According to a recent study the number of pupils dropping out of the Irish exams for both Junior and Leaving Certificate has increased by more than 400 percent. Sure it is no wonder when pupils are forced to struggle to learn a language as a by-product of text memorising and native discussion that forms an archaic attitude to the way Irish is taught in schools. The days when everyone spoke a bit of Irish have long gone. For many years now, good students have struggled with the Irish language because of the nature of its teaching. In order for Irish to succeed and for numbers of opt-outs to start dropping, it will need a major revamp in its teaching. If Irish was taight like French or German then it would be the language that pupils get to learn and surely that’s what is important? source: Irish Times
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