I spoke a bit of Russian with the couch surfers yesterday and today, but we spoke mostly in English. They said that my Russian pronunciation is good and they could understand what I was saying, which is encouraging. I can talk about myself and my family in Russian now – those were the things I was focusing on yesterday morning, but can’t say much in Russian about other things. I also learned some Russian words and phrases from them, and quite a lot about Russia and Russian culture, which was very interesting.
I think that focusing on learning language for specific situations is a useful thing to do, and if you write down and/or record the things you learn, you’re more likely to remember them. However I like to talk about a wide range of subjects, so it would take quite a while to learn the relevant language. One subject/topic at a time might be the way to go.
Thàinig na couch surfers Ruiseach aig uair an-diugh, agus an déidh còmhradh goirid, chaidh iad gu Beaumaris agus timcheall Anglesey. Bidh sinn a’ coinneachadh ri chéile anocht ann an taigh-òsta, agus bidh mi a’ feuchainn Ruisis a’ bhruidhinn riutha.
Tháinig na couch surfers Rúiseach ag an haon a chlog inniu, agus i ndiaidh cómhrá gearr, chuaigh siad go Beaumaris agus timpeall Anglesey. Beidh muid ag teacht le cheile anocht sa teach tábhairne in Bangor, agus bhainfidh mé triail as Rúisis a labhairt leo.
The Russian couch surfers arrived at 1pm today, and after a short conversation, they went to Beaumaris and around Anglesey. We’ll meet up again tonight in the pub, and I’ll try to speak Russian with them.
I have a couple of Russian couchsurfers coming to stay with me today, so this morning I am focusing on Russian. They both speak English, but I’d like to speak at least some Russian with them. I’m trying to think of things I might say – particularly about myself, my family and my work, and asking them about those kinds of things – and working out how to say them in Russian. I’m also listening to Голос России (The Voice of Russia) to get tuned in to the language.
Do you use this technique of focusing on learning the words and phrases you might need for particular situations? Does it work for you?
I haven’t studied much Russian recently as I’ve been focusing on other languages, and when I got to the test section at the end of lesson eight in my Russian textbook I realised that though I can understand most of the language used, I’m not so good at producing it as my grammatical knowledge is somewhat shaky. I need to go back and learn the noun declensions and verb conjugations.
Bha seisean math nam thaigh an-diugh, agus bha ceathrar againn ann an t-seachdain seo. Sheinn sinn measgachadh de puirt-cruinn, ridhleachan, córn-phìoban agus puirt eile air caochladh innealean-ciùil, mar is àbhaist.
A-màireach bidh dithis couchsurfers às an Ruis a’ fuirich leam, agus bidh fàth agam Ruisis a’ bruidhinn riutha. Tha fadachd orm ris.
Bhí seisiún maith ann i mo theach inniu, agus bhí ceathrar againn ann an tseachtain seo. Sheinn muid meascán de poirt, ríleanna, cornphíopaí agus foinn eile ar uirlisí éagsúla, mar is gnách.
Amárach beidh beirt couchsurfers as an Ruis ag fanacht liom, agus beidh deis agam Ruisis ag labhairt leo. Tá mé ag súil go mór leis.
We had a good music session in my house today, and there were four of us this week. We played a mixture of jigs, reels, hornpipes and other tunes on a variety of instruments, as usual.
A couple of couchsurfers from Russia will be staying with me tomorrow, and I’ll have a chance to speak Russian to them. I’m looking forward to it.
An-diugh chlaraich mi òran eile anns a’ Ghàidhlig na h-Éireann ris an canar Cailín na Gruaige Báine. Rinn mi deannan clàraidhean, agus chan eil mi làn sàsta dhiubh fhathast. Bidh mi a’ feuchainn clàradh nas fhearr a dhèanamh a-màireach, ‘s dòcha.
Inniu chláraigh mé amhrán Gaeilge eile darb ainm Cailín na Gruaige Báine. Rinne mé roinnt taifeadtaí a dhéanamh, agus níl mé go hiomlán sásta leo go fóill. B’fhéidir bainfidh mé triall as taifeadadh níos fearr a dhéanamh amárach.
Today I recorded another song in Irish called Cailín na Gruaige Báine. I made quite a few recordings, but am not completely satisfied with them yet. Maybe I’ll try to make a better recording tomorrow.
Last weekend a couple of couchsurfers from the USA stayed with me. When they’re not surfing from sofa to sofa they live in Leipzig in Germany and one of them speaks German fluently. When she discovered that I also speak German, we started chatting in German. Even after many years of neglect my German is still there, although I often flail around for words and my grammatical knowledge is rusty. I learnt some interesting expressions, including:
According to Wikipedia the game rock, paper, scissors is also known as Schere, Stein, Papier; Ching, Chang, Chong; Klick, Klack, Kluck; Stein schleift Schere; Schnibbeln, Knobeln oder Schniekern in German. Apparently alternative names for this game in English include roshambo, Paper-Scissors-Stone and ick-ack-ock – have you heard of these?
The game originally comes from China and was first mentioned in a book by 谢肇淛 (Xie Zhaozhi) during the Ming Dynasty (c. 1600), who said that game dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and calls it 手势令 (shoushiling) or “hand command”.
Madainn an-diugh chlaraich mi òran anns a’ Ghàidhlig na h-Éireann ris an canar An Saighdiúir Tréigthe, a dh’ionnsaich mi ann an Éirinn ann an t-Iuchar. Chur mi na facail agus eadar-theangachadh air mo làrach-lìn cuideachd. An t-seachdain seo chaidh chur mi dhà òran eile air mo làrach-lìn – Mo Mhadadh Beag agus Túirne Mháire no Cuibhle-shnìomha Màiri. Tha mi a’ rùnachadh seo a dhèanamh ri gach òran a dh’ionnsaich mi ann an Éirinn, ann an Alba agus anns an Eilean Mhanainn.
Maidin inniu chláraigh mé amhrán as Gaeilge darb ainm An Saighdiúir Tréigthe, a d’fhoghlaim mé in Éirinn i mhí Iúil. Chuir mé na focail agus aistriúchán ar mo shuíomh idirlín chomh maith. An tseachtain seo caite chuir mé dhá amhrán eile ar shuíomh idirlín – Mo Mhadadh Beag agus Túirne Mháire. Tá rún agam seo a déanamh le gach amhrán a d’fhoghlaim mé in Éirinn, in Albain agus in san Oileán Mhanann.
This morning I recorded a song in Irish called An Saighdiúir Tréigthe, that I learnt in Ireland in July. I put the words and a translation on my website as well. Last week I put two other songs on my website – Mo Mhadadh Beag (My Little Dog) and Túirne Mháire (Mary’s Spinning Wheel). I plan to do the same for all the songs I’ve learnt in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Choinnich mi ri na Aimeireaganaich (Couchsurfers) ann taigh-seinnse ann an baile an-raoir. Tha iad a’ siubhal timcheall a’ Chuimrigh an-dràsta a’ falbh air an òrdaig agus a’ siubhal air busan agus trèanaichean. Tha iad a’ fuirich anns a’ Ghearmailt, nuair nach eil iad a’ siubhal, agus tha Gearmailtis fileanta ag fear dhiubh, agus do bhrìgh sin, bhruidhinn mise agus ise le chéile anns a’ Ghearmailtis. Bha i glé thoilichte cuideigin a choinnicheachadh agus tha Gearmailtis air. An déidh deoch no dhà, thàinig sinn air ais chun mo thaigh agus dh’ith sinn dinnear. Ansin chluich sinn Scrabble.
An-diugh choisich sinn timcheall Bangor agus dh’ith sinn lòn, agus chluich sinn Scrabble a-rithist. Dh’fhàg iad air an trèan gu Cardiff ag seachd uair.
Bhuail mé lena Meiriceánaigh (Couchsurfers) i dteach tábhairne sa bhaile aréir. Tá siad ag déanamh turas timpeall an Bhreatain Bheag ar faoi láthair ar an bus, ar an treain agus tá siad ag síobaireacht. Tá siad ina gcónaí sa Ghearmáin, nuair nach bhfuil siad ag taisteal, agus tá Gearmáinis ag ceann acu, agus da bhrí sin, labhair mise agus sise le chéile as an Ghearmáinis. Bhí si iontach sásta a bheith ag bualadh le duine atá Gearmáinis air. I ndiaidh deoch no dhá, tháinig muid ar ais go dtí mo theach, d’ith muid dinnear, agus chluich muid Scrabble.
Inniu shiúil muid timpeall Bangor, d’ith muid lón, agus chluich muid Scrabble uair arís. D’fhág siad ar an treain go Cardiff seacht uair.
I met the Americans (Couchsurfers) in a pub in town. They are currently travelling around Wales by bus, by train and hitchhiking. They live in Germany, when they’re not travelling, and one of them speaks German fluently, so I spoke with her in German. She was very happy to meet someone who speaks German. After a drink or two we came back to my house, ate dinner and played Scrabble.
Today we walked around Bangor, ate lunch, and played Scrabble again. They left on the train to Cardiff at 7 o’clock.
Tha i neulach an-diugh, agus bha i neulach an-dé, ach tha i blàth agus tioram. Bidh na panailean-ghréine air mullach an taigh agam a’ dèanamh dealan fiù air làithaean neulach, ach bidh iad a’ dèanamh tuilleadh dealan air làithean grianach. Cha do thachair móran an-dé no an-duigh, ach bidh càraid às na Stàitean Aonaichte a’ fuireach rium anochd. Bidh mi a’ dol chun iad a choinneachadh a dh’aithghearr.
Tá sé scamallach inniu, agus bhí sé scamallach inné, ach tá sé te agus tirim. Bíonn na painéil gréine ar mo dhíon ag déanamh leicreachais fiú ar leathanta scamallach, ach bíonn siad ag déanamh níos mó ar leathanta grianmhara. Ní tharla móran inné no inniu, ach beidh cúpla ón Stáit Aontaithe ag fanacht liom anocht. Beidh mé ag dul chun iad a bhuladh riomh i bhfad.
It’s cloudy today, and it was cloudy yesterday, but it’s warm and dry. The solar panels on my roof are generating electricity even on cloudy days, but they generate more on sunny days. Not much happened yesterday or today, but a couple (of couch surfers) from the USA will be staying with me tonight. I’m off to meet them shortly.
