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

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galaxyrocker
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Updating Method

Postby galaxyrocker » Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:22 pm

I'm just here to make a quick mention that I've updated my originally listening comprehension method. While it was helping me transcribe and understand each individual word better, I feel I miss some by solely relying on context. So I've just included looking up every word I don't know, and writing it down in my notebook. I've found that a lot of what I am lacking is verbs, which is interesting. But I feel this is helping not just my ability to distinguish words, but also truly understand what is being said.


Also, I got bored doing only Assimil for French (mainly I felt I wasn't progressing fast enough), so I've started working on the Schaum's Outline I bought, and reviewing everything with another grammar book I own.
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby galaxyrocker » Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:33 am

I'm feeling really good today. I listened to the next news piece in line, and found I understood it all. Now, granted, it's because I've worked with that particular piece in the past, but it still felt nice to see the progress I've made since earlier this year.
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby galaxyrocker » Sun Sep 06, 2015 2:13 pm

So since there's not much happening besides me just doing my normal routine (and trying to do it daily), I just sorta wanted to look back on what I've done this yea so far. Pretty much all of this is going to be for Irish, given that I just started French a few weeks ago.

1) I decided to start reading a lot more in Irish. Since the beginning of this year, I've read 4 full books and half of my current one, totaling about 1,350 pages. Needless to say, I can notice a difference in my reading ability from the first one to the one now. Even with that said, I do tend to stop and look up words, even though I know them from context, simply because I feel the act of looking them up and writing them down helps me ingrain them. I'm excited to see where the rest of this year takes me in terms of reading Irish literature, and I just wish it was easier to get here in America. Though, for those of you who don't know, Scribd has quite a few Irish language books in their library, which is absolutely awesome. Note that this reading doesn't count articles I've read, or short novels I've read to help others with their Irish. So my total page count is likely a bit higher.

2) I passed the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge, B2. I passed, but I didn't score as high as I was wanting. I passed my desire goal in speaking, and was borderline in reading and a little bit below in writing. But I utterly failed to reach it in listening. I was excited to pass, but it also made me realize I had a lot of work left to do in the language, especially since I want to pass the C1 one day. The sad part about all of this is I knew my listening was my weakest skill, and tried to work on it, but it never really seemed to improve any.

3) Since then I've just been continuing my general routine with Irish. I have a friend I chat with quite often, so my writing stays consistent, though it's certainly not formal (something which I believe hurt me on the test). I wish I had someone I could write stories or something to and have them correct it, but it's hard to find competent speakers, especially ones who don't just translate from English. Weird anecdote, but I once had someone tell me the native Irish was was wrong, and that the English-influenced way, which would never be used by natives, was the only correct way. It gets quite frustrating; doubly so when I wish to practice dialectal writing.

I've got guided listening drills now, as y'all know, so I'm hoping to start seeing an advantage with that. I guess we'll just have to wait it out and see.
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby galaxyrocker » Mon Sep 07, 2015 1:15 pm

So. I had a fun encounter that I feel y'all'd enjoy. I was recommending Assimil to someone who wanted to do Duolingo on /r/languagelearning, and someone else labeled a social media advertiser, because Assimil is 'expensive'. This is despite the almost 3 year old Reddit account...
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Bylan
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby Bylan » Wed Sep 09, 2015 5:43 am

Galaxyrocker, you have your PM settings to disable PM receipt. I'd be happy to help you with FIA, just change the setting and we're in business!
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby galaxyrocker » Wed Sep 09, 2015 6:43 pm

Bylan wrote:Galaxyrocker, you have your PM settings to disable PM receipt. I'd be happy to help you with FIA, just change the setting and we're in business!


Fixed! Didn't realize it was turned off.
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tomgosse
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby tomgosse » Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:36 pm

Dia duit Galaxyrocker,

You,sir, are causing me great distress (I'm only joking :lol: ). Just when I thought I was getting settled in my study of French, you reminded me of my long forgotten study of Gaeilge.

First, a little background. Like millions of other Americans I trace my roots to Ireland. My mother's parents were born and raised in Galway. They grew up as native speakers of Irish, and while fully bilingual, Irish was the language they spoke at home. They, along with millions of other Europeans, came to the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century. Irish was still the language they spoke at home. My mother could speak it, but not write it. And I, like a lot of second generation Americans, could understand it when spoken to but answered in English.

Jump forward five decades (yes, Tá mé d'aois) and I decide to learn Irish. I bought a ton of books on Irish including Buntus Cainte, Learning Irish by Micheál Ó Siadhail, and the Christian Brothers. I took classes with a Ár dTeanga Féin in Worcester Massachusetts. I religiously watch Ros na Rún on the Internet, and listened to the news on Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Then life got complicated and my studies slowed down. But, the straw that broke the camel's back was an incident I had on YouTube. I made a short video where I introduced myself in Irish, "Is mise Tomás ..." Well, I started to get a lot of very nasty replies from people in Ireland. And, I mean nasty. The most polite one went something like, "Why are you studying Irish? You're a fekking American!" I soon deleted the video.

I didn't realize it at the time, but the study of Irish was a very divisive subject in Ireland. There were people who loved Irish and those who hated it, and no middle ground. This video No Béarla seemed to sum up the subject for me. Felt like the chap in this film : Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom.

And now, thanks to you and others on this board, I'm staring wistfully at a shelf of Irish grammar books, which sit only a foot away from my French grammar books. I'm confused (not only over this, but about life in general), how can I fit the study of Irish in with my study of French? Are there enough hours in the day? Do I have enough energy? Oh, what am I to do? Put back of hand to forehead and sigh dramatically.

Anyway, I wish you all the best in your studies. I am also using French In Action. I just started on chapter four. If you have any questions about it write me.

Adh mor ort ,
Tomás
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geoffw
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby geoffw » Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:02 am

@tomgosse, it was actually watching No Béarla that finally inspired me to take up the study of Irish myself again earlier this year. So sorry to hear you had those negative experiences. Youtube comments generally are a cesspool of the human id, unfortunately.
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galaxyrocker
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby galaxyrocker » Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:14 am

@tomgosse,

I must admit that I'm honestly surprised. I've had nothing but encouragement from Irish people in my endeavors to learn Irish. Doubly so from native speakers. But, as geoffw said, please don't let a few negative Youtube comments turn you off the language;e there really are people out there who are encouraging and appreciate you learning their language. It's actually why I stuck with Irish for as long as I did, because of an experience like that (in a bathroom, no less!).

Also, I must admit I don't particularly like No Béarla. Mainly because I think he was being a total tool in the show, and I certainly wouldn't want to try Irish with him if I was self-conscience about what little ability I had (as most people in Ireland seem to be).
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geoffw
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Re: Nótaí Galaxyrocker

Postby geoffw » Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:33 am

Agreed...the show was engaging and interesting I would say (obviously, given my reaction to it), but I often felt like he was going out of his way to be a clown, and then criticizing all of Ireland as illiterate colonialists for the fact that they didn't want to talk to the clown.
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