Eachtra

Tháinig mé ar ais go Bangor Dé Máirt an seachtaine seo caite i ndiaidh saoire ar fheabhas ar fad in Éirinn, Albain agus Sasana.

In Éirinn bhí sé an deas daoine a bhuail mé leis ag an scoil samhraidh anuraidh a fheiceáil arís, agus ag bualadh le a lán daoine eile. Bhí mé sa rang a sé i mbliana, agus bhí i bhfad níos mó deiseanna ann mo chuid Gaeilge a cleachtadh na a bhí sa rang a seacht anuraidh. Bhain mé triail as Gaeilge a labhairt an t-am ar fad taobh amuigh den rang freisin. Sa tráthnóna rinne mé an amhránaíocht sean-nóis le Gearóidín Bhreathnach agus bhain mé an-sult as.

Bhí ceolchoirmeacha ann san oíche le ceoltóirí, amhránaí agus scéalaí den scoth, agus seisiúin sa tithe tábhairne i ndiaidh sin. Sheinn mise an fheadóg íseal beagnach gach oíche sa seisiúin chomh maith -ní raibh gach port agam, ach bhí roinnt acu agam. Caithfidh mé níos mó a fhoghlaim de ghlanmheabhair -is féidir liom a lán port a sheinm ón ceol scríofa, ach ní féidir liom a oiread a sheinm gan ceol. Bhí roinnt againn ag seinn i ngach áit – sa tithe tábhairne, sa bhialann, sa lóistín agus nuair a bhí muid amuigh ag siúil.
Adventures

I got back to Bangor on Tuesday of last week after a fantastic holiday in Ireland, Scotland and England.

In Ireland it was lovely to see so many of the people I met at the summer school last year again, and to me many others. I was in the level 6 language class this year, and there many more opportunities to practice my Irish than there were in level 7 last year. I also tried to speak as much Irish as possible outside class. In the afternoons I was in the sean-nos singing class with Gearóidín Bhreathnach and really enjoyed it. Some of us in the class couldn’t help breaking into song wherever we happened to be – in pubs, restaurants, lodgings and while out walking.

There were concerts in the evenings with top musicians, singers and storytellers, and sessions in the pubs afterwards. I even played my low whistle in quite a few of the sessions – I didn’t know all the tunes, but could play along with some of them at least. I need to learn more tunes by heart – at the moment I can play plenty of them with written music, but not nearly so many without the music. I say this to myself everytime I go to Ireland, and am gradually building up my repertoire of tunes.

I’ve decided to write in one main language each time on this blog, rather than trying to write in Welsh, Irish and sometimes Chinese every time. This is mainly because it takes me quite a long time to write everything in two or three languages. And because I think it’s better to write directly in each language, rather than translating from Welsh into the others, as I usually do. So today it’s Irish (and English), yesterday was Welsh, and tomorrow I might have a go at Scottish Gaelic. When I get round to it, I’ll write English versions of the posts – sort of loose translations with extra bits.

Fforio

Yn ddiweddar dw i wedi bod yn fforio Bangor ac yr ardal hon. Dw i’n arfer dilyn pob llwybr ydw i’n darganfod i weld i le maen nhw’n mynd. Echddoe, er enghraifft, mi ddarganfodais lwybr sy’n mynd i lawr i’r lan o Ffordd Siliwen, y ffordd sy rhedeg ar hyd y môr o’r pier, ac mi gerddais ar hyd y lan cyn hir ag medru i, ac yna i lawr â fi i’r prifysgol. Ddoe es i i Borth Penrhyn, ac wedyn mi ddarganfodais lôn sy’n mynd i fyny Mynydd Bangor hyd at Clwb Golff St. Deiniol. Roedd llawer o fwyar ar hyd y lôn ac mi ddynnais a fwytais cryn dipyn ohonynt – roedden nhw blasus iawn. Heddiw mi ddarganfodais lwybr sy’n mynd i fyny ochr arall Mynydd Bangor, lle roedd llawer o fwyar a golygfeydd hyfryd dros y ddinas i Eryri. A i yn ôl i dynnu mwy o fwyar cyn bo hir, a bydda i’n ceisio peidio â bwyta nhw i gyd cyn i mi cyrraedd adref! Bydd rhaid mi i ofyn i fy mam am rysetiau sy’n defnyddio mwyar.

Roedd fy ngwyliau yn Iwerddon, yr Alban a Sir Gaerhirfryn yn wych dros ben, gyda llaw. Yn Iwerddon roedd hi’n hyfryd gweld cymaint o bobol ydw i wedi cwrdd â nhw y llynedd, ac i ddod i nabod llawer o bobol newydd. Roedd gen i llawer o gyfle i siarad Gwyddeleg yn y dosbarthiadau a thu allan, mi ddysgais cryn dipyn o ganeuon newydd yn y prynhawniau, roedd cyngherddau gwych yn y nos ac wedyn sesiynau yn y tafarndai lleol. Mi ganais fy chwiban yn rhai o’r sesiynau hyd yn oed.

Y cwrs caneuon Gaeleg yn ngholeg Sabhal Mòr Ostaig ar Ynys Skye roedd yn ffantastig hefyd. Mi ddysgais mwy na 30 o ganeuon efo tiwtor ardderchog efo llais hyfryd, Christine Primrose, cwrddais â llawer o bobol diddorol, a siaradais cryn dipyn o Aeleg a Gwyddeleg – roedd torf fawr o siaradwyr Gwyddeleg yno sydd yn dysgu Gaeleg. Mae lle yn hyfryd hefyd, yn arbennig harddwch gwyllt y mynyddoedd a’r môr. Hoffwn i’n mynd yn ôl yn y dyfodol agos, ac efallai bydda i’n gwneud cwrs mewn Gaeleg a cherddoriaeth draddodiadol yno ar ôl i mi orffen y cwrs ym Mangor.

