Category: Music

Unexpected languages

By Simon

My course in Gleann Cholm Cille finished yesterday and I’m on my why home. I’m staying in Dublin tonight and continuing my journey to Bangor tomorrow. The hostel I’m staying in tonight is full of people from all over the world – so far I’ve heard French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and a Scandinavian language being spoken, and well as various varieties of English. I keep thinking that people are speaking Irish when I only half hear them as that’s the language I’m expecting to hear with my brain in Irish mode. So far though, I haven’t heard any Irish at all.

I had a wonderful time at Oideas Gael, met lots of interesting people, and spoke lots of Irish, as well as a few other languages. I’ll certainly be going back there next year. I just need a few days to recover from the late nights, especially from last night, when I was dancing, singing, playing music and talking to people until 3am.

On Thursday during a tea break one of the other students, an Irish woman, came over and starting talking Japanese to me, which was very unexpected. She worked in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese well, and when she heard that I speak Japanese she decided to speak it to me. As I was in Irish mode and the last thing I was expecting to hear was Japanese, it took me a few moments to realise what language she was speaking. Then when I tried to speak to her in Japanese I found that Irish words were coming to me first and I had to suppress them to let Japanese ones bubble to the surface.

I’m more used to switch between other languages, such as English, Welsh, French and Irish, but this was the first time I’d needed to switch between Irish and Japanese. I’m sure if I needed to do this regularly I would become better at it.

If someone speaks to you in a language you know, but are not expecting to hear, are you able to switch straight into that language?

Slaghdán agus sean-nós

By Simon

Tháinig slaghdán orm inné, ach go hádhúil níl sceadamán nimhneach orm, agus is féidir liom a bheith ag ceol go fóill. Aréir bhí ceolchoirm sean-nóis ann le amhránaithe sean-nóis áitiúla. Cheol an rang sean-nóis amhrán amhain darb ainm An Saighdiúir Tréigthe chomh maith. Bhí an-oíche ann.

I came down with a cold yesterday, but fortunately I don’t have a sore throat and can still sing. There was a sean-nós concert last night with local sean-nós singers. The sean-nós class also sang a song called An Saighdiúir Tréigthe (The Deserted Soldier). It was a great night.

Tale of the Gael

By Simon

Tráthnóna inné chuaigh mise agus Sonja, cailín as an Eilvéis atá sa rang sean-nóis, go chaifé sa sráidbhaile chun greim bia a fháil. I ndiaidh an dinnéir mhúin mé di cuplá foinn ar an bhfeadóg stáin, agus cheol muid amhráin – m’amhráin féin, agus amhráin as Breatnais, as Gaeilge na hAlban agus as Gearmáinis na hEilvéise. Bhain muid an-sult as.

San oíche bhí ceolchoirm ann le Tale of the Gael, banna ceoil le baill ó Éirinn agus an Eilvéis. Cheol siad foinn thraidisiúnta na hÉirinn, agus roinnt foinn agus amhráin eile, agus bhí siad ar dóigh, go háirithe an píobaire agus na chláirseoirí.

Yesterday afternoon I went to a café in the village for a bite to eat with Sonja, a lass from Switzerland who’s in the sean-nós class. After dinner I taught her a few tunes on the tin whistle, and we sang some songs – my own songs and songs in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Swiss German. We had a great time.

In the evening there was a concert with Tale of the Gael, a group with members from Ireland and Switzerland. They played traditional Irish tunes, and other tunes and songs, and were excellent, especially the piper and the harpists.

Hip-Nós agus Choctaw

By Simon

Bhí an ceolchoirm thar barr aréir, le meascán de amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós, amhráin Gaeilge nua, scéalaíocht, hip hop, rince sean-nós agus amhránaíocht as Choctaw, teanga Muskogean an Iarthair ó Oklahoma sna Stáit Aontaithe. Bhí sin saghas meascán neamhchoitianta go léor, ach bhí siad go maith le chéile.

The concert last night was excellent, with a mixture of sean-nós singing, new songs in Irish, storytelling, hip hop, sean-nós dancing, and singing in Choctaw, a Western Muskogean language spoken in Oklahoma in the USA. It was a very unusual combination, but they worked well together.

Cláirseach

By Simon

Cláirseach / Harp

Chinn mé ar mo chláirseach a sheoladh ar ais inniu. Ní chláirseach ro mhaith atá ann agus bionn sí as tiúin go minic, agus i ndáiríre ní go leor ama agam uirlis nua a fhoghlaim ar faoi láthair. B’fhéidir beidh mé ag tríail an chláirseach a fhoghlaim sa todhchaí, ach i láthair na huire beidh mé ag dhíriú m’intinn ar na huirlisí atá agam cheana féin.

