GaeilgeGirl

I like these books. They have a good amount of satire, and there are some real gems of wisdom hidden in there as well. I like Granny Weatherwax as well. Is Terry Pratchett pagan, I wonder? Some of the stuff he writes is dead-on about the pagan community, especially in regards to the witches. Not in a realistic way, but more in a satirical fashion. I like his concept of dwarves as well.

Hello and welcome! Good luck in your studies! Spanish is pretty close to French as well. Check out some of the other forums for some good language resources. See you around!

Has a television show or a song encouraged you to learn another language? I have some friends who are watching The Exorcist TV show and it has inspired them to learn Latin. I was inspired to learn Gaeilge after listening to Clannad and Anúna. I watched a few Bollywood films and tried to learn Hindi because of them. I also know a lot of people have decided to study Japanese because of their love of anime or Japanese video games.

That would work nicely for nouns and adjectives, but with difficulty for verbs and adverbs. It would be a nice thing to use with fill-in-the-blank worksheets and such, so that you can integrate grammar and syntax into your studies. Even as an adult, I find things like that helpful because it adds some concreteness to the abstract words. On this subject, you know what would be useful? Coloring books with the word printed below. With the surge in popularity in adult coloring books, I think it would be great if language learning courses took advantage of this.

I gave up on trying to learn Hindi. I was learning from a CD and a book. I think my main problem was the method I was using to study, and then it was hard to study from the book as well. I would get annoyed before I even sat down to study. It meant learning a whole new alphabet, new sounds, different grammar, and it was all way too much. Now that I'm learning Irish, I'm using a different method. It's also easier because the alphabet they use is the one I learned with my native language. I think if Duolingo comes out with a Hindi language learning program, I might give it a try.

I started studying Gaeilge because I loved the music of Clannad and Anúna. I got into Celtic Women and got to see them live in concert. I listen to a lot of Irish bands, and I love the songs that are done in the native language. Do any of you listen to Irish music, and if so, what are your favorites?

To "carp" about something is to complain. "Becky hates her job. She carps about it all the time!" (A carp is also a type of fish, in the same group as a koi or a catfish.) If something is "like trying to drown a fish", it's something that is not effective and a waste of time. If someone has "a memory like a goldfish", it means that they have trouble remembering things. (This is based on myth, since goldfish can remember things for years.) There's also "jumping the shark", which is used in TV and entertainment. It means doing something crazy and unbelievable to try and keep people watching the show, and it usually a sign that said show is going downhill. I hope these help!

Maybe this is something only I do, but has anyone ever watched a children's show in another language to help learn it? It seems that if English-speaking kids can learn words and letters and such from Sesame Street, then shows like it should be able to teach us adults. Sometimes I can catch on to what the characters are talking about, but sometimes I'm totally lost. Thoughts?

If you're interested in Welsh, Cwrs Mynediad is a great phone app. Here's the website: http://www.cwrsmynediad.com/ There are more resources on the Government of Wales' web page. There is a strong push to revive the Welsh language in schools and across the country. Reading some of the mythology is also a good introduction into the culture and some of the names and words.

I'm leaning to Urdu as well. Especially if this was before the Partition, which, given that it was your grandfather's is very likely. Fortunately, Urdu is still spoken, so you can probably find someone to translate. Calligraphy is widely used as an art form by Muslims, as it is forbidden to depict a human or animal form in religious art. But then again, if it's directions to an ancient treasure, let us know!

Those are some great sites. Thanks! If it helps any, I set my Facebook language to Gaeilge. It has really helped me. Even the feelings you can put with your posts are in Gaelige, and sometimes I have to look at the faces to learn what some of the words mean. If you check your Facebook often, like I do, you'll see the words repeated over and over.

Okay, here are my guesses. I wasn't sure about the first two, though. 1. Gaeilge 2. Gaelg 3. Gáidhlig Is that correct?

My favorite villain is AM from Harlan Ellison's short story "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream". It is a mad computer, but you can understand the reason for its madness and hatred. It was responsible for controlling and carrying out World War 3, but it was given all the empathy and creativity of its human creators. It could not use any of its human gifts for anything but war and killing. Humans would certainly burn out with endless war, but AM was forced to kill and destroy because that was all its programming allowed it to do. It eventually killed off everyone except for five people, and used its unlimited resources to make them immortal and torture them for eternity. I don't admire AM, but Harlan Ellison did a masterful job of writing the evolution of a villain and showing what war can do to a mind.