Beidh mé ag scríobh rud éigin as Gaeilge faoi m’eachtraíochtaí in Éirinn agus Albain amárach.

Number of Gaelic speakers

According to the most recent census, the number of people in Scotland who speak Scottish Gaelic is 58,650. However some of people I talked to last week who are involved in teaching or researching Gaelic believe that the actual number is higher. They suggested that some fluent Gaelic speakers who don’t read and write the language very well, if at all, don’t admit that they speak it on the census to avoid receiving forms and other official literature in Gaelic. They estimate that that real number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland is at least twice the census figure, and that there are several thousand more in other parts of the world, especially in England, Canada, Australia and the USA.

I’ve heard similar stories about Welsh speakers who don’t tick the box on the census saying that they speak Welsh for fear of receiving incomprehensible documents in Welsh.

Some Gaelic speakers apparently don’t believe that their Gaelic is good enough for jobs that require it, even though they speak it fluently. However such insecurity doesn’t seem to effect younger people so much, or Gaelic learners from other countries. There were certainly quite a few people from other countries with fluent Gaelic working at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

Does this sort of thing happen with other minority languages?

Word of the day – cofrestru

Today I went up to Bangor Uni to start the process of registering (cofrestru) as a student. I’ve now officially accepted the offer of a place – the letter of offer was sent to me in June, but it seems to have got lost in the post. So I went to the registry (cofrestrfa) to pick up a copy, as well as various other forms that need filling in. Registration (cofrestru) doesn’t actually happen until the end of next month though.

The word cofrestru is a combination of cof, memory, mind, and rhestru, to list, make a list, which comes from rhestr, list, rank, row. Related words include rhestrog, rowed, in rows; and rhestrol, ordinal.

Tá mé ar ais anois / Tha mi ar ais a-nis

I’ve now returned from my adventures in Ireland and Scotland. Well, in fact I’m currently staying with my parents in Lancashire for a few days on my way back to Bangor.

Oideas Gael, Gleann Cholm Cille, Donegal, Ireland

The summer school at Oideas Gael was as brilliant, and it was lovely to see so many of the people I met last year again, as well as to meet many new people. With such a gathering of friendly, interesting, talented and knowledgeable people you couldn’t help but have a great time.

I decided to go for the level 6 Irish language class rather than the level 7 one I did last year, which I found a bit too challenging and lacking in opportunities to speak Irish. The level 6 class was good fun and we all got to speak plenty of Irish. In fact I spoke Irish most of the time both inside and outside the classroom.

My Irish has now got to the level at which I can converse comfortably about everyday topics. When talking about more specialised areas my vocabulary isn’t always sufficient, but I can often find alternative ways to get across my meaning even if I don’t know the relevant words.

In the afternoons I did the sean-nós singing class with Gearóidín Bhreatnach, as I did last year, and enjoyed it immensely. We went over some of the songs we learnt last year, and learnt quite a few new ones. As well as explaining the backgrounds to the songs, Gearóidín also told us many interesting stories related to music traditions in Ireland.

A number of musicians and singers from Donegal and other parts of Ireland performed at concerts in the evenings, and I was particularly impressed by to Donegal fiddlers whose playing was outstanding. On other evenings there was story telling and a talk about the future of the Irish language. I found most of the stories quite difficult to follow, but could understand most of the talk.

After the evening concerts there were informal music sessions in the local pubs, and this year for the first time I played (the low whistle) in some of the sessions, as well as singing along with the songs I knew.

There’s a video made by one of the guys at the summer school here, and a video of Gearóidín and her daughters singing here. I even appear briefly in the first one.

After leaving Gleann Cholm Cille I travelled to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye for a week of Gaelic Song with Christine Primrose. The journey, which lasted two days, took me through some very beautiful scenery in both Ireland and Scotland. When I arrived at the college, the sun was shining and it continued to do so for the next few days. The second half of the week was quite wet, as it was in Ireland, but this did nothing to dampen my spirits.

A view of Àrainn Cholm Cille campus of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is located on the Sound of Sleat (An Linne Shlèiteach) in the south of Skye (an t-Eilean Sgitheanach) and just up the road from Armadale and Ardvasar. It has two campuses – Àrainn Ostaig and Àrainn Cholm Cille. The former is the original campus and was where I stayed. Our singing classes also took place there. The latter is a new campus just down the road with spectacular views across to the mainland. The college runs short courses during the summer in Gaelic language, music and singing, as well as a number full-time degree courses taught through the medium of Gaelic during the rest of the year.

There were 15 of us in the Gaelic song class from many countries, including Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Catalonia and Germany. Only three of us spoke Gaelic or had much knowledge of the language; the others found the pronunciation of the words quite tricky. Even so, in just five days we learnt over 30 songs, including waulking songs (òrain luaidh), mouth music (puirt a bheal), love songs (òrain gaoil), lullabys (talaidhean) and reels (ruidhlean). Christine, who is a great tutor, also told us the stories behind the songs, and about life on Lewis, where she grew up.

In the evenings there was more singing, and also dancing, films, a Gaelic conversation circle, and music sessions in the bar on Àrainn Ostaig. I went to some of the conversation circles and spoke a bit a Gaelic there. I also spoke Gaelic with a number of other people who were doing Gaelic classes, and with some of the tutors and staff, and realised that I can speak Gaelic reasonably well, at least at a fairly basic level. My knowledge of Irish certainly helps. I also got to speak plenty of Irish with some of the Irish speakers who were doing the Scottish Gaelic course for gaeilgeorí.