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

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crush
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby crush » Tue Aug 24, 2021 3:21 am

That sounds like an awesome collection of books. I remember finding a Catalan book (Dies d'ira a l'illa) after years of searching and finally being able to read it was just amazing.

Also, congrats on the work stuff! I also dream of getting a degree in Euskal filologia (Basque Philology) some day, current plan is to see if i'll be able to keep my job here in the states just work remotely from the Basque Country in a few years down the line. But regardless, being in Ireland and closer to the language should be a huge motivation booster and i'm excited for you! Hope this new year brings more motivation more participation here and just a more optimistic view of things in general!
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby galaxyrocker » Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:54 pm

Well, damn. I had a lot written here and accidentally lost it. Let's just say I've gotten those books I mentioned, at another discount because I picked them up in person and he discounted me the train ticket, so I got more. And he even gave me one he'd collected of folklore! Super nice guy, I'll definitely buy from him again if he gets anything I'm interested in.

Other than that, I'm in Ireland doing a masters (sadly not in Irish; that'll come if I ever get citizenship). Only downside is I'm in Dublin, but I've been to the Irish speaking bar frequently enough, and I train with the Irish speaking Gaelic football team when I can get a lift, so it's going great. I hope to do some immersion next summer, but it really depends on how things go with regards to thesis/internship for my masters. I might do a C1 course in the spring regardless, and hopefully take it next year. That'd be amazing.

Otherwise, I've had thoughts of dabbling in Spanish or Japanese again just because I'd like to visit those places and I kinda feel the future is open after this masters, transitioning more into tech-oriented work over teaching (though who knows, maybe I'll go back to teaching here). Though I'm already torn enough between returning to America and staying here, so who really knows?

One thing I do want to leave is this article by Briain Ó Curnáin about 'An Taisce Ghaelach'. It's basically a big literary store to collect and record information from the best Irish speakers so we can possibly share it and redevelop it later on. Nothing firm yet, though I've emailed him about it as I've had similar ideas, and that's part of why I'm creating my personal library. If you're interseted, the Google Translate version of the article isn't horrible. It's published on a site for an organization called Teacht Aniar, which do great work in promoting the Gaeltacht areas and helping to dispel the myths of the cities saving the language

https://teachtaniar.eu/tuairimi/an-taisce-ghaelach/
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby galaxyrocker » Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:42 pm

Things are progressing on the masters apace, it's quite refreshing even if it doesn't give me much time for Irish. I do need to get in the habit of reading Irish stuff of an evening more, though I do listen to the radio of a morning. Even though my masters isn't related to Irish at all, I have just sent two emails to professors who I might be able to talk with about getting a PhD in Irish, something I really want to do but don't want to wait for (initial plan was to get Irish citizenship, then do PhD) and want to pursue now. So hopefully good news there! I have a third one to email at the school I'm currently at, but the others take preference because one is in the area where the dialect I'd write the grammar for is situated and the other is openly accepting PhD students and does dialectology stuff, even if he's in Belfast (which would screw around with the visa to stay in Ireland, unfortunately).

All that said, I'm interested practicing my Spanish, and thinking of taking a trip back to Málaga next year, time depending. Does anyone know any good sites to watch soccer in Spanish? I'd gladly pay something reasonable for it, but I've not been able to find anything that doesn't redirect me to the English site, sadly.
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby David27 » Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:38 pm

galaxyrocker wrote:Does anyone know any good sites to watch soccer in Spanish? I'd gladly pay something reasonable for it, but I've not been able to find anything that doesn't redirect me to the English site, sadly.


ESPN+ Tiene todos los partidos de LaLiga y cada una que yo vi tiene la opción de inglés o español. Pero si prefieres el EPL… no tiene nada. Quizás Tendrías que comprar un servicio de un país hispanohablante
Last edited by David27 on Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby galaxyrocker » Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:36 am

David27 wrote:ESPN+ Tiende todos los partidos de LaLiga y cada una que yo vi tiene la opción de inglés o español. Pero si prefieres el EPL… no tiene nada. Quizás Tendrías que comprar un servicio de un país hispanohablante


Lo probaré anque prefiero el EPL y estoy en Irlanda así que no sé si puedo acceder a ESPN+. Gracias!
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby iguanamon » Wed Nov 17, 2021 2:08 pm

El fútbol no es el único deporte popular en España. A los españoles también les gusta el baloncesto. Hay una liga profesional de baloncesto allá que se llama la Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto conocido como "Liga Endesa" (por patronicio). Se puede mirar a los juegos por streaming aquí en eurosport.

Soccer isn't the only popular sport in Spain. The Spanish also like basketball and there's a national league. You should be able to find an app at eurosport. As an American, you may have heard of basketball, ;) . It's hugely popular in the state where I'm from originally.
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby galaxyrocker » Wed Nov 17, 2021 3:46 pm

iguanamon wrote:Soccer isn't the only popular sport in Spain. The Spanish also like basketball and there's a national league. You should be able to find an app at eurosport. As an American, you may have heard of basketball, ;) . It's hugely popular in the state where I'm from originally.


Same in mine, though we're more of a university college state (who needs the NBA!). I don't tend to enjoy NBA as much as soccer, but I might give the Spanish league a shot; I have a feeling it'll be more interesting at least. Will look into Eurosport. Thanks!
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby galaxyrocker » Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:33 pm

So, I found some streams in Spanish, watched them, was getting back into Spanish and having fun with it all...And now I need to pivot to French. Why? Because I'm seriously considering a different masters programme, to commence in 2022 (maybe 2023, so I can work for a year to save money to fund my cost of living and not have to work part-time during the course).

As I alluded to in a previous post, and as anyone who has followed me here can probably attest, I am super interested in eventually pursuing a masters/PhD in Irish. From that, I grew interested in the Celtic languages and Celtic studies more generally, and specifically linguistics, though touching on other subjects, especially anything relating to astronomical phenomenon and folklore, etc. Well, I attended a conference about a month ago, and since then all I've really been able to plan for is how can I get a PhD in this sooner.

So, to that end, I emailed several of the professors who I'd be willing to work with in Ireland on a PhD, specifically linguistically focused on documenting one dialect of Irish. However, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to get funding for it, not having a masters or even an undergraduate degree in the subject. So I had resigned myself to waiting, when I stumbled upon a nice little masters programme in Brittany, at UBO, or the University of Western Brittany.

The programme has two strands and my only regret is that I can't do both! One focuses on the older versions of the language, and textual resources, and you get the opportunity to learn Middle Welsh, Old Irish and Middle Breton. The other focuses more on the modern versions of the language, with an emphasis on oral literature and folklore, though sociolinguistics is included too. Here, you can focus on the modern versions of these languages.

The one catch is that it requires B1+/B2 French. So it seems I need to turn and devote my whole non-masters focus to that in order to possibly get accepted. I did do French in high school, and have dabbled with it several times here, so I feel I could easily get B1 before it begins, at least in passive skills. I plan to start immediately after my exams using the Nature Method French book and perhaps Assimil as I have a physical copy at my home in the States and will be visiting for Christmas.

I still need to email the contact person and see what I will need to do, what are the chances of being accepted, etc. and what exactly fees are, but it looks like it's only €250/year for both years of the programme, which is highly affordable (if I'd known about that, I might never have done this one in Ireland!). I do also need to check into France's visa rules, to see how much money I need to show upfront before they'll grant me the student visa. But overall, I'm super optimistic about starting this either in 2022 or 2023. The latter would give me more time to work on my French, and give me a year to save up money either working here in Ireland or back as a teacher again in the States (probably preferable for saving money), but I'd also be another year older and still not really settling down on a career path (or paying off those damnable student loans).

I'm getting excited about this possibility, and even actually ran into a PhD student of the programme who teaches the Breton course on a Celtic Languages Discord server I'm part of! They suggested a great masters project on the names of celestial bodies, something I'm already interested in (even have a blog post collecting them in the Gaelic languages), which would be great to expand. My only concern is that'd put me firmly down the path of the modern languages, when I really want to learn Old Irish, Middle Welsh, Welsh, Middle Breton and Breton (I already know Modern Irish, so didn't include it)! But it has me optimistic, assuming I can get accepted and show that I have the fees, and defer my student loans yet again (hopefully this data-science focused 'Theoretical Physics and Applied Maths' masters will help me get a job eventually...or I can always return to teaching in the States, where it'll eventually get forgiven).

