The Malahide castle (Irish: Caisleán Mhullach Íde)
Let me introduce our new family member...
25th of September 2015
@Temple Bar
15th of September 2015
My Gaff
“Baldoyle” is the Place called where I live together with my Host family in a house close to the Irish sea. The village is located in the North-east part of Dublin and is not too far away from Howth, which is always worth a visit:) The Irish name for Baldoyle is: “Baile Dúill” which means "Doyle's town". In my area there's a Park where you can play Football or Basketball and a Dart station with trains in the direction of Dublin-city or Howth.
12th of September 2015
An Introduction to the Irish Language
In this article I'm going to uncover some of the myths that appear when it comes to the Irish language. Irish belongs to the Celtic Languages, more specifically to the Goidelic languages which nowdays include: Irish (Gaeilge), Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) and Manx (Gaelg).
Knowing this, the mostly asked question has already been answered: Irish and Scottish are not the same even though they're closely related. A Scottish person wouldn't be able to understand Irish and the other way around. However there are many words that are the same in both languages.
Another thing I noticed is that no one at my school actually speaks fluent Irish. That is even more strange when you consider that the most students study Irish even before secondary school.
At my School we have 4 hours Gaelic per week where we learn vocabulary, the main sentences and the (very confusing) rules of grammar.
To give ya a little impression about the Language itself I list some of the phrases we learned so far.
If you want to say hello, you say: dia duit (pronounced: dia juit) →dia means God. All together means: God be with you.
To answer just say: Dia is Muire duit →God and Mary be with you
To ask if a person is well say: Conas atá tú (the accent over the a and u means that you pronounce it like aaa or uuu.)
If your fine say: Tá mé go maith (mé is pronounced like may, maith like maah)
And finally to ask for a name: Cad is ainm duit? (this time duit is pronounced like ditch)
and answer: (your name) is ainm dom.
I hope you're not as confused as I am:P . However I wouldn't dare trying to understand the Irish counting system...
My room (the bed in the background belongs to my roommate^^)
The uniform
4th of September 2015
The differences between German and Irish schools...
There are many people asking what it's like to be on an Irish school... (especially if it's a catholic school) So I thought I could point out some of the major differences compared to german schools and make a little summary about the main characteristics. I should also mention that I can only refer to my own school and that there are many different school types in Ireland as well.
The first two obvious differences are the school uniform and the gender segregation.
More in relation to this might follow in the next few days...
So what differs in the general school schedule?
In contrast to German schools instead of the teacher coming into class each lesson, the student has to find his own way (which can sometimes causes confusion). Before the lesson starts the students are waiting in the corridors for the teacher to let them in. After that every student sits down at his own desk and waits for the teacher to begin.
And the learning atmosphere?
Even though there is a lot of chaos in the breaks, during the lessons most students are sitting very quiet at their desks. There is most of the time no need for rising your hands because there's a lot of respect for the teacher (maybe because of harsh punishment?) (*and of course if you want to ask a question and the teacher is speaking you still need to put your fingers up. :p)
In any case I didn't noticed anyone forgetting hist homework;)
The subjects?
I've chosen Biology, Physics, Gaelic and Chemistry.
Maths (high level), English (high level), German, LINK, Religion and PE are set. The level of the natural sciences and maths is very low compared to the level at my school in Germany. English and Gaelic in contrast are a lot more difficult.
In conclusion: there are a lot of differences but also similarities between German an Irish schools. However I've been to school just for 4 days so there a probably way more things I haven’t noticed yet...
My school