Báisteach

By Simon

Chuir sé báistí beagnach an lá ar fad inniu, ach níl mé ag déanamh gearán faoi sin – tá báisteach umainn i ndiaigh tamall fada gan í. Ní raibh ach mise agus Steve ag an seisiún i mo theach tráthnóna inniu. Sheinn Steve an fheadóg mhór agus an fhidil, mar is gnách, agus sheinn mise an fheadóg stáin, an fheadóg íseal, an melodica agus an maindilín. Bhí an fhidil agus an melodica an mhaith le chéíle, dar liom féín.

Amárach beidh mé ag tosú scríobh as Gaeilge na hAlban anseo, agus b’fhéidir beidh mé ag lean ar aghaidh Gaeilge na hÉirinn a scríobh chomh maith. Is é seo dóigh iontach chun feabhas a chur ar mo chuid teangacha.

It rained almost all day today, and I’m not complaining as we need rain after quite a while without it. Only Steve and I were at the session at my place this afternoon. Steve played the flute and fiddle, as usual, and I played the high and low whistles, the melodica and the mandolin. I thought that the fiddle and the melodica worked well together.

Tomorrow I will start writing in Scottish Gaelic here, and maybe I’ll continue writing in Irish as well. This is a good way to improve my languages.

Learning by doing

By Simon

Today is the last day I focus on Irish after doing so for a whole month. That may not sound like much, but for me it is – I tend to flit from language to language and rarely spend very long on any one of them. Every day, with only a few exceptions, I’ve written something in Irish on my other blog and recorded it. There were a few days last week when I didn’t find time to write something, but I caught up later. I’ve also been listening to Raidió na Gaeltachta (Irish language radio) every day, and spent last week in Ireland speaking a lot of Irish. My ability to speak and write Irish has improved, and I think that the practice of writing in it every day made a big contribution to that. My listening has also improved. From tomorrow I will be focusing on Scottish Gaelic, and might continue writing in Irish, as well as Scottish Gaelic and English, on my blog, so that I keep it ticking over.

I know other people have probably had these thoughts, but I have come to the conclusion that regular use of a language you’re learning in writing and speech is possibly the best way to improve. When learning languages I tend to spend a lot of time listening to and reading, so I am usually a lot better at those skills than at speaking and writing. The way I’ve done it also gives me chances to practise speaking, or at least reading aloud.

Do you try to actively use languages you’re learning as you learn them? Does this help?

Albain

By Simon

Bhí an ceolchoirm go maith aréir. Bhí buachaill amháin darb ainm Arwel Lloyd ag ceol as Breatnais agus ag seinm ar an ghiotár. Sheinn sé agus cheol sé go maith, ach bhí na hamhráin uilig an-chosúil le cheile domsa. Ní raibh a lán daoine ann, agus ba teaghlaigh agus cairde an amhránaí iad an chuid is mó de na lucht éisteachta. Inniu tá siad ag tosú ar thuras rothair timpeall an Bhreatain Bheag chun airgid a bhailiú le haghaidh Taighde ar Ailse.

Inniu d’obair mé ar maidin, mar is gnách, agus sa tráthnóna chuir mé seomra in áirithe in óstán sa Ghearasdan, agus cheannaigh mé ticéad traenach go Malaig – tá mé ag dul go dtí an t-Eilean Sgitheanach ag deireadh an mhí seo chugainn, agus ar an mbealach beidh mé ag fanacht oíche amháin sa Ghearasdan, mar ní féidir liom an turas ar fad a dhéanamh i gceann lá amháin.

The concert was good last night. One lad called Arwel Lloyd sang in Welsh and played the guitar. He played and sang well, but all the songs sounded very similar to me. There weren’t many people there, and the most of the audience were the singer’s family and friends. Today they are starting a cycling tour around Wales to raise money for Cancer Research.

Today I worked in the morning, as usual, and in the afternoon I booked a room in a bed & breakfast in Fort William, and bought a ticket to Mallaig – I am going to the Isle of Skye at the end of next month and will stay in Fort William for a night because it’s not possible to do the whole journey in a day.

Summer schools

By Simon

I had a wonderful time in Ireland last week, which is why I keep going back every summer. This year was my ninth visit to Oideas Gael and my seventh time at the summer school. Gleann Cholm Cille is beautiful, the people are great, and there’s a lovely, friendly, helpful, supportive atmosphere there. Everyone is happy to help one another with the Irish language, with music and with whatever else is needed. People from many different countries go there, so I have opportunities to use a variety of languages – this year I got to speak not just Irish and English, but also French, German and Japanese, and a bit of Czech and Portuguese.

