S5E17: Mollie Guidera – Teaching Irish to Global Ireland

Irish Stew Podcast

So why learn Irish?
"Studies have shown that learning your native language, learning any language, but especially your ancestral tongue, brings feelings of comfort and freedom. And especially when considering our past and our heritage, learning Irish is very revealing and very healing," says our latest guest Mollie Guidera, the Irish language teacher for Global Ireland.
She grew up “with Irish in her ears all the time” and gave her first Irish lesson at age seven to a visiting American cousin. And even though her Irish language school expelled her for uttering one sentence of English, her love for the language grew.
She’s taught over 6,000 students Irish online for a decade, currently through her engaging online global Irish language school simply named Irish with Mollie, a “blossoming community of worldwide Irish speakers, people from every background, every age, and just people who love Irish and are willing it forward.”
Add co-host John Lee to the student roster--he registered after finding Mollie on Instagram and TikTok. With about 150,000 social media followers, she’s a leading Irish language influencer, spreading awareness of Irish in refreshing new ways.
“We're hearing the echoes of our parents and grandparents and Irish writers in the Irish sounds and in the syntax and in the words themselves. It is such a tender and humorous language, replete with poetry and magic. It brings to life so many funny and quirky kinds of realizations and revelations.”
Join us for an episode of Irish language “realizations and revelations” with Múinteoir Mollie.
Links

• Website
• Instagram
• TikTok
• In the Irish Times

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Mollie's Origin Story (00:05:24)

3. Traveling and Being a Person of Ireland (00:09:10)

4. Shame and Irish Language Competency (00:11:25)

5. What Works and Doesn't in Learning Irish (00:15:08)

6. How Irish is Reflected in Hiberno-English (00:18:31)

7. New Irish Words: Foras Na Gaeilge (00:22:36)

8. Correctness and the Irish Language (00:24:09)

9. Using a Cúpla Focail - a Few Words (00:29:11)

10. The Course: Irish With Mollie (00:32:32)

11. Essential Features of the Irish Language (00:38:55)

12. Pride, Language and Difficulty (00:40:20)

13. Fill Arís: Poem in Irish and English (00:43:12)

14. Why Bother With the Irish Language? (00:47:23)

15. Seamus Plug (00:54:28)

16. John and Martin Recap (00:56:34)

17. Credits (00:59:35)