Funferal

Blogging in Irish

Over at An tImeall Conn’s posts – audio and text – are always interesting. Recently he has been contemplating the issue of blogging solely in Irish (his existing practice) and the pros and cons of that. In one of his most recent posts he gives a mini ‘state of the Irish-language blogosphere’ from this perspective:

Is i mBéarla atá thart ar leath na mblaganna seo ach is fóram iontach iad do theangacha uile an domhain. Tá breis agus 30 blag i nGaeilge anois ann, agus bhí díospóireacht bhríomhar againn ar cheist na blagadóireachta Gaeilge an tseachtain seo chaite tar éis dom féin a bheith ag machnamh ar shlite chun plé a dhéanamh i mBéarla le daoine gan Ghaeilge.

30 is obviously a tiny number of blogs, compared to the overall number available – Sifry found 27 million – but somehow I don’t think that a percentage count is the most important statistic. More important is whether the blogs can create a viable intellectual space, whether they can provide the rewards that encourage authors to continue, despite the smaller audience. Conn has considered also blogging in English, in order that some of his discussions can reach a larger audience – so he can interact with those on whom he is commenting. This is always, I think, going to be a difficult question for those working on Lesser Used Languages.
Conn has, I think, decided against one possible approach – blogging the same material in both languages – and that strikes me as a good decision. While some bloggers I know post successfully, for example, in both English and Spanish (in part because they are targeting two audiences that tend not to have knowledge of the other language), the situation is different when posting in a language (Irish) whose speakers are also, generally, fluent in the other proposed language (English). When I was a student in Galway the student newspaper, CoolChaint posted all material in both languages, as part of its commitment to the Irish language. Over time at least some language activists became convinced that having exact translations in Irish, rather than original content that was not provided in English, made the policy purely symbolic, and perhaps damaged the probability of encouraging readers to engage with the Irish language version.
I know myself, having limited expertise in the language, that if there’s an English language translation of a piece I am likely to perhaps glance at the Irish version, but then rely on the English to do most of my reading. When, however, I read An tImeall I have no choice but to work through the Irish version, and I’m encouraged to stick with it if I want to engage with it. Unfortunately, I tend not to have my dictionary to hand when I read it, which prevents my preferred practice of using a piece to push me toward the dictionary, but I do still manage to muddle my way through – generally.
Oh, and I should also point to one of the wonderfully witty responses Conn got to his initial post on the topic (which was, atypically, in English), which reads in part:

Impím ort gan an “meascán marfach” a scaoileadh orainn ar do bhlag! Nach dtuigeann tú gurbé an Béarla an t-aon “arm ollscriosadh” atá ag bagairt ar an Ghaeilge? Tá tú ag damhsa leis an dorchacht!!!
Coimeád uainn é! Chuir sa leithreas é, faoin teideal “John Bull.blogspot.com”
Béarla = Ola dubh greamaitheach ar tránna gheala an Ghaeilge.

Out of sensitivity, I’ll avoid translating it. 😉