Nótaí galaxyrocker - Ancient Celtic Languages, (Old) French, Latin, Old English

[galaxyrocker]

Goodness, but have I been tired. Immersion really wears on you. But, it's been a good thing, overall. Definitely improving and I've gotten a lot of compliments on my Irish. There's one lady who can be a real pain who likes to put down people's pronunciation (as if hers was that good), but it's whatever as one speaker told me I sounded like a native, and my bean an tí (the lady who I'm staying with) said I sounded a lot better than her. Also, I was on Raidió na Gaeltachta this morning! It was very nerve-wracking but also exciting at the same time. My teacher has also started using less and less of the standard. He still writes in it, but he's not as intent on speaking it anymore, which is absolutely amazing. And I met with another teacher who said he was willing to help me with my pronunciation and gave me some good tips to get an ear for it (basically listen to old people and older recordings of RnaG)

There's supposedly a very traditional music session going on tonight even farther out in the countryside, and I'm hoping to go to that because it's hard to find it in town here. There's a lot of teachers in doing their mandatory two weeks in the Gaeltacht, but most of them are just speaking English, and they take over the pubs. Add that to the people in my course who have little to no Irish, and it gets hard to hear Irish sometimes (and thus hard to speak it)! So if I go to that session (and I think it's every Thursday so I'll go at least once!) I'll likely really get to hear Irish. And I'm going with a friend who has a car to hear some of his friends play tomorrow, so hopefully I can get to know them and use that to branch out and start meeting a lot of people here in the Gaeltacht, which would be absolutely the best. It's a shame I'll have to move to Galway after this is over, but buying a car would be too expensive, especially since I'm still young enough insurance would be through the roof.

I do finally have my bags, but am still working things out about my phone, though it's a pain in the ass right now waiting for Best Buy (and being 6 hours ahead so I can't really call them). Overall though things are going well, though I've been super busy and haven't had much time to work on the things I need/want to. I also need to start looking at a place to live in Galway and see if I can find a place to spend two weeks or so in the Gaeltacht before I head to Galway to start my masters, just so I don't lose any of my ability.

Hope all is going well for y'all.

[geoffw]

Also, I was on Raidió na Gaeltachta this morning!

Which program? Will it be available online?

[galaxyrocker]

Which program? Will it be available online?

To be honest, I'm not sure about either of them. It was with MTS, but I'd rather not search for it online as it's associated with my real name and such and I don't want to share that.

Also, I did get to hear the traditional music session last night. It definitely made my week and I'll be going back next week without a doubt.

[galaxyrocker]

I'm amazed at how quick my time here has passed; there's only three and a half days of class left! I'm actually going to really miss the Gaeltacht areas, though if I can find a car I'm certainly going to consider living out here rather than in Galway City (it's a decent bit cheaper, too).

But, I've learned a lot. I've definitely been forced to use more Irish than I ever have before, even the past few times I've been here. Sadly, reflecting back on it, I still haven't used as much as I would like. I knew it would be tough coming in, just given the broad levels of people in the program (from the very basic of beginners up to semi-fluent people). I have gotten many compliments about my Irish, which makes me feel more confident in my ability to do this masters coming up.

I've also started inquiring into the C1 exam. My teacher here actually teaches the C1 diploma in Galway, but when I showed him the TEG C1, he said it was much harder than the one his students have to take, which he expected me (and everyone else in our class) to be able to pass easily. That said, he was still offering hesitant reassurances to me being able to pass the real one. I then sent him the link to the sample test, and I think we're going to be doing part of it as practice in class, which I love. We also do "correct the mistakes" a lot, which I also enjoy, though I need to go back over them and make sure I understand why everything is a mistake or not.

But, I do think I'm going to register for the C1 exam when it's offered next January. I don't need it for any reason, honestly, and I'm already confident enough in my ability to have conversations with native speakers without either party really struggling (sometimes my hearing is bad or I don't understand a word), and that will get better with time. But it's more a personal satisfaction thing at this point. To see that all the time I've put into Irish, including a MA in the language, hasn't gone to waste.

That said, even with the possibility of a C1 test looming, I'd like to add another language, as I always do. I have 3 weeks between the end of this course and the masters, though that will likely be left to maintaining Irish until I can start the course. But after that, I only have classes two days a week. Even if I get a part-time job, I can only work a maximum of 20 hours a week, so that leaves quite a lot of time for studying, and I intend to take it. But wanderlust is kicking in, so we'll just have to see which language I end up picking, if I even do; the masters might be more difficult than I'm assuming!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. I'll likely try to do a full write-up of my Gaeltacht experience after the end of the course, so everyone can see what I did in class as well as other things I did to take advantage of it.

Go n-éirí an t-ádh lib!

[galaxyrocker]

So, the course finished last Friday, but I didn't leave the Gaeltacht. While I decided it would be best for my mental and social health (and likely physical) to stay in Galway, I am spending an extra 3 weeks in the Gaeltacht while house-hunting in Galway (which is a huge pain in the ass; apparently there's a "housing crisis" in the city). I got back in yesterday after spending Friday in Galway city with some friends, and basically just took today and yesterday to rest, and will start being super social tomorrow, which is nice because it'll force me to leave my comfort zone. It's also nice that my teacher from the past month is teaching another course and invited me to show up to it, though he warned me my Irish would be better than theirs.


Also, I know I said I'd do a write-up about my immersion course, but I honestly don't know what I would even write. So I'll just answer any questions y'all might have about it.


And, just more rambling about how much I hate wanderlust, yet want to pick up a third language. Who knows, maybe I'll meet a girl in Galway that'll give me the motivation I need to pick with one and truly stick with it? Or maybe the dabbling I plan to do in the next three weeks turns into something, assuming programming practice and such doesn't get in the way.

