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Just how exactly do you learn Gaelic? | ||
Tags: Gaelic (Scottish) | Learning Strategy | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Le dacquois Diglot Groupie France Joined 5649 days ago 54 posts - 69 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, German | Message 1 of 35 23 August 2011 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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In this case of the Scottish variety. For me, it's such an important part of my
country's culture and heritage and yet I barely understand a word. It's such a pity because there's so much about it that seems familiar (heard it on tv and radio for years), even if it seems so alien to me at the same time. So how do you go about learning it? I've tried various free resources on the net, with little result since it feels like you only get to learn some basic expressions, without much grammatical explanation, and then launch into seemingly advanced stuff with equally insufficient clarification. I find even the BBC stuff poor. I once had a teach yourself course, (linguaphone?) with cassettes and a book (yeah, old school!), but it was the same story, intense dialogue with too few explanations, so I got rid of it. I mean, there's no Assimil or Pimsleur or Michel Thomas, right? I find Assimil the best for grammar and Michel Thomas for speaking, but nothing I've seen comes close to these for Gaelic. With Assimil I'm learning German in a logical, progressive fashion and I'm fairly pleased with the progress, I wish I could find something similar for Gaelic! Any suggestions? One idea I had was to learn Capercaillie songs, a major inspiration for me, but I doubt that would be effective. One final question, is it possible to obtain fluency (yeah, that vague term)? I know virtually all Gaelic speakers speak English, but can this be overcome if I ever wanted to practise? Thanks in advance. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5420 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 2 of 35 23 August 2011 at 5:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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You might want to check out Cainntear's post in this thread for info on books to check out.
To become truly fluent in terms of speaking at least you will need to use it often enough though it might be tricky if you are living in France at the moment. Only about 1% of Scots actually speak Gaelic so finding a speaking partner might be a tad tricky. At the least though, you could learn to understand Gaelic and learn to read Gaelic. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Le dacquois Diglot Groupie France Joined 5649 days ago 54 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, German | Message 3 of 35 23 August 2011 at 10:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks a lot, I'll check it out.
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| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 4 of 35 24 August 2011 at 9:37am | IP Logged | ||
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Or you hire a private teacher who's a massive fan of the Michel Thomas method to give you lessons over Skype. >hint< >hint< ;-)
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| Aras Groupie United States Joined 6760 days ago 76 posts - 83 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Ancient Greek | Message 5 of 35 12 October 2011 at 3:03am | IP Logged | ||
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Don't forget to post at Foram na Gaidhlig. http://www.foramnagaidhlig.net/foram/
It's our version of a Multilingual Lounge subforum here. Also, the 90s version of Teach Yourself Gaelic (with audio) is the course that I'm using. It's really very good so far, shining above many others in the newer TY series. Edited by Aras on 12 October 2011 at 3:19am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Chris Heptaglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7123 days ago 287 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Indonesian, French, Malay, Japanese, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Korean, Mongolian | Message 6 of 35 12 October 2011 at 7:58am | IP Logged | ||
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There is a great deal of stuff online too. Google throws up the following, for example:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/ (Is that what you were using, or were you using 'Can Seo'?) http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/ http://culturehebrides.com/gaelic/learn/ How about a summer school or homestay as in the last link? You've got a teacher here offering to guide you in the way that you want to be guided. Why not supplement that with as much extra material as you can and go for an extended stay in a wholly Gaelic environment? Admittedly, that may not be a convenent option. To get speakers to practise with you, one of the things you need to do is get your language up to a level where you have a working knowledge to build upon. If you're stuttering over basic words and phrases all the time, it will be irritating for someone you are trying to converse with, unless it's your teacher, if English is available as a means of communication. I imagine it's much like trying to speak Dutch to a native. They are really good at English and will switch to English as soon as you start to hesitate. Having said that, a foreigner trying to learn gaelic might be enough of a novelty to have peopl;e take you under their wing and nurture your efforts. Good luck with your studies. 2 persons have 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 7 of 35 12 October 2011 at 8:53am | IP Logged | ||
I suppose that's Teach Yourself, since the only Gaelic course that Linguaphone have produced is Irish (Cúrsa Gaeilge). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chris Heptaglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7123 days ago 287 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Indonesian, French, Malay, Japanese, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Korean, Mongolian | Message 8 of 35 12 October 2011 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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There are plenty of courses available on Amazon. Look at these:
http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Scottish-Gaelic-Complete-Be ginners/dp/0415206774 http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Gaelic-Hippocrene-Language/d p/0781807263/ref=pd_sim_b6 http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Gaelic-CD-Morag-MacNeill/dp/1 841583707/ref=pd_sim_b2 http://www.amazon.com/EuroTalk-Interactive-Learn-Scots-Gaeli c/dp/B00117UWOK/ref=pd_sim_b5 http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Gaelic-Twelve-Weeks-Audio/dp/ 1841586447/ref=pd_sim_sw7 Even Hugo does one! http://www.amazon.com/Hugo-Three-Months-Scottish-Gaelic/dp/0 852853696/ref=pd_sim_b19 Seriously, I am a great fan of Hugo's courses, so if the ones I have are anything to go by, this is well worth a purchase. And look at that Hippocrene one. They so some very good courses too, intensive and dialogue-based. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Talk-More-Scots-Gaelic-Interactive/d p/1846068673/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1318422947&sr=8-12 How about the 'Speaking Our Language' series? You might be surprised where these things turn up: http://www.celt.com.au/hculture.html There is LOADS of stuff out there! http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/help/learn_gaelic.jsp There's a distance learning course quoted on the page above: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Also, check out Edinburgh's Telford University, because I think they might provide online courses (leading to certification). I don't know what this is like, but it may be worth a look: http://www.ulpan.co.uk/u/ 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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