#learngaelic

[an-spideog]

Hey, I saw your post about better resources for learning Gaeilge and I was wondering if you had any for Gàidhlig? I'm painfully aware that Duolingo is shit and I want something better I'm just, other side of the world and don't know where to start

I'm not super qualified in the realm of Scottish Gaelic so I'm just going to talk about the resources I've seen when dipping my toe in.

I would say that Scottish Gaelic actually has a lot better direct alternatives to Duo than Irish does - i.e. stuff that's high quality and accessible, for free online aimed at beginners.

Specifically the stuff on learngaelic.scot and speakgaelic.scot. There's a mix of different resources on there but as someone who already speaks Irish, something I found really useful was An Litir Bheag which is a series of recordings of little stories for learners with a transcription in Gaelic and a translation into English.

I think there's more foundational stuff on there too, SpeakGaelic is like a whole course I think, and on LearnGaelic there's the old course Speaking Our Language which I've heard good things about.

In terms of a textbook, I've used Learn Scottish Gaelic in 12 Weeks, the name is unrealistic lol, but the content is useful.

Oh also Gaelic with Jason on Youtube is good, he makes like comprehensible input style story videos about stuff, and also videos explaining grammar concepts.

If other people know of more resources feel free to add them.

[gaelicwordofthesometimes]

So you want to learn Scottish Gaelic

These are just some resources and organisations I have found/used in my learning so far

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - The Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a Gaelic school on the Isle of Skye. They offer both in person and long distance courses in a variety of Gaelic related subjects and a variety of levels. Obviously I wouldn't recommend taking on a full university degree unless you're really interested in that as it's a lot of time, money, commitment etc, but I've listed them because they're a major contributor to the Gaelic learning world. They also have online summer courses for learners of various levels

Duolingo - This is a great starting place. Their Gaelic course was created in partnership with the the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. The full grammar notes for the course can be found here. From what I've found, this course is estimated to get you to roughly A1 going on A2

LearnGaelic - This website has a mixture of basic grammar intro lessons as well as a dictionary. I find that the dictionary sometimes has trouble filtering relevance of vocab, but overall I find it quite helpful

Gaelic Books Council - The Gaelic Books Council supports Gaelic writers and publishers, promoting and selling Gaelic books in a range of genres. They have both original works, and popular works which have been translated into Gaelic

Acair Books - A Stornoway based publisher of Gaelic, Scots and English books. They have a large selection of children's books which are great for beginner learners, but also have adult books

The Scottish Book Trust - A charity dedicated to reading and writing in all of English, Scots and Gaelic. You can browse their website for a range of poetry, prose, learning resources, writers' awards and fellowships

Am Faclair Beag - The Little Dictionary. I find this dictionary is slightly better at filtering by relevance than the LearnGaelic dictionary, so I often use it to cross reference. LearnGaelic has a tendency to give you the most obscure translation first, whereas Am Faclair Beag will usually prioritise more common translations

Speak Gaelic - Speak Gaelic is a series created by BBC ALBA. There is a YouTube series with Joy Dunlop, a podcast with John Urquhart, and a website with quizzes to test your learning. The initial series is roughly A1, with some of the later episodes aiming for A2. A good intro, though the website is known to be a bit glitchy

Beag air Bheag - Little by Little. Also by the BBC, this is a slightly more advanced series than Speak Gaelic, but hosted by the familiar John Urquhart. I can't find the exact CEFR level, but I seem to remember it being advertised as B1-2

BBC ALBA - The BBC's Scottish Gaelic programs. I occasionally scroll through their iPlayer. Some of the shows have captions which I find helpful, although not all do. Children's TV is always a great way to learn a new language as it is designed with children learning the language in mind. I think I saw they had some Moomin Valley last time I looked

Faclair nan Gèidheal - The Dictionary for Gayls (gay/queer Gaels). This is a great resource filled with a tonne of terminology relating to the LGBTQ+ community. This is where I get vocab like tar-ghnèitheach and neò-bhìnearaidh from

Open Book Reading - An organisation who run Gaelic speaking, reading and writing sessions both in person and online. I'd recommend looking at their Eventbrite page

The Mega Folder - I'm sure people have seen me talk about this before. I'd personally recommend Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks

Editing this to specify that Gaelic means the Scottish variety. If people keep tagging this as Irish I swear to God

[megamindsupremacy]

"When We Arrive" reference post!

Because I did an insane amount of research for the Stewjon fic, most of which barely made it into the actual writing of the fic, I thought it would be best to compile a post of all of the resources I referenced in the worldbuilding of Space Scotland Planet Stewjon

Before we get to that, here's my post explaining Stewjoni naming conventions and going into detail about Obi-Wan's family.

Scottish Culture List of Scottish First Names This Website Which Has Been Deleted And I Was So Mad About It I Found It On Archive.Org Even Though Sheep Counting Was Not Included Even A Little Bit In This Fic

Scottish Language I tried to keep it consistent, but when referencing "Scottish Language" translation guides I got a mix of Scots English and Scots Gaelic. For the most part, all Scottish words should be Scots Gaelic.

Family Terms Endearment WordHippo - As a translation software InDifferentLanguages - For reference LearnGaelic

Interesting Blog Post about tattoos, translation, and cultural appropriation

Fiber Crafts every single website i used to reference fiber craft stuff has been shot and I dont have links to any of them. the depths of my devastation are unknowable.

Other Reference guide for Mandolorian names (yes, the three throwaway Mando names I had in the fic have meanings behind them. what do you think I am, normal?) Star Wars Animal Species

[urisk-factor]

Not sure if you already know this, but for learning Scottish Gaelic, the website LearnGaelic dot Scot has courses on it. Go to the "Learn" tab.

I will check this out, thank you Anon!

[studyscrasic]

Thinking about how to make the most of my free time in the summer so I can really work on some of my other target languages again.

Right now I'm trying to keep up streaks for German, Norwegian, and Scottish Gaelic on both Duolingo and Clozemaster. In an ideal world I'd throw in Irish and Yiddish, too, but I think I'm more going to be dabbling in those for the sake of practicality. I've also been wondering about throwing in some Drops for vocab and/or reviewing Anki flashcards every day.

But the other thing I really need to focus on is content. I am not great at studying languages by using native-language materials (I rely heavily on tools for learners, but get intimