|
 |
Intermediate Spanish, Beginner Irish | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4846 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes  Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 9 of 13 19 July 2013 at 11:43am | IP Logged |
|
Dia dhuit, a Kharis!
I'm working with TY Irish and Colloquial Irish myself right now and I must say I share your feelings about Colloquial. I already have some background in Scottish Gaelic, which helps me understand the slurred words of the Cois Fharraige dialect, but I think TY is generally better organized than the Colloquial course. Or at least they complement each other, so TY introduces the grammar more systematically while Colloquial teaches you some useful phrases. In the first units, Colloquial doesn't even seem to expect the learner to understand the dialogues completely or to learn vocabulary apart from set phrases. They just throw some Irish at you and let you deal with it, but you'll only be able to understand the grammar much later. Have you tried Learning Irish by Mícheál Ó Siadhail? It's very systematic, but unfortunately very grammar-heavy and dry. Best of luck with your Irish journey! Slán agat! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kharis Newbie United States Joined 4188 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 10 of 13 19 July 2013 at 1:58pm | IP Logged |
|
Dia is Muire dhuit, a Josquin
I totally agree with your assessment of the two courses. It's almost as though the Colloquial course expects you to already know some Irish, whereas Teach Yourself really starts from the beginning. I've heard of Learning Irish, and I actually saw a copy at a used bookstore, but since it's in that same Cois Fharraige dialect I decided to shy away from it. I will say, if you ever get a chance to listen to Raidió Fáilte, they replay portions of Buntus Cainte every evening (Central Time, not sure about Germany) and it sounds like a great course as well. Slán! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kharis Newbie United States Joined 4188 days ago 8 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 11 of 13 21 July 2013 at 10:07pm | IP Logged |
|
Well, I've been putting in at least an hour of Irish study a day, and an Assimil lesson per day for Spanish. My daughter is really good about doing her Irish every day, 5 days a week and practicing simple phrases and words with me. She really, really likes Irish, more than I do, I think.
I also found a used copy of Barron's Mastering Spanish, so I guess that's FSI Spanish, or whatever they call it. I've cracked it open, and it's a good course. I had to dig up a tape player to use it, but I think that on days when I have more time in the afternoon I can work on FSI after my Assimil lesson. I also found a used copy of Teach Yourself Gaelic at a used book store, so hopefully when my Irish is at a solid enough level I can dip my toes into Scottish Gaelic. Josquin, I wonder how easy it is for someone with a background in one to learn the other? What has your experience been? Is it comparable to Spanish and Italian? I opened the book at the store, and my daughter instantly recognized a cognate with Irish, I think it was the Scottish Gaelic version of scríobh. That's it for today! Edited by Kharis on 21 July 2013 at 10:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6911 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 13 21 July 2013 at 11:45pm | IP Logged |
|
When I first had a look at Scottish Gaelic, I found a lot of (beneficial) similarities. Not that my level was (or is) that high, but it still helped having some knowledge of Irish.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4846 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 13 of 13 22 July 2013 at 7:30pm | IP Logged |
|
Yeah, I think Spanish and Italian might be a good comparison although Irish and Gaelic are probably even closer and more similar to each other. It is very easy to understand the basics of one of them if you have learned the other, however it's also very easy to confuse them because they're so similar.
I haven't really got much Irish under my belt, so I can give no definitive statements, but I think the more advanced you get the more obvious the differences get. To my mind, Gaelic is somewhat easier than Irish because a) the pronunciation is more regular and the distinction between broad an slender sounds is less subtle and b) the grammar is less complex, too. On the other hand, I love the sound of Irish more than the one of Gaelic, so I recently "deserted" Gaelic and switched to Irish. I try to convince myself to go on with Gaelic, but I find myself studying more Irish nevertheless. 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
