I would like to learn a small bit of Irish, but there are no resources where I live in western New York. I go to Ireland from time to time and would love to be able to say "Good day" without insulting anyone. Plus I do a bit of music and would like to be able to do songs in Irish correctly. Lots of language programs out there, can someone help me find a computer program of quality? One that would kick my butt when it needed kicking? Much appreciated.
A friend of mine gives Irish language instruction here in London,Ontario, on the other side of Lake Erie. They also have an annual weekend workshop of Irish Language(and lots of music) in the Kingston, Ontario area.
I don't know of a computer program for learning Irish - nor do I know of one that would also kick your butt.... that said, the language is difficult enough to learn as it is, so you may soon find that your butt is being kick sufficiently just trying to learn the language.
Try your local bookstore, there's likely plenty of books & tapes on learning Irish.
If you really want the online approach, try www.daltai.com - that's a very good resource.
Dia dhuit=Welcome / prononced=Gi-a=gutch
cè he bhuil tù?=How are you / prononced=kay-hay-will-two
conas a tà tu?=How are you /prononced=cunis-a-thaw-two
(depends where you are in the country.usually people from southern counties say conas a tà tù?)
Are you sure about those pronunciation guides dinn2? I don't speak Irish and I am sure you do but I do speak a bit of Scottish Gaelic and I cant see how you are getting those pronumciations - perhaps I am reading them wrong.
The glossary on the Comhaltas site at http://comhaltas.ie/glossary#ceoltoiri may also be of some help in listening to the Irish words. However, it's a bit limited in that it's mostly music related terms. Might help you however, in a session situation where you have to deal with a troublesome bodhrán player with a good put down "chuir síos an bodhrán" ; sorry BB, only joking!
dinn2, i believe that dia dhuit is a greeting (literally it means something like 'god be with you' but it is used as a general 'hello'). 'fáilte' is the word for welcome. also, the second piece of irish you have is more properly spelled cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?
as for the initial poster... do you live in any sort of sizeable city? if you do, i really think that you have a pretty good chance of finding someone to teach you irish there. maybe try calling around to some irish organizations in your area and asking if anyone knows anything about it. one time i met a woman from, i think, rochester (and i don't really have a good understanding of where that would be located in new york state at all) and she was very connected with a number of new york irish-language groups. i think new york city even has an irish-language bookstore.... there are loads of speakers around even outside of the big city though, i would think. where i grew up in canada there are at least three irish-speaking groups (which meet to maintain their irish through weekly conversations and also to teach people interested in learning) meeting once a week within less than an hour's drive of each other.... maybe more that i'm not aware of. it's often just a matter of finding other people. good luck!
actually, i was thinking.... someone mentioned the irish language weekend that's happening on the 27th-29th of april in kingston, ontario. maybe you want to go to that? there've been people from new york coming up most years i think..... and even if you don't want to go, you could write the guy who's running it, because he might know of someone in your area that has an irish class or conversation group. the man's name is harold (or aralt in irish) and he's very nice and extremely interested in helping spread the irish language, so i'm sure he'd be more than happy to hear from you.
should i forward you the email i got from him about the irish weekend?
Sorry your right. But I live in a ghealtacht and we say cè hè bhuil tù.
Then again this is the ghealtacht in north-west mayo and it may varey throughout the country......or the world!!
ha ha... you live in a gealtacht? i feel like blushing...
well anyway, i thought the pronunciation you gave seemed spot on... just the spelling was different from what i was taught. maybe it's just a matter of caighdeán spelling not matching up with the actual spelling used in different areas? seeing as i'm not living in ireland, i tend to have "book irish". ah well.
Up here in Donegal we speak the Ulster dialect, so we do things a little differently. Día dhuit is not generally heard, whereas we would greet more with "Cad é mar atá tú?" (cadge-ay mar ataw too), and the replies would be things like "Ceart go leor." (difficult to phoneticise, but try saying 'cart' but the 'c' is followed quickly by a 'yuh' sound as in the 'y' from 'yard', and then the same thing after the 'l' in leor, so you get cyart g' lyore) which means "good enough", or more commonly "Níl [aon] cáille orm inniú." (kneel [ain] cawalyeh orum in you), literally "There's no loss on me today." Sometimes you get "Tá mé beo go foille." (taw meh b'yaw g' foil) "I'm still alive". Sometimes you even hear "Lá mhaith dona láchan." (nice day for the ducks)! Just learning it myself too!
Oh, to learn to write Irish, I heartily recommend downloading the free 'Seans Éile' (another chance) from http://www.nualeargais.com
Irish language instruction.
Irish language instruction.
I would like to learn a small bit of Irish, but there are no resources where I live in western New York. I go to Ireland from time to time and would love to be able to say "Good day" without insulting anyone. Plus I do a bit of music and would like to be able to do songs in Irish correctly. Lots of language programs out there, can someone help me find a computer program of quality? One that would kick my butt when it needed kicking? Much appreciated.
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by Ham
Re: Irish language instruction.
A friend of mine gives Irish language instruction here in London,Ontario, on the other side of Lake Erie. They also have an annual weekend workshop of Irish Language(and lots of music) in the Kingston, Ontario area.
Rob
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by mellow_bellows
Re: Irish language instruction.
I don't know of a computer program for learning Irish - nor do I know of one that would also kick your butt.... that said, the language is difficult enough to learn as it is, so you may soon find that your butt is being kick sufficiently just trying to learn the language.