I decided to send my harp back today. It’s not a very good harp and is always going out of tune, I don’t really have enough time to learn a new instrument at the moment. Maybe I’ll try to learn the harp in the future, but for now I’ll concentrate on the instruments I already have.

Amrhán nua

By Simon

Seo amrhán nua a scríobh mé le déanaí. Meascán de focail a rinne mé suas, agus focail ó chanúint Shealtainn atá ann. Níl ach píosa spraoi ata ann. Rinne mé iarracht a bheith ag canadh le blas Albanaigh, ach ní féídir liom a bheith ag canadh le blas Shealtainn go fóill, ar an drochuair. Sa taifeadadh seo tá mé tionlacan mé féin ar an ukulele. B’fhéidir cuirfidh mé uirlisí eile leis chomh maith.

Here’s a song I wrote recently that consists of a mixture of made-up words and words from Shetland dialect. It’s just a bit of fun. I tried to sing in a Scottish accent, but can’t yet sing in a Shetland accent, unfortunately. On this recording I accompany myself on the ukulele. I may add other instruments to the recording as well.

Plinkin Plookplooks
When the plookplooks are a plinkin upon their peerie goos
And the baagies are a birlin in their muckle shoes
Beware the mirdin owld masgooms and the oolin mooratoogs
For they will snorf your scobbins, and then slunk doon in the snoob

So put on your zamblated zoot hat and your flartled overflude
And then you’ll feel richt flimpsome and ready for a plood
If the nories are a nigglin, just smeeg and steek your lugs
And then you can outlapple all their wenglit wugs.

If your peerie tings are tussin, don’t twartle like a trow
Just twig and snorf some tabnab, then a twasperin you’ll go
When it’s time for tammie-noddie, they’ll troke and tresh aboot
But just let them trointle truely, and then they’ll tarpool oot.

Cad é a chiallaíonn na focail? What do the words mean?
– plook = goirín – pimple
– plink = seinn ar uirlis téád – to play a string instrument
– peeire = beag – small
– goo = saghas lir boghach le dhá téad – a type of bowed lyre with two strings (usually written gue, gu or gju)
– baagie = droimneach mór – great black-backed gull (Larus marinus)
– birl = bheith ag guairneáil go tapaigh – to whirl rapidly
– muckle = mór – big
– mirdin = bheith lom lán (le) – teeming
– owld = sean – old
– masgoom = bráthair – monkfish
– ool = bheith i ndroim dubhach – to mope
– mooratoog = seangán – ant
– scobbins = brachán nó gránach greamaithe den scilléad – porridge/cereal stuck to the pan, scrappings from the pan
– norie = puifín – puffin
– nigg = tabhair amach do – to nag
– smeeg = seitgháire a dhéanamh – to smirk
– steek = druid = to shut
– lug = cluas – ear
– wenglit = ard – tall
– peerie tings = páistí – children
– tuss = bladair; bheith ag monahbar – to cajole; to murmur
– twartle = béaghnaigh – to contradict
– trow = troll
– twig = tuig – to understand
– tabnab = sneaic milis – sweet snack
– twasper = dul ar cosa in airde – to gallop
– tammie-noddie = codladh – sleep
– troke = margáil a dhéanamh – to bargain
– tresh = iomlaisc – to thrash
– trointle = bheith ag monabhar; ceasnaigh – to mutter; to grumble

See also: http://www.omniglot.com/songs/sager/plinkinplookplooks.htm

Ceol agus cuimhní

By Simon

Bhain mé an sult as an cóisir aréir. Cóisir seascadú breithlá do bhall an cór pobail darb ainm Lynn a bhí ann. D’ith muid ar dtús, agus ansin chan an cór amhráin ón Afraic. Ansin chan cara dom an amhrán “Here, There and Everywhere” le mise ar an ukulele. Rinne mé cúpla botúin, ach bhí sé ceart go léor, agus duirt daoine linn go raibh sé go hiontach. Tháinig mac Lynn ansin gléásta mar Elvis agus chan sé amhráin Elvis – bhí sé go hiontach. I ndaigh sin shéinn banna ceoil áitiúil darb ainm “The Cane Toads“.

