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Schools in Ireland By: Maurice O'Brien
Mr Unz, I live in Ireland where everyone speaks English as the first language. Irish is taught in school as a second language for cultural reasons. My reason for writing is to mention that we have a considerable number of schools where people can elect to send their children to be educated through the medium of the Irish language whilst still keeping in line with the national curriculum requirements. These English speaking kids learn math, geography, history and even English through the Irish language. The success rate of the students tends to be higher than the national average. My point is that these are children who generally speak English at home, watch Barney or MTV in English but are capable of exceeding the standard whilst learning through another language. Children who speak Spanish at home should be equally capable of learning through English. In fact it should be easier because access to Irish language TV is minimal for our kids and pop lyrics or movies are non-existant. Maurice O'Brien |