'S mise Stephanie, agus tha mi a’ fuireach ann an Baltimore, anns na Stàitean Aonaichte.
Tha mi ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig.
Good afternoon.
My name is Stephanie, and I live in Baltimore, in the United States of America.
I am learning Gaelic.
...and that's about as much as I'll risk trying this time!
Seriously, though. I have been flirting with Gaelic for something like the last 25 years and it's only recently that I have really made any real progress, which is further than the above attempts might suggest. Truth be told, I feel I lack the confidence to use it, but then opportunities to speak the language here have been virtually non-existent.
A mixture of TYG, Beag air Bheag, Akerbeltz and other sources has been my primary source of learning material, and I recently came across episodes of 'Speaking Our Language' and 'Can Seo' on Youtube which are proving useful and have ordered up a copy of Blas na Gàidhlig in the last few days.
I am originally from Scotland, having moved to the US over 10 years ago as part of my job, and ended up staying here (and since moving to another job!), but sadly, this has put some distance between myself and any situations where I could really 'use' Gàidhlig and thus gain more confidence in using it.
However, I have finally decided that the time has come to be serious about it, and to that end, I have enrolled in the beginner's course at AGA for the 2011-2012 course, and I am very much looking forward to starting, later this month. Having other (real live!) people to talk to will, I think, make the world of difference.
Anyway, that's me.
Mar sin leibh an dràsda!
Stephanie.