Learning Scots Gaelic
- Thread starter Cranborne
- Start date
It is quite entertaining watching/listening to BBC Alba.......there are quite a few words that don't translate well into Gaelic and you get a long run of conversation then "television" and "helicopter"..... always makes me chuckle
Difficult language to master as lots of regional variations, but always remember the best one.....Slainthe Mhath..... the only one you need!
Difficult language to master as lots of regional variations, but always remember the best one.....Slainthe Mhath..... the only one you need!
Sinistral
Well-Known Member
slàinte mhath (no 'h' in this orthography. . .It is quite entertaining watching/listening to BBC Alba.......there are quite a few words that don't translate well into Gaelic and you get a long run of conversation then "television" and "helicopter"..... always makes me chuckle
Difficult language to master as lots of regional variations, but always remember the best one.....Slainthe Mhath..... the only one you need!
)Cranborne,
Serious questions deserve serious answers.
This will be a tough and discouraging road unless you start off the right way. I was taught gaelic on starting school in the borders and have persisted with it, probably because it's so different from English. I passed the SCoE Gaelic (Learners) Ordinary Grade along with my other exams in Newcastle after leaving Scotland. However, with no access to a native speaker I barely scraped through the Aural Comprehension test, and still have the exam papers to remind me what a struggle that was. Speaking the language properly proved so hard that it was best just to concentrate on the text. There are lots of loan-words & confusing dialects to worry about (as #3 says).
I try to keep my knowledge up by converting SD thread titles in English sometimes. At the moment a few lines above is the sentiment ' Let us not forget ' which is " na dèanamaid diochuimhn '' in gaelic. This conveys the lyricism and music of the oral language, but also its difficulty. It's impossible to make any real progress without any understanding of the nuts-and-bolts, such as the peculiar grammar, the different order of words, verb tenses, nouns, their gender, and the dreaded genitive case.
I'll send you a DM with details of the online courses and other aids I've tried, and my thoughts which might help.
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As above learning gaelic would be some challenge and ultimately an achievement.
One very small but maybe more useful step is learning the common words that you see on maps (e.g. bealach: pass or saddle, baile: township, aonach: ridge, beag/beg: small (always makes me smile), dubh: dark/mud, ruadh: red, aber, inver etc.). there are a few books about.
One very small but maybe more useful step is learning the common words that you see on maps (e.g. bealach: pass or saddle, baile: township, aonach: ridge, beag/beg: small (always makes me smile), dubh: dark/mud, ruadh: red, aber, inver etc.). there are a few books about.
Cranborne
Well-Known Member
Thank you, that would be appreciated. At the moment, I'm writing some basic phrases down phonetically and learning them by repetition.....which is OK but not much use for a proper conversation.slàinte mhath (no 'h' in this orthography. . .
Cranborne,
Serious questions deserve serious answers.
This will be a tough and discouraging road unless you start off the right way. I was taught gaelic on starting school in the borders and have persisted with it, probably because it's so different from English. I passed the SCoE Gaelic (Learners) Ordinary Grade along with my other exams in Newcastle after leaving Scotland. However, with no access to a native speaker I barely scraped through the Aural Comprehension test, and still have the exam papers to remind what a struggle that was. Speaking the language properly proved so hard that it was best just to concentrate on the text. There are lots of loan-words & confusing dialects to worry about (as #3 says).
I try to keep my knowledge up by converting SD thread titles in English sometimes. At the moment a few lines above is the sentiment ' Let us not forget ' which is " na dèanamaid diochuimhn '' in gaelic. This conveys the lyricism and music of the oral language, but also its difficulty. It's impossible to make any real progress without any understanding of the nuts-and-bolts, such as the peculiar grammar, the different order of words, verb tenses, nouns, their gender, and the dreaded genitive case.
I'll send you a DM with details of the online courses and other aids I've tried, and my thoughts which might help.
It's way above my capacity for learning so gonna stick with my take on Tunes of Glory to see me through when in a tight spot on The Hill.
K
K
A fine film.
I used to be able to get by for day-to-day use in Cantonese, Khmer & Thai (still can to a degree) & understand their grammatical rules - but I’m afraid Gaelic is just way beyond me sadly.
Off topic but it's currently free to view on YouTube:
Truly inspirational acting from AG.
K
One is a dismal Greek/Latin hybrid, and the other Greek - so I guess they are no more or less out of place in the Gaelic than in English...
It does sound peculiar, though, for sure!
Rake Aboot
Well-Known Member
Learning another language without having someone to speak to, in it , on a daily basis would ne nigh on impossible in my opinion.
Good luck giving it a go.
I’ve hacked away at French and just found out my son is practicing so might pick it up again.
Good luck giving it a go.
I’ve hacked away at French and just found out my son is practicing so might pick it up again.
Cootmeurer
Well-Known Member
I’ve been using Duolingo for 3+ years to learn Scots Gaelic. Some bits are very logical and make complete sense, while other parts are confusing on a good day and unintelligible on a bad.
CillDaraVerminator
Well-Known Member
Good on ya always great to learn a new language especially your native one.
LearnGaelic seems like a good resource.
Try find some groups see if they do online meetups etc so you can practice also trips to gaelic speaking areas are great.
Seeing this reminds me I don't speak Irish enough only on holidays when I'm with family. I may find some local groups myself to blow the dust off.
LearnGaelic seems like a good resource.
Try find some groups see if they do online meetups etc so you can practice also trips to gaelic speaking areas are great.
Seeing this reminds me I don't speak Irish enough only on holidays when I'm with family. I may find some local groups myself to blow the dust off.
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Great thing to do and what a challenge!
Our newly rehomed lassie came to us with the name Rua which is Gaelic this side of the Irish Sea for “Red”.
For the life of me I can’t see why….
Sinistral
Well-Known Member
For Rupert. . .
www.theguardian.com
The Gaelic language is stunningly beautiful, but I just can’t get my tongue around it | Jenny Colgan
After years of trying to master the language of my Scottish forefathers, the unpronounceable vocabulary may have finally defeated me, says author Jenny Colgan
www.theguardian.com
I’ve a lunatic red setter called Rua, so glad of a short name as end up shouting it a lot!Great thing to do and what a challenge!
Our newly rehomed lassie came to us with the name Rua which is Gaelic this side of the Irish Sea for “Red”.
For the life of me I can’t see why….
A fine dog in the field but not the house, wife is a softie though…
Back to the topic of discussion- I’m currently slowly leaning Irish . Same language essentially, unfortunately we have different ways to say things in each quarter of the country and makes it somewhat difficult to get your head around.
The way the Irish speak English is actually somewhat driven by how Irish is structured, such as people say “He does be hunting all the time”.
I find it hard learning a language with no Latin basis, French and Italian were far easier.
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FWIW my daughter is taking French at Uni, and is currently working France teaching French kids English.
From all accounts her spoken French is pretty good, based on reports from 6th form tutors (native French speaker) and Uni.
When we arrived France however, her nerves combined with the local accent caused her some trouble, however she has been there 6 weeks now and form all accounts is finding conversation on a personal/professional level much better. She rarely moans now about struggling to make herself understood/understand whomever she speaks to.
I spent quite a lot of time in the UAE over a 6 year period and started to learn Arabic (by osmoses rather than formally). I found that hearing Arabic speakers was the best way, i doubt i would have lasted long in a classroom. The experience of hearing a long string of Arabic with odd English words (often IT related) seemed strange.
The colleagues form the indiaidn sub-continent speaking in their native tongue were the same.
The key point thought is being immersed in the language is IMHO the best way to learn to speak it.
As an aside I had a Swedish friend who told me that the word 'mouse' as in the computer device has a different and amusing meaning in Swedish. When she asked IT for help with her mouse there was a lot of laughter.
When i use google translate i cant work out what she meant, although at the time i was pretty sure what she was getting , any Swdiesh speakers throw any light on it?