Tráthnóna inniu chan an cór ag ócáid brónach – fuair ball de chór bás le déanaí, agus bhí muid ag cuimhneamh uirthi. Ní raibh sí ach cúig bliana déag d’aois agus bhí scitsifréine aici. Lá amháin an mhí seo caite furthas sí faoi Dhroichead Menai.

I really enjoyed the party last night. It was the 60th birthday party of a member of the choir called Lynn. We ate first, then sang some songs from Africa. Then a friend of mine sang the song “Here, There and Everywhere” with me on the ukulele. I made a few mistakes, but it was okay, and some people said it was very good. Then Lynn’s son arrived dressed as Elvis and sang some of Elvis’ songs really well. After that a local band called The Cane Toads played.

This afternoon the choir sang at a sad occasion – a member of the choir died recently, and we were remembering her. She was only 15 and she had schizophrenia. One day last month she was found under Menai Bridge.

Amhráin, brioscaí agus cóisir

By Simon

Maidin inniu tháinig cara dom go dtí mo theach chun an amhrán go mbeidh muid ag déanamh anocht a chleachtadh. Is féidir liom é a sheinm ar an ghiotár agus an ukulele anois, ach beidh mé é ag seinm ar an ukulele anocht, mar go bhfuil sé níos easca. Ansin chuaigh muid go dtí lár na cathrach agus chan muid cúpla amhráin san cór pobail mar cineál ‘flash mob’. Bhí a lán daoine ann, agus bhail muid roinnt airgid do charthannachta SEIF san Afraic Theas. Chuaigh roinnt againn chun caife chun lón a fháil i ndiaigh sin. An tráthnóna seo rinne mé brioscaí sobhlasta le haghaidh an cóisir anocht.

This morning a friend came to my place to practise the song we’re going to tonight. I can now play on the guitar and the ukulele, but will play it on the ukulele tonight as it’s easier. Then we went to the centre of town and sang a few songs in the community choir in a sort of flash mob style. There were plenty of people about and we collected some money for an AIDS charity in South Africa. Some of us went to a café for lunch afterwards. This afternoon I made some delicious cookies for the party tonight.

Are you a hare or a tortoise?

By Simon

Hare and tortoise

When learning a language do you try to learn it as quickly as possible? Like a hare you hurry through the language ignoring anything that might slow you down, like good grammar and pronunciation, perhaps thinking that you can go back later and tidy them up.

Or maybe you take your time like a tortoise, trying to learn every aspect of the language thoroughly.

There are parallels with learning music – the other day a friend who is learning the violin said that she tends to focus on getting the notes of new tunes right at first, then goes back and pays attention dynamics, bowing and so on. She realised that maybe it would be better to learn those things from the beginning. I certainly try to do this when learning tunes on my various instruments.

With languages I like to take things easy and try to learn things quite thoroughly, though might ignore seems aspects of language that don’t seem relevant.

Studying or dabbling, or both?

By Simon

Do you think it better to learn many languages to a basic level, to concentrate on a few and learn them in much more depth, or to learn a few languages well, and to learn the basics of others – perhaps many others?

It will probably depend on what you want to do with each language.

In my case I’ve studied nine languages in depth, and speak four of them fluently (plus English), and can get by in the others, more or less. The ones I’ve spent most time on are Welsh, Mandarin Chinese, French, Irish, German, Japanese, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish and Manx, and they’re the ones I know well or fairly well. I’ve been to and/or lived in places where they’re spoken, done courses, and do my best to maintain them and use them whenever I can, especially the Celtic ones and French. I’m also learning Breton and Russian at the moment. I’ve dabbled with quite a few other languages, for trips to other countries, to try different languages courses, and out of interest. I don’t actively maintain them.

Recently I’ve been thinking whether I really want to learn any other languages – there are plenty I’d like to know, but I’m not sure whether I have time to learn them, and to maintain the ones I already know. I’m not interested in learning many languages just for the sake or it. I learn each one for a variety of reasons and don’t tend to get very far it I don’t have much interest in the language itself, and/or in the culture of people who speak it. With Breton I will finish the course I’m working on, but may not continue with my studies, unless I find an aspect or aspects of Breton culture that really fascinate me and/or appeal to me. The same is true of Russian.

As well as learning languages, I also play quite a few musical instruments, particularly guitar, piano, recorders, tin whistles, mandolin and ukulele. I used to play the clarinet, but have played very little since leaving school and have decided to sell it. When I mentioned this to a friend he asked me what other instrument(s) I will buy with the money from the clarinet – I haven’t decided yet whether to concentrate on the instruments I already play, or to do that and to get a new one.