The Life-Long Journey of Irish Gaelic (Ep. 72)

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At Bitesize Irish Gaelic we’re always trying to learn more about our community and what exactly are our members’ goals in the matter of learning Irish Gaelic (and making a connection with their Irish heritage – where this is important to them).

When asked about their goals, people who study the Irish language say that they would want to be fluent in Irish.

But is that achievable?

Listen to the 72nd Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode and find out the answer. In this podcast episode, Eoin from Bitesize talks about how learning a new language is similar to starting a business and how easy it is to beat yourself up when you’re feeling you’re not making enough progress learning a new language.

Episode 72 is quite interesting because it helps you understand that “one bite at a time” is a great tactic to use when learning something new. This and a lot more is covered in the podcast episode, including 2 new questions from our listeners.

Record your question for the Bitesize Podcast

Don’t forget, you can record your own question for our podcast. Just head over to the following page: http://bitesize.irish/podcast and record your audio message. We recommend that you have the question already written down.

Introduce yourself and let us know what’s your questions. We’re featuring 2 questions in every podcast episode so your question will be answered.

Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast Episode 72 Show notes

The Life-Long Journey of Irish Gaelic

• According to serial entrepreneur Dan Andrews, it takes 1000 days of full time commitment to build a business that can sustain you. And that’s probably in your native language! So imagine how long it could take to become proficient in Irish Gaelic.

I’m Eoin from Bitesize Irish Gaelic. Welcome to ep 72 of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast. Even if you’re alone in your Irish language journey, rest assured that there are thousands like you, all around the world, on this same journey.

• 1000 Day Rule for business
  • That’s 3 years full time work
  • Dedicating your life energy to building something, to achieve a business that can sustain you.
  • Imagine full time learning
• Easy to beat yourself up
  • Want to understand now!
  • It’s my fault I can’t express myself in this new language that’s foreign to my brain
  • I wanna be able to hold a conversation next year
  • Looking at how hard the work ahead of you is, getting discouraged
• Eoin and Slovenian
  • Visiting since 1999
  • With Saša since 2005
  • Multiple visits per year
  • Immersion in the family
  • Intensive two week course
  • I can barely express things like “thanks for cooking today”
• So how to deal with this
  • Psychologist Jordan Peterson
    • The challenge is the journey, like Ryan Haliday’s book, The Obstacle Is The Way
      • If life was really easy, then you probably wouldn’t feel the need to invest energy into things like reaching into your ancestral language.
        • You’re on this journey for a reason, the reason is already within you.
      • Compare to yourself yesterday.
        • Don’t compare yourself to others today. There will always be people who seem to be doing better than you.
        • Ask what you can do today that will by a tiny increment further than yesterday.
    • David Allen
      • You don’t “do” a project. You don’t “do” learning the Irish language.
      • You take tiny gradual steps toward its outcome. And it’s possible to pick out a next step to take that you can do THIS week.

Listeners Questions

• Michael
  • What is Uisneach?
    • An ancient ceremonial site in Westmeath.
    • Tours available
    • Good for if you’re visiting Athlone, centre of Ireland
• Christina
  • “How does the Irish language inform your world view?”
    • See Ep 071. It can rewire your brain by learning it.
    • For me, personally, it shows me that diversity in the world is the answer, not homogenisation.
    • The Irish language represents for me a shared purpose, but also something deeply meaningful.
    • It points to what Jordan Peterson says is to follow what’s of interest to you, deeply. That will inform your view of reality, and life. It will give you your life energy. You don’t need permission from anyone else to express your interest in this.
    • I don’t agree with “follow your passion” because you can question if you feel “passionate” about something. But you sure as hell can answer what’s of interest to you. It’s what will pull your interest and ask you to inspect deeper. And I’m not talking about shallow pleasure such as reading your Facebook newsfeed!