How to Learn Gaelic

[Gràisg]

I've been reading something Tim posted on his Abair Thusa blog - all posts on the Abair Thusa blog feed through to Tìr nam Blòg by the way. It's cracking good advice, I'll put a little up and then a link to the rest: Nice one Tim.

'How to Learn Gaelic:

It is a sad fact, but most people who set out to learn Gaelic fail, and that is a shame because Gaelic is actually an easy language to learn. I'm no rocket scientist, the truth is, I am really slow at learning languages, but I learned to speak Gaelic fluently and so can you. Here I want to share some tips and tricks that will save you lots of time and will help you learn to speak Gaelic as fast as possible. I promise, you can learn Gaelic and it really isn't that hard, you just have to know the tricks. There are some common pitfalls you need to avoid as well and I want to pass this information on to other learners so more and more people can be successful at learning Gaelic. If you are trying to learn Gaelic or thinking about learning Gaelic, please read on:

Learning Gaelic is Not Like Learning French or Spanish

Learning a small, local language like Gaelic is fundamentally different from learning a massive, international language like French or Spanish. Most people come to grief when they try to learn Gaelic because they approach it like French or Spanish, and you just can't learn Gaelic that way. I will start by outlining the three basic strategies you will need to follow to learn Gaelic to fluency. These strategies flow naturally from the very different approach you will need to take in order to learn a small, local language like Gaelic and I will outline that different approach for you as we go along.'

More here:
http://abairthusa.ning.com/profiles/blo ... arn-gaelic

[akerbeltz]

I would add to that that whatever approach you choose, pay as much attention to good pronunciation straight away. It may be a pain but the sounds of Gaelic and a lack of comprehension of how they work is what keeps scores of learners stuck at Intermediate for centuries.

[GunChleoc]

Thanks for pointing that out, a Ghràisg!

Chuir mi air an duilleag-naidheachd e

And you know I agree with you, akerbeltz. In my experience, if you mispronounce, people will have trouble understanding you.

[Ruairidh_Mòr]

Pay as much attention to good pronunciation straight away.

I must say I agree - strongly! Even as someone who has just recently started learning I have noticed that by studying pronunciation rigorously first everything seems a little less foreign. But don't just do it at the start an leave it! Keep going back and revising after each unit or whatever.

[horogheallaidh]

it's also best to try and get to conversation classes as well to hear it being spoken and to get a shot at speaking yourself - listening to radio na gaidheal is also a good way of getting acclimatised to hearing it too.

[IainDonnchaidh]

I started out mu ceither bliadhnan air ais and made really good progress at first.

But then I sorta got stalled out. Made it halfway through TYG. My wife and I started over on it the first of this year, so maybe I can at least talk to her in Gàidhlig after a while - we're up to "tapadh leat" and "s e do bheatha".

I get along pretty good reading but not so good listening (chan ionnan leughadh 's eisteachd - a bheil sin ceart?). Doesn't help that my hearing isn't all that great laithean seo. I have enough trouble understanding Beurla sometimes

[treaclemine]

An toil Tim leis-san TYG?

[Seonaidh]

Uill, chan eil mi fhìn nam rocket scientist ('s e neach saidheans coimpiutair a th' annam...), ach chan fhaic mi an diofar eadar ionnsachadh cànan mòr (m.e. Beurla, Spàinnis) agus ionnsachadh cànan beag (m.e. Gàidhlig, Nirribhis).

[GunChleoc]

An diofar a th' ann 's e gum faic thu dòighean sgrìobhaidh eadar-dhealaichte air sgàth 's nach eil standard oifigeil ann (air neo ma bhios nach gabh no nach do ghabh a h-uile duine ris - cò aig a tha GOC dha-rìribh?) is bidh e doirbh faclan a lorg ann am faclair uaireanan is rudan den leithid. Barrachd air sin, ma bhios cothrom siubhail agad cha bhi thu ann an àite far a bheil an cànan aig a h-uile duine. Barrachd air sin, dè an dual-chainnt a dh'ionnsaicheas tu? Dual-chainnt Leòdhais, Chataibh, Earra-Ghàidheil, SMOG?

Chan e cànan beag den seòrsa seo a th' anns an Nirribhis is gabh e ionnsachadh gu math furasta, gu h-àraidh ma bhios cànan Gearmailteach agad mu thràth. Uill, tha dà dhual-chainnt oifigeil aig a' Nirribhidh, ach co-dhiù...

[Níall Beag]

Nam bheachdsa, seo an aon diofar a th' ann:
The old language-course favourites of "at the airport", "at the restaurant", "at the hotel" etc are utterly irrelevant.

Of course, these are in all practical terms useless in, for example, Spanish, too, as if you don't find yourself in a town where everyone has learned English to get tourist jobs, you're not going to remember how to say "I would like to order the grilled sea bass fillet", and you'll just end up point at the menu and saying "uno".

This is a Good Thing for the learner of Gaelic as these so-called "useful" phrases and situational sentences are really just a distraction from getting into the guts of the language.

Of course, we're still plagued with other course-book favourites like introductions, time and weather. "Hello. My name is Nìall. What is your name? I am fine thank you. How are you? It is raining today. Goodbye"

Sparkling repartee....

[Seonaidh]

Och Nèill - tha do Bheurla a' cumail a' dol glè mhath!

Hello. My name is Nìall. What is your name? I am fine thank you. How are you? It is raining today. Goodbye

'S toigh leam "uno sea-bass por favor"...

[GunChleoc]

Dè sea-bass? An e inneal-ciùil sònraichte a chluichear air a' mhuir a th' ann?

[IainDonnchaidh]

Och Nèill - tha do Bheurla a' cumail a' dol glè mhath!

Hello. My name is Nìall. What is your name? I am fine thank you. How are you? It is raining today. Goodbye

'S toigh leam "uno sea-bass por favor"...

Esta los sea-bassan muy mhath a tha'ann


N'uair mi ag ràdh ruidegin ann an Gàidhlig, freagairt mo bhean ann an Fraingis

Tha mise ag ionnsachadh Fraingis nas luath ise ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig

[GunChleoc]

Is beag an iongnadh, 's e Fraingis a th' anns an darna leth den faclan Beurla

[IainDonnchaidh]

Is beag an iongnadh, 's e Fraingis a th' anns an darna leth den faclan Beurla

Uill, bha siud rud beag mu 1066