Anyway, please feel free to ask questions or comment. I really do recommend the immersion program to everyone, though I think lower/middle intermediates would get the most benefit from the course.

[galaxyrocker]

So, due to some very unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, I'm back in America. I had to resign from the grant (everything will be ok, though), which means I won't be studying for a masters in Irish through Irish. Sadly, at this point, I now don't know if I'll ever reach the C1 level, though I've still got plenty of time ahead of me to do so, and maybe one day I'll return and be able to do it.

But, for now, I'm just trying to use it as much as I can. I've been reading, though it's been very inconsistent. Also chatting with my friend, but again very inconsistent. Once things calm down I do plan on making these more regular, as well as listening practice. Sadly, writing will be the hard part for me.

That said, since I'm back and now jobless for now, I'm looking at possibly teaching English in Japan, so I'm gonna pick back up Japanese. Gonna restart with Pimsleur/Genki/Assimil and use the Kanji book that Sizen recommended. I'm gonna go steadily but slowly, and possibly see if I can't find a Saturday class somewhere local, as I like the structure of classes. I'm also going to look at volunteering with ESL classes at the local community college, so that might even help me find other languages eventually!

Best wishes to everyone,

GR

[galaxyrocker]

Dia dhaoibh chairde,

Ar nós atá dhá dhíona ag daoine eile, beidh mé a' scríobh an iontráil seo trí Ghaeilge, Gaeilge Chonamara, mar 'sí sin a' Ghaeilge is breácha. Ní dhearna mé mórán a' tseachtain seo caite -- bhí go leor rudaí ar siúil agus ní raibh a' t-am 'am ná 'n fonn orm. Léigh mé cúpla scéal go chuid Jimmí Chearra, agus bhí siad thar a bheith suimiúil- scríofa ins a' gcanúint sin. Fuair mé físeán dhó, ina labhraíonn sé le Mairtín Tom Sheánín -- tá Gaeilge Chois Fharraige ag Jimmí agus Gaeilge Chonamara Theas ag Mairtín. Tá'm físeán ar fáil anseo. Fuair mé scéalta uaidh Thír Chonaill freisin, agus b'fhéidir go mbeadh suim ag duine eicínt iontub; tá taifeadtaí ann chomh maith. Bain taitneamh astub.

Ní dhearna mé tada maidir leis a' Seapáinis, ach, le cúnamh Dé, beidh Genki I 'am i gceann coicíse nó mar sin. Feicfidh muid.

-----------------------------------

Because this is written in a very dialectal and very conversational style, I'm going to add a translation as well.

Hello friends.

Like other people have been doing, I'm going to write this post in Irish, Connemara Irish because it's the loveliest. I didn't do much this past week -- there were a lot of things happening and I didn't have the time or desire. I read a couple of Jimmí Chearra's stories, and they were beyond interesting - written in that dialect. I also found a video of him in which he speaks with Mairtín Tom Sheáinín -- Jimmí Chearra has Cois Fharraige Irish while MTS has South Connemara Irish (which is the kind I want). The video can be found here (link provided). I also found some stories from Donegal, and maybe someone will be interested in them; there's recordings there as well. Enjoy them.

I didn't do anything with Japanese, but, hopefully, I'll have Genki 1 in two weeks or so. We'll see.


Beannachtaí,

GR.

[Josquin]

I only read right now that you had to return to America. How very disappointing! But I guess you had your reasons. I hope everything will turn out well for you. Keep up the good work in Irish and keep us informed about your progress!

[galaxyrocker]

So it's been a while since I've logged anything, because a lot/nothing has happened.

So I returned to America due to a death in the family, resigning from the grant I was in. However, I haven't been able to find a full-time job, and partly blame this on living in a rural area and being young with no experience. And instead of studying languages like I should, I've been working on trying to find a job instead, yet it hasn't been turning out well sadly. I have decided I'm going to apply to the JET program, and hope to send off that application this weekend (it's due the 18th of the month).

But, something happened today that got me back interested in Irish, and showed me where I needed to focus on. I was on Raidió na Gaeltachta once again this morning, discussing the results of the election and why I thought Trump won, etc. I'm not going to go into details, but it shows me that I really need to get back to working on my listening and to speak more. I used "like" a lot, and often felt like I didn't adequately answer the questions I was asked, though I feel I would've been fine if it had been a written discussion.

So I'm not remotivated to focus on Irish, and will probably start a listening/reading regimen starting next week; I'll keep y'all updated on what I do, though I admit I like Iguanaman's summaries and might try something like that of what I read/watch.

I also got Genki I and its corresponding workbook today, so I'll likely be giving and hour or so to Japanese daily as well. Just in prep for if I do get accepted to the JET program. And it's interesting as well, so I think it'll be fun.

Best of luck to all y'all.

[galaxyrocker]

So, with Japanese, I'm running into a very interesting issue: too many resources. It's quite often we hear people complaining about not having enough resources to learn a language (though, as people like Iguanaman show, it's still perfectly doable), yet I rarely hear about being complaining about too many resources. It makes me second guess whether I'm using the correct ones or not, and makes me lose my focus and want to move away. Which makes it harder to actually learn, since I want to just do the basics them move on to a new textbook.

I just wanted to know if any of y'all have opinions on this phenomenon. Have any of y'all experienced it? What did you do? I'm going to stick with Genki and the Assimil and Pimsleur stuff I have (mainly for listening), and try not to get distracted by other Japanese resources until I've finished them and pick up graded readers (likely after Genki II, though; we'll see). But, despite already being an advocate for classes, I now appreciate them all the more; not only does it keep you on track and give you instant feedback from a (hopefully) native/fluent speaker (and usually give you someone who you can practice with) it forces you to use one set of materials and that's it, so you don't have to worry about if you're using what's considered the 'best'.