Try your local bookstore, there's likely plenty of books & tapes on learning Irish.
If you really want the online approach, try www.daltai.com - that's a very good resource.
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by brianc
Re: Irish language instruction.
i have posted a similar question on Chiff&Fipple recently and got some useful replies. maybe these can be helpful for you, too. here is the link:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=48888&highlight=
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by claudine
Re: Irish language instruction.
Dia dhuit=Welcome / prononced=Gi-a=gutch
cè he bhuil tù?=How are you / prononced=kay-hay-will-two
conas a tà tu?=How are you /prononced=cunis-a-thaw-two
(depends where you are in the country.usually people from southern counties say conas a tà tù?)
oìche mhaith=good night / prononced= e-ha -why
that will get you started
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by dinn2
Re: Irish language instruction.
Are you sure about those pronunciation guides dinn2? I don't speak Irish and I am sure you do but I do speak a bit of Scottish Gaelic and I cant see how you are getting those pronumciations - perhaps I am reading them wrong.
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Irish language instruction.
Have a look at http://www.gaeilge.ie/ where you may also find some useful information.
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by Bannerman
Re: Irish language instruction.
The glossary on the Comhaltas site at http://comhaltas.ie/glossary#ceoltoiri may also be of some help in listening to the Irish words. However, it's a bit limited in that it's mostly music related terms. Might help you however, in a session situation where you have to deal with a troublesome bodhrán player with a good put down "chuir síos an bodhrán" ; sorry BB, only joking!
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by Bannerman
Re: Irish language instruction.
Here's some more......... http://www.maths.tcd.ie/gaeilge/ or
http://www.gaeltalk.net/ or http://www.word2word.com/coursead.html#gaelic
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by Backer
Re: Irish language instruction.
here's a great resource for Irish language students:
http://www.daltai.com
# Posted on April 14th 2007 by tnoumarap
Re: Irish language instruction.
dinn2, i believe that dia dhuit is a greeting (literally it means something like 'god be with you' but it is used as a general 'hello'). 'fáilte' is the word for welcome. also, the second piece of irish you have is more properly spelled cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?
as for the initial poster... do you live in any sort of sizeable city? if you do, i really think that you have a pretty good chance of finding someone to teach you irish there. maybe try calling around to some irish organizations in your area and asking if anyone knows anything about it. one time i met a woman from, i think, rochester (and i don't really have a good understanding of where that would be located in new york state at all) and she was very connected with a number of new york irish-language groups. i think new york city even has an irish-language bookstore.... there are loads of speakers around even outside of the big city though, i would think. where i grew up in canada there are at least three irish-speaking groups (which meet to maintain their irish through weekly conversations and also to teach people interested in learning) meeting once a week within less than an hour's drive of each other.... maybe more that i'm not aware of. it's often just a matter of finding other people. good luck!
# Posted on April 15th 2007 by gretchen
Re: Irish language instruction.
actually, i was thinking.... someone mentioned the irish language weekend that's happening on the 27th-29th of april in kingston, ontario. maybe you want to go to that? there've been people from new york coming up most years i think..... and even if you don't want to go, you could write the guy who's running it, because he might know of someone in your area that has an irish class or conversation group. the man's name is harold (or aralt in irish) and he's very nice and extremely interested in helping spread the irish language, so i'm sure he'd be more than happy to hear from you.
should i forward you the email i got from him about the irish weekend?
# Posted on April 15th 2007 by gretchen
Re: Irish language instruction.
Sorry your right. But I live in a ghealtacht and we say cè hè bhuil tù.
Then again this is the ghealtacht in north-west mayo and it may varey throughout the country......or the world!!
# Posted on April 15th 2007 by dinn2
Re: Irish language instruction.
ha ha... you live in a gealtacht? i feel like blushing...
well anyway, i thought the pronunciation you gave seemed spot on... just the spelling was different from what i was taught. maybe it's just a matter of caighdeán spelling not matching up with the actual spelling used in different areas? seeing as i'm not living in ireland, i tend to have "book irish". ah well.
# Posted on April 16th 2007 by gretchen
Re: Irish language instruction.
BBC Northern Ireland has some nice beginner lessons online click on "Giota Beag"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/learners/index.shtml
Dan
# Posted on April 16th 2007 by curamach
Re: Irish language instruction.
Up here in Donegal we speak the Ulster dialect, so we do things a little differently. Día dhuit is not generally heard, whereas we would greet more with "Cad é mar atá tú?" (cadge-ay mar ataw too), and the replies would be things like "Ceart go leor." (difficult to phoneticise, but try saying 'cart' but the 'c' is followed quickly by a 'yuh' sound as in the 'y' from 'yard', and then the same thing after the 'l' in leor, so you get cyart g' lyore) which means "good enough", or more commonly "Níl [aon] cáille orm inniú." (kneel [ain] cawalyeh orum in you), literally "There's no loss on me today." Sometimes you get "Tá mé beo go foille." (taw meh b'yaw g' foil) "I'm still alive". Sometimes you even hear "Lá mhaith dona láchan." (nice day for the ducks)!
Just learning it myself too!
Oh, to learn to write Irish, I heartily recommend downloading the free 'Seans Éile' (another chance) from http://www.nualeargais.com
# Posted on April 16th 2007 by sonovox