Here's a link to the program if anyone is interested: https://www.univ-brest.fr/master-celtiq ... esentation


Also, on the topic of star names, I'd love to hear what they're called traditionally in your languages. Constellations, individual stars, etc. So much culture tied up in them (for instance, I learned the Breton for the Big Dipper was 'Arthur's Chariot'), that's sadly being lost as everything homogenizes and we move away from the night sky (light pollution is a major issue to me). Doesn't matter if it's a minority language or not, I'd love to hear it!
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby DaveAgain » Wed Nov 24, 2021 11:46 pm

galaxyrocker wrote:

Also, on the topic of star names, I'd love to hear what they're called traditionally in your languages. Constellations, individual stars, etc. So much culture tied up in them (for instance, I learned the Breton for the Big Dipper was 'Arthur's Chariot'), that's sadly being lost as everything homogenizes and we move away from the night sky (light pollution is a major issue to me). Doesn't matter if it's a minority language or not, I'd love to hear it!
There's an Alphonse Daudet short story called 'Les Étoiles' (text | audio) that I like, it mentions some star names:
—Qu'il y en a! Que c'est beau! Jamais je n'en avais tant vu... Est-ce que tu sais leurs noms, berger?

—Mais oui, maîtresse... Tenez! juste au-dessus de nous, voilà le Chemin de saint Jacques (la voie lactée). Il va de France droit sur l'Espagne. C'est saint Jacques de Galice qui l'a tracé pour montrer sa route au brave Charlemagne lorsqu'il faisait la guerre aux Sarrasins. Plus loin, vous avez le Char des âmes (la grande Ourse) avec ses quatre essieux resplendissants. Les trois étoiles qui vont devant sont les Trois bêtes, et cette toute petite contre la troisième c'est le Charretier. Voyez-vous tout autour cette pluie d'étoiles qui tombent? ce sont les âmes dont le bon Dieu ne veut pas chez lui... Un peu plus bas, voici le Râteau ou les Trois rois (Orion). C'est ce qui nous sert d'horloge, à nous autres. Rien qu'en les regardant, je sais maintenant qu'il est minuit passé. Un peu plus bas, toujours vers le midi, brille Jean de Milan, le flambeau des astres (Sirius). Sur cette étoile-là, voici ce que les bergers racontent. Il paraît qu'une nuit Jean de Milan, avec les Trois rois et la Poussinière (la Pléiade), furent invités à la noce d'une étoile de leurs amies. La Poussinière, plus pressée, partit, dit-on, la première, et prit le chemin haut. Regardez-la, là-haut, tout au fond du ciel. Les Trois rois coupèrent plus bas et la rattrapèrent; mais ce paresseux de Jean de Milan, qui avait dormi trop tard, resta tout à fait derrière, et furieux, pour les arrêter, leur jeta son bâton. C'est pourquoi les Trois rois s'appellent aussi le Bâton de Jean de Milan... Mais la plus belle de toutes les étoiles, maîtresse, c'est la nôtre, c'est l'Étoile du berger, qui nous éclaire à l'aube quand nous sortons le troupeau, et aussi le soir quand nous le rentrons. Nous la nommons encore Maguelonne, la belle Maguelonne qui court après Pierre de Provence (Saturne) et se marie avec lui tous les sept ans.

[b]Tous ces détails d'astronomie populaire sont traduits de l'Almanach provençal qui se publie en Avignon.

—Comment! berger, il y a donc des mariages d'étoiles?

—Mais oui, maîtresse.


Maguelonne, l'étoile du berger, may be Venus.

http://villeneuve.les.maguelone.guerrer ... gendes.htm
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker -- Irish and Wanderlust

Postby galaxyrocker » Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:46 pm

Well, the email has been sent to Brest, so here's hoping I can make it work out. Guess it's time to get started on learning French to make sure I'm at an acceptable level. Given that I have ~10 months, with the possibility of being in country learning for a few times, it should hopefully be doable to get to a B1 level, maybe B1+. Especially in the passive skills, which I feel I'd need more attending lectures; my active skills will likely increase quickly while I'm there.


To that regard, I'm going to go through the Nature Method books. I'll likely go a bit faster than suggested, as I have some French background (was probably ~A2+/B1 in high school), but intend to do several chapters a week. I'll also listen to the audio of it when I can. I've found several comprehensible input YouTube channels too in French, so I'll be listening to at least one of those a day, and probably News in Slow French. See if I can't find spots to watch in French as well, just to get as much exposure as possible currently.


Otherwise, with Irish, I've kept reading it and use it regularly. Done some philological work, and still intend to do more (the French is all so I can do Celtic Studies, after all). Hope to take courses in the spring, though if I can find French ones as cheap as the Irish (doubtful; they're only like €6/hr), I'll switch out for those. Will likely aim to be C1 and sit the C1 exam next year just as a treat to myself. Until then, it's just reading and listening to the radio show from Connemara every morning. They've got great interviews each Friday with a really strong speaker, and it's super interesting. Hopefully I'll have time to make a trip out there in the two weeks between end of classes and my first exam. It's been too long and I'm ashamed to say I haven't made it yet.
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