Chickened Out

[LisaT]

My son just had his first afternoon in our local Gaelic medium nursery and dived straight in with the random bits of Gaelic he already knows. Me? I helped him when he asked me, but chickened out of actually using my tiny bit of Gaelic with his new teacher. Total fail. Must try harder...

Maybe in a few weeks I'll feel confident enough to try a wee bit.

Does anyone else chicken out of using it last minute, or is it just me?

Lx

[horogheallaidh]

I think the answer is to just crack on and do it LisaT

The Gaelic world nowadays is more than used to folk learning Gaelic and whilst there are still a few (not many) Native speakers who raise an eyebrow or shake their head when a learner stumbles through a sentence, I have yet to meet a fluent learner who doesn't understand what it was like to go through the learning process and is more than sympathetic to you and will give you the time to try it out.

Chickening out is perfectly normal, especially when you are speaking to someone you don't know, but the confidence boost you get once you have your first conversation is great as well and really lifts your morale, so try and muster up the confidence and go for it

Gur e math theid leat!

[GunChleoc]

Don't worry about it, this can happen.

Maybe have a prepared sentence next time, like "Latha math" when you come in, or "Ciamar a tha sibh".

[Níall Beag]

A good tactic is to identify a few things that you know how to say, and resolve always to say them.

When I started learning, I promised myself I would never say hello, thank you or goodbye in English to anyone who would understand it in Gaelic. I then added more or more things to my "never say" list.

Those little words and phrases gave me a sort of diving board to jump off. What you should find is that it's a little bit easier trying to speak Gaelic after you've said a word or two -- you start to put yourself into "Gaelic mode".

[Lìosa]

Hi Lisa, I'm Lisa!

I have ONE person I know in real life (as opposed to online) who speaks Gaidhlig (he's not totally fluent but a more advanced learner than I am), and I almost always chicken out when I get the opportunity to use what little Gaidhilg I have with him. And when I do step out and try, it usually works out that we're in a situation where he either can't hear me or is in the middle of something and can't really pay attention to what I'm trying to say (he's my pipe major, so we're often in the surrounded by bagpipes ). And he'll often surprise me with some Gaidhlig that I'm totally unprepared to hear and won't be in the mindset to decipher!

We just have to get our signals lined up.

[LisaT]

Lol, I'm glad it's not just me, Lisa. I do know that good prep and just going for it is key - my son and I practise his welcome phrases before he goes to nursery and he waltzes in and uses them. They must realise I at least know snatches because I occasionally help my son but I've still got to open my mouth and use it. I think I'm actually going to have to go them and tell them (in English) that I'm going to be learning Gaelic and that I know a little at the moment, so could they greet me in Gaelic because if they speak to me in Gaelic I'll be more inclined to respond in Gaelic (if I understand the question!).

We'll see how it goes. He's back at his Gaelic nursery next Monday...

Lx

[Lìosa]

I wish we had the option of Gaelic education here in the States. I'm teaching my history class tomorrow, though, and as part of our lesson on Macbeth, I'm going to briefly introduce them to the concept that there actually IS another language in Scotland besides English (and whatever language immigrants have brought in, of course). I'm playing a couple of short videos for them in Gaelic -- one is subtitled, but the other one is from Ceumannan (the one about school subjects), and my son has actually agreed to tr*nsl*t* it for them (after I told what some of the words he didn't recognize mean ).

[horogheallaidh]

From my experience, teachers etc, once they find out that you are learning/speak Gaelic, will speak to you in Gaelic - or at at least they will do the basic greetings etc, if they think that carrying on would be too bamboozling - so yes - let them know and see how they respond

[Scott]

A Lìoasa suas le do Gàidhlig Nuair tha thu aig labhraidh sa Gàidhlig, feumaich paipear le sgriobhaidh Gàidhlig sin bidh thu aig deanamh le na teagaich. Dh'fheumaich mi nuair bha mi ag ionnsachaidh mo Ghearmaltaiche.

[Thrissel]

pàipear le sgrìobhadh Gàidhlig a bhios tu a' dèanamh

sin is used for the pronoun "that":
an sgrìobhadh sin - that writing
an do rinn thu sin? - did you do that?

"that" as a conjuction is a:
an dàn a tha sinn a' seinn - the song that we are singing
am film a chunnaic mi - the film that I saw

In the future you use a different form of the verb after it (eg bhios instead of bidh), but one thing at a time...

[Scott]

I feel kind of snarky asking this, but in a Saturday Night Live-ish way, could we please have a discussion of everything in Gàidhlig, which falls under the category of "a" and " a' "? I know there may be an awful lot to say under these categories, but a general idea of common situations where "a" and " a' " show up and what they were doing would be nice to have because these two seem to be seen in many different functions. I find it confusing as to what "a" and " a' " are doing between sentences. Like the example you gave Thrissel with "sin" and "that" and "a" and "that". I know at other times "a" appears to have other usages. Maybe the is a misperception of mine, but it seems to exist.

Tapadh leibh

[Thrissel]

There's absolutely nothing snarky about it. a/a' certainly is a real pain in the **** for a beginner. In fact we had such a discussion as you propose and if you're ready to find out that it's maybe an even more mind-boggling word than you expected, you can start reading here:
http://www.foramnagaidhlig.net/foram/vi ... ght=#10351
Or just scroll down on that page to Akerbeltz's list from 15 February.

It's a matter of practice. The context usually tells you which a/a' you've come across, although occasionally it does lead to ambiguity.

[LisaT]

Thanks, Scott (I think). I need to work out how to tr*nsl*t* Gaelic it would appear. Any suggestions for good online dictionaries or the best way to work things out? I've studied languages before but because I usually start with a structured course and am tr*nsl*t*ng from within contexts and grammar that I've been shown, tr*nsl*t*ng is usually not too bad. At this point I'm waiting on my course to start so have no knowledge of grammar/vocabulary at present, and I have no dictionary so I'm relying on online ones which I'm not finding as useful as a proper book. So, all that means that it would be great if someone could tell me what you said and if someone could recommend a good dictionary I'd be really grateful.

Lx

[GunChleoc]

We've got a little guide on our homepage http://www.foramnagaidhlig.net/foram/vi ... 0351#10351

[GlitteringSkelly]

Feasgar math Lisa, I’ve not yet been in a situation of having an opportunity to make some chat in Gaelic but I can relate very well to your situation based on other experiences of language learning. I’m sure though that your son’s teacher will be just delighted to hear you try some words and I think the suggestion of having a prepared phrase or two is great (will no doubt give a boost in the same way that beginning my messages here with ‘Feasgar math’ even if the rest is in English feels like a small step in the right direction!)

All the best for that - gun soirbhich leat! let us know how you get on!