Learning a language from a book, a class, or an app is one thing, but it's a whole other challenge to talk to someone who grew up speaking that language. I would love to go to Ireland to practice my Gaeilge, but I feel really intimidated to try it on a native speaker. I've spoken to a few Irish speakers I've met, but I'm always so embarrassed about my skills. Do you think that, in order to really master a language, you should spend some time in the country or region where the language is spoken? Do you think it's important to get to know the culture behind a language firsthand?

This may sound a little mean, but my favorite is the German word "schadenfreude". It means taking delight in another person't misfortune. While it's not the nicest, it's certainly a human thing, and we've all done it. I appreciate the Germans for being honest about something that really doesn't translate into English very well. I think this might be one of the better-known German words in the U.S. The musical "Avenue Q" did a song about it. The language are a bit "rough" if you want to look it up on YouTube.

Woohoo! This is awesome! I'll have to go on FB and share this. I have a few friends who are learning another language and need some support. Thanks!

I curse like a sailor in my native language, and I do swear in other languages that I know. I'm an adult, those words are part of the language, and native speakers use them, so why not. Sometimes I do it on accident! I once asked a Spanish-speaking lady at work for her point card, and I ended up forgetting the word for "point" and called it her "tarjeta de p-ta" (with a "U" in there). She gave me a very nasty look, and I didn't realize that I had asked for her "(very bad word) card" until later. That being said, if you want to learn, "Hide This Spanish Book!" is a good resource. I think they make it for other languages, too. They talk about which words are kind of harsh, and the ones that will get you punched in the face. That's always something good to know!

There once was a boy who was doing badly in his math class. His parents sent him to a public school. He still did badly. Then they sent him to a military school. He was still failing math. Finally, they sent him to a Catholic school. Suddenly, he was doing his homework as soon as he got home from school and his grades improved. "Why are you doing better?" his parents asked. "Was it the nuns?" "No," said the boy. "Was it the new textbooks?" "No," said the boy. "Well, what was it?" his parents asked. "When I went into the classroom, I looked on the wall and saw a guy nailed to the plus sign, so I knew they meant business!"

Good idea! It's fun getting to know people that way. It's sometimes fun to talk about pets and vacations and jobs and hobbies and such, and it's a good way to learn new words about those kinds of things.

5 years? Wow, I live in the U.S.A., and your school is progressive! We had 1-2 years in middle school (that's age 11-14), and 1-2 years in high school, depending on if you went by semester or a full year. And I went to a college prep private school, too! Europe is really good about teaching foreign languages. I'm surprised how many people around the world learn English (probably because they're sick of Americans shouting and pointing everywhere, LOL). I learned a few words in German from my German-speaking grandfather when I was little, but hardly enough for a conversation. Your English is far better than my German. Good luck in your studies.

Does anyone know a good resource for printable worksheets and handouts for learning Gaeilge? I don't mind if they're for kids- it would actually be kind of fun to do a coloring activity. If you know of any children's books in the language, that would also be useful. Thanks!

I prefer to study in a class. I think it provides motivation and it helps you get real-time feedback on your work and your pronunciation. It's also more disciplined than independent study. If you have a really good teacher, they can also answer questions outside the classroom. Independent study is nice, especially when you can't attend a live class, but sometimes you can make a mistake and not notice it. It's easier to find a class now that we have the technology for live video classes.

I've seen this one. There's another one of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" as Gaeilge on YouTube that is really awesome. I've caught myself singing the Gaeilge words to it when it comes on the radio in the car. There are also some cute cartoon music videos to more traditional songs, like this one to Bean Pháidín. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1la2k7gJn4

This is a really useful forum, and I'd be happy to talk about it. I haven't seen every thread yet, but is there an ESL section on here? I live in an area with a lot of native Spanish speakers who are trying to improve their English, and it would be nice to point them toward a helpful place. Let me know- thanks!

I learned some Bengali in college, and I think it's lovely. It's a bit more rounded than Hindi. I wish I had a good picture to post! I used to be able to write my name in it, but it's been years and I'm very out of practice. Arabic is also lovely. I can see why Arabic calligraphy is used as decoration.