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Age Group 4 and under
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Using Irish with your children
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Age Group 4 - 12
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Age Group 12 - 18
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Age Group 18 - 22
Learn Irish: 18-22 year olds
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Age Group 22+
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Learning Irish
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The Official Languages ​​Act 2003 and the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language
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Home
Age Groups
Age Group 4 and under
Irish names
Playgroups
Using Irish with your children
Speaking Irish to your grandchildren
Raising children with Irish outside the Gaeltacht
Raising children through Irish in the Gaeltacht
Support, services & facilities
Age Group 4 - 12
Irish-Medium Schools
Benefits of All-Irish Education
Irish Colleges (Gaeltacht Summer Courses)
The Gaelbhratach
Irish Language Festivals
Support, services & facilities
Age Group 12 - 18
Irish-Medium Schools
Benefits of All-Irish Education
Summer Colleges
The Gaelbhratach
Irish Language Festivals
Using Your Irish Name
Support, services & facilities
Age Group 18 - 22
Learn Irish: 18-22 year olds
Irish Third-Level Courses
Irish Language Festivals
Support, services & facilities
Age Group 22+
Irish language jobs in Ireland
Irish Classes for Adults
Get Involved in the Movement with Conradh na Gaeilge
Conversation Circles
Irish Language Festivals
Support, services & facilities
Community
PEIG.ie Newsletter
10 Reasons to Register to our Business Directory
Supports Available for Businesses
Conversation Circles
Surnames
The Gaeltacht
Community Groups
Irish Language Centres
Organisations
Irish Language Festivals
Festivals
Irish Week / Seachtain na Gaeilge
Awareness Events
5 Tips
Irish Language Books
Irish Language Podcasts
Learn
Learning Irish
Playgroups
Irish-Medium Schools
Irish in English Speaking Schools
Irish Classes for Adults
Irish Classes
Irish Services for Schools
Terminology and Grammar Tools Online
Rights
The Official Languages ​​Act 2003 and the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language
The European Charter for Minority Languages
The 20 Year Strategy in the North
Services Available in Irish
Get Involved with Conradh na Gaeilge
Campaigns
Research and Submissions
Using Irish State Services
Irish Language Commissioner
Employment
Irish Language Careers Booklet
Irish language jobs (Europe)
Irish language jobs in Ireland
Irish Third-Level Courses
Vacancies
Information Sheet on Job Possibilities

Benefits

There are many advantages for those who speak Irish, on educational, communicative, personal and professional levels.

When you raise a child with Irish, you are giving him or her valuable advantages when it comes to:

  1. Learning to read and write
  2. Learning new languages
  3. Developing communication skills
  4. Employability in the future
  5. Making new friends
  6. Being part of a new Irish­-speaking generation
  7. Strengthening identity

The advantages of bilingualism and bilingual education are well documented in research. Bilingualism results in overall better achievement across curricular subjects and helps in learning a third or fourth language (Cenoz & Valencia 1994). It has been proven that students perform better academically when they have fluency in more than one language (Gallagher & Hanna, 2002). Bilingual education can raise academic ability, creativity and self-confidence in students (NMABE, 2006; Cummins, 2000), not to mention its positive impact on future employability

There are many other skills associated with bilingualism that are of benefit outside of an academic context. It allows for more effective and broader communication within households, in public, between friends and in professional situations.

From a cultural perspective, multilingualism helps people to understand and adapt to other cultures, which in turn makes it easier to empathise with other cultures (Gallagher & Hanna, 2002). It has been shown that those with more than one language also have higher self-confidence and a stronger sense of identity than those who only speak one language (Baker, 2003). Multilingualism is an advantage that allows for a broader understanding of the world, and has advantages when it comes to creative thinking and communicating ideas (Bialystok et al. 2005).