With many local and visiting musicians, singers and dancers musical mayhem can break out anywhere at any time – in pubs, in restaurants and cafés, in car parks, and on the beach – I even played a few tunes on my low whistle at the bus stop while waiting for the bus on Saturday morning. I’ll certainly go back next year, and maybe will spend two weeks there, as there’s a harp week before the summer school, and I’ve wanted to learn the harp for a long time.

There are a few similar summer schools in Ireland and Scotland, and I’ve been looking for others in other countries. I know that some language schools offer combinations of language courses and cultural activities, like dancing, cooking, etc., but I haven’t found any like Oideas Gael. Do you know of, or have you been on, any similar ones? Are there any other places where spontaneous musical mayhem is likely?

Ceolchoirm

By Simon

D’obair mé maidin inniu, agus ansin chuaigh mé chuig an cáife Blue Sky chun greim bia a fháil. I ndiadh lón, cheannaigh mé rudaí san ollmhargadh, agus ansin sheinn mé cuplá foinn ar an pianó, an melodica, an fheadóg íseal, an bouzouki, an maindilín agus an ghiotár. D’foghlaim mé giota beag níos mó Briotáinis, agus rinne mé níos mó obair chomh maith. Anocht tá mé ag dul chuig ceolchoirm san cáife Blue Sky. Beidh banna ceol darb ainm Gildas ag seinm, agus sílim go bhfuil siad ag ceol as Breatnais.

I worked this morning, and then went to the Blue Sky Café for a bite to eat. After lunch I bought some things at the supermarket, and then played a few tunes on the piano, melodica, low whistle, bouzouki, mandolin and guitar. I also learnt a bit more Breton, and did some more work. Tonight I’m going to a gig at the Blue Sky Café. A band called Gildas are playing and I think they sing in Welsh.

Ar ais in Bangor

By Simon

Thánig mé ar ais go Bangor tráthnóna inniu i ndiaigh turas fada. Aréir bhí mé ag scríobh rudaí ar an bhlog seo agus ag freagairt ríomhphoist. Ní chodail mé ró-mhaith mar go raibh sé ró-the agus ní raibh an leaba ró-chompordach. Tá sé an-deas a bheith ar ais i mo theach féin, agus tá gach rud i gceart anseo.

I got back to Bangor this evening after a long journey. Last night I wrote stuff on this blog and answered emails. I didn’t sleep too well because it was too hot and the bed wasn’t very comfortable. It’s nice to be back in my own home, and everything’s fine here.

An oíche dheireanach

By Simon

Aréir bhí oíche dheireanach an scoil samhraidh. Bhí ceolchoirm ann sa Halla Muire le Ashley Davis, amhránaí as na Stáit Aontaithe, Máire Ní Bhraonáin, agus Cormac DeBarra, cláirseoir den scoth ó Bhaile Átha Cliath.

Ansin bhí céilí ann agus rinne mé gach damhsa, fiú na damhsaí seite. Seo an chead uair a ndearna mé damhsaí seite agus bhain me an-sult as. I ndiaigh an céilí labhair mé le bean as Colarado fá dtaobh de teangacha, ceol, amhráin agus rudaí eile. Chuaigh muid go dtí an teach tabhairne agus cheol muid le cheile agus le daoine eile taobh amuigh. Ansin chuaigh muid isteach agus bhí muid ag ceol, ag damhsa agus ag caint go dtí an trí a chlog ar maidin.

Maidin inniu bhí mé ar an mbus go Baile Átha Cliatha ag an haondeag, agus caint mé an tuaras ar fad le bean as Baile Átha Cliatha. Anocht tá mé ag fanacht i mbrú in aice leis an busáras i mBaile Átha Cliatha.

Last night was the last night of the summer school. There was a concert in the Halla Muire with Ashley Davis, a singer from the USA, Máire Ní Bhraonáin, and Cormac DeBarra, a wonderful harpist from Dublin.

After that there was a céilí and I danced every dance, even the set dances. It was the first time I’d done any set dancing and I really enjoyed it. After the céilí I chatted to a woman from Colardo about languages, music, songs and other things. Then we went to the pub and sang some songs together and with others outside. Then we went inside and were singing, dancing and talking until 3 in the morning.

This morning I was on the bus to Dublin at 11am, and chatted with a woman from Dublin the whole journey. Tonight I’m staying in a hostel the bus station in Dublin.

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.