived at by violence. Slow, doomed-to-fail, Irish ‘learning' was accepted by us, the ordinary people because we were not informed of the alternatives and because we trusted our leaders. This sham was promoted as the only way by those who were willing to co-operate for personal gain in the handicapping of our nation to prevent its growing independent of Britain. The carrot of bribe replaces the subduing stick of force. The law of the jungle remains! It is not our law.

…^