FOGHLAIM GAEILGE

‘Tá do chuid brionglóidí ach coiscéim uait’ - Everything you want is a dream away

A series of short films has been produced in Cornish (with English subtitles).

Source

A lovely battle between Basque dance association Oinak Arin from Beskoitze (Lapurdi) and the Irish dancers of the Gohery school of dancing. Filmed last summer.

Sú talún, meaning strawberry, derives from

Sú comes from Old Irish súg (sap; juice) or from Old Irish suib (berry)  Talún is the genitive form of talamh (earth;  ground). 

The genitive is used here because it is an adjective showing possession or relation—”sap of the earth”

Compare sú craobh (raspberry): “sap of the (tree) branch”

In Scottish Gaelic, sùbh-làir is used:

Sùbh comes from Old Irish suib (berry).  Làir refers also to “earth; ground” 

It is related to Irish lár, meaning “floor” and mainly referring to an interior floor. 

Sú/Sùbh further derive from Proto-Celtic *subi (berry) from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to squeeze out”). Welsh syfi (strawberry) descends from Proto-Celtic *subi. 

These are just some resources and organisations I have found/used in my learning so far

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - The Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a Gaelic school on the Isle of Skye. They offer both in person and long distance courses in a variety of Gaelic related subjects and a variety of levels. Obviously I wouldn't recommend taking on a full university degree unless you're really interested in that as it's a lot of time, money, commitment etc, but I've listed them because they're a major contributor to the Gaelic learning world. They also have online summer courses for learners of various levels

Duolingo - This is a great starting place. Their Gaelic course was created in partnership with the the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. The full grammar notes for the course can be found here. From what I've found, this course is estimated to get you to roughly A1 going on A2

LearnGaelic - This website has a mixture of basic grammar intro lessons as well as a dictionary. I find that the dictionary sometimes has trouble filtering relevance of vocab, but overall I find it quite helpful

Gaelic Books Council - The Gaelic Books Council supports Gaelic writers and publishers, promoting and selling Gaelic books in a range of genres. They have both original works, and popular works which have been translated into Gaelic

Acair Books - A Stornoway based publisher of Gaelic, Scots and English books. They have a large selection of children's books which are great for beginner learners, but also have adult books

The Scottish Book Trust - A charity dedicated to reading and writing in all of English, Scots and Gaelic. You can browse their website for a range of poetry, prose, learning resources, writers' awards and fellowships

Am Faclair Beag - The Little Dictionary. I find this dictionary is slightly better at filtering by relevance than the LearnGaelic dictionary, so I often use it to cross reference. LearnGaelic has a tendency to give you the most obscure translation first, whereas Am Faclair Beag will usually prioritise more common translations

Speak Gaelic - Speak Gaelic is a series created by BBC ALBA. There is a YouTube series with Joy Dunlop, a podcast with John Urquhart, and a website with quizzes to test your learning. The initial series is roughly A1, with some of the later episodes aiming for A2. A good intro, though the website is known to be a bit glitchy

Beag air Bheag - Little by Little. Also by the BBC, this is a slightly more advanced series than Speak Gaelic, but hosted by the familiar John Urquhart. I can't find the exact CEFR level, but I seem to remember it being advertised as B1-2

BBC ALBA - The BBC's Scottish Gaelic programs. I occasionally scroll through their iPlayer. Some of the shows have captions which I find helpful, although not all do. Children's TV is always a great way to learn a new language as it is designed with children learning the language in mind. I think I saw they had some Moomin Valley last time I looked

Faclair nan Gèidheal - The Dictionary for Gayls (gay/queer Gaels). This is a great resource filled with a tonne of terminology relating to the LGBTQ+ community. This is where I get vocab like tar-ghnèitheach and neò-bhìnearaidh from

Open Book Reading - An organisation who run Gaelic speaking, reading and writing sessions both in person and online. I'd recommend looking at their Eventbrite page

“Given the passions and feelings connected with the use of Irish Gaelic, there is a sad risk that the phrase would be regarded as some form of slogan or that its inclusion without translation would, of itself, be seen as a political statement,” said Judge Stephen Eyre, QC, chancellor of the Diocese of Coventry.

he basically said that the entirity of the irish language is a political statement, that speaking it is a political act & putting these totally heartfelt worlds on the gravestone of an irish catholic woman who completely assimilated to english culture but wanted some memoriam of her culture in her children’s wishes, is a political act.

Untranslated Irish words would be “unintelligible to all but a small minority of readers”, he ruled in his judgment for the Church of England consistory court on 6 May. He authorised a memorial which included a translation of the phrase in English.

why does every passer by need to understand the words on a gravestone of somebody they don’t know? why was this even taken into account?

& you wanna know why it would be unintelligible to all but a small minority of readers? bc its IRISH ; a language the english tried for CENTURIES to wipe out. they punished people for speaking our culture’s language, they killed people for it. the amount of irish people who know their own culture’s language is horrifically small & it’s entirely because of the racist onslaught the english perpetrated against us when they decided to try & wipe out our culture. also, why does it matter to anyone but the family what words are on THEIR MOTHER’S GRAVESTONE?

also, this battle has gone on for TWO YEARS. two years where this poor family has not been able to grieve properly for their beloved lost mother, where they can’t honour her with their culture & their language that they have probably fought to keep alive.

Sans titre. Irlande, 1961

Nollaig Shona daoibh! Happy Christmas!

Whatever is beautiful, whatever is meaningful, whatever brings happiness, may it be yours this Christmas. Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir ó Stair na hÉireann. Happy Christmas to one and all!