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.

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.

Léacht leadránach

By Simon

Aréir bhí léacht ann fá dtaobh de ceangail idir Éire agus an Eoraip sa 15ú agus sa 16ú haois, go háirithe Imeacht na nIarlaí. Thuig mé beagnach gach rud, ach níl mórán eolas agam fa dtaobh de stair na hÉirinn, agus da bhrí sin, ní raibh sé ro-spéisiúil domh.

Yesterday evening there was a lecture about links between Ireland and Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, especially the Flight of the Earls. I understood most of it, but as I know very little about Irish history it wasn’t very interesting for me.

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.

Gleann Cholm Cille

By Simon

This week I’m in Gleann Cholm Cille in Donegal in the north west of Ireland taking part in the summer school in Irish language and culture at Oideas Gael. There are about 100 people here for the summer school and we have Irish language classes in the mornings and can choose from a variety of activities in the afternoons including singing, dancing, hill walking, drama and cooking. I’m doing the sean-nós singing in the afternoons and am really enjoying it.

In the evenings there are concerts, talks and other events. Last night, for example, there was a concert featuring songs and stories in Irish, hip hop in English (with a strong Dublin accent), and songs in Choctaw, as well as sean-nós dancing. It was a very unusual combination, but worked very well.

My Irish has definitely improved since I was here last year. My focus on Irish this month has helped a lot – I’m still writing something every day on my other Multilingual Musings blog while I’m here.

As well as hearing and speaking a lot of Irish, I’ve also had opportunities to speak German, French, Scottish Gaelic, Czech and Portuguese. People come here from all over the world and speak, and have studied / are studying, a variety of languages, so it’s a kind of paradise for polyglots.