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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| John14228 Newbie United States Joined 6905 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Irish | Message 1 of 23 28 December 2005 at 5:28pm | IP Logged |
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I have been studying Irish Gaelic on my own for almost 4 years now. It started with a few websites, and progressed to EuroTalk's Learn Irish (Beginner) and Talk Irish (Intermediate). Included in the mix is Transparent's Vocabulary Master...now Before You Know It...then Irish from 31 Languages of the World. Next, came Learn Irish, Learning Irish, and Pimsleur Irish. It has been a bit maddening at times, but I can say that I HAVE learned QUITE a bit to be proud of. I am well over 1000 words as far as simple vocabulary is concerned, and I'm now concentrating on spoken form and understanding it when spoken to me.
OK...I just had to "brag". Sorry all. :) John 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6907 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 23 28 December 2005 at 6:59pm | IP Logged |
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Congratulations!
Irish was the first language that I studied on my own (~1992). I got the Linguaphone course, studied for a while, then took a break, started again, then took another break et.c. A few years later I got books about Scots Gaelic and realised how much I "knew" already. Then I got addicted to Internet and joined Gaeilge-B, and read Teach Yourself Irish. And took a break for five-six years... At the moment (I think) I'm very motivated and some weeks ago I began following BBCs online course which is just what I need to slowly recover what I once knew. <slightly off-topic> What are your thoughts on Learning Irish? I skimmed through a friend's copy once and saw that it has some strange phonetics which makes more sense for a native speaker of English, than for Swedish students who'd interpret "au" as a diphthong. If memory serves, an early pronounciation example was [baurd] for bord, which the same friend would pronounce as "bough - rd". The material might of course be great. :) </slightly off-topic> 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| John14228 Newbie United States Joined 6905 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Irish | Message 3 of 23 28 December 2005 at 7:18pm | IP Logged |
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Jeff:
Thank you very much. It has been very rewarding to learn as much as I have in such a short period of time...so to speak. Were it not for family, my career, bills, etc...I'm sure I'd be fluent by now. But, I'm still happy nonetheless. And, the BBC Blas lessons are excellent. Feargal Mac Uiginn explains everything so well, that it's a shame that the Blas lessons are no longer produced,a nd the ones that DO exist are TOO SHORT! (It's kind of sad, since the BBC's other Gaelic language sites are constantly producing new content) As far as learning it...well...that's another story. The big shock was that most Germanic concepts are thrown right out the window (i.e. bh sounding like V, or mh sounding like W). It has been a challenge. I won't say that it has been a no-effort "breeze", but after 3 years, it HAS gotten easier. Overall...I can sum it all up by saying simply, that I love languages. John 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Qbe Tetraglot Senior Member United States joewright.org/var Joined 7133 days ago 289 posts - 335 votes Speaks: English*, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Japanese, German, Mandarin, Aramaic | Message 4 of 23 30 December 2005 at 2:16pm | IP Logged |
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Congratulations on your Irish progress! A thousand words is a good base, especially considering the scarcity of Irish learning materials compared to other languages. After 4 years of effort, I think you certainly have bragging rights.
<tangent> When I was in high school I bought "Teach Yourself Irish" and gave it a try, but I had no way to learn the pronunciation, no one with whom to practice, etc, and only survived the first chapter or so. It sounds like there are some good audio materials out there now, and I'm definitely checking out those BBC links. </tangent> Back on topic, have you tried out your Irish on another speaker? Regular conversational practice might be a good way to help you progress. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| John14228 Newbie United States Joined 6905 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Irish | Message 5 of 23 30 December 2005 at 9:13pm | IP Logged |
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Qbe:
I'll be starting face-to-face lessons on the 4th of January with a native speaker. I CAN'T WAIT! I think this weekend, since it's along holiday weekend, I'm going to attempt to come to 1000 words. If I'm short, I will stand corrected. Happy New Year... jm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| That_Guy Diglot Groupie United States Joined 7096 days ago 74 posts - 87 votes Studies: Hindi, English*, Spanish | Message 6 of 23 31 December 2005 at 4:12am | IP Logged |
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Congratulations! It's great to hear about people doing what they can to preserve this awesome language. It always saddens me to hear the bleak future that Irish will face, too few people speak it (too few people actually want to speak it), and of those few people, only a few will teach it to their children. But when people go out of their way to learn it, it just warms my heart! I've tried to pick up a few words here and there, but never any intensive study (please dont think me a hypocrite!). It's definitely on my list of languages to learn though!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| winters Trilingual Heptaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7042 days ago 199 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Croatian*, Serbian*, Russian*, English, Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek Studies: Greek, French, Hungarian | Message 7 of 23 31 December 2005 at 2:11pm | IP Logged |
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Congratulations! :)
I have always wanted to learn Irish, and I just agree with others who have said that it is great that keep it alive. My support and best wishes in your further studies! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sapedro Triglot Senior Member Portugal descredito.blogspot. Joined 7116 days ago 216 posts - 219 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Greek | Message 8 of 23 03 January 2006 at 10:18am | IP Logged |
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Where are the other BBC online courses then ?
1 person has voted this message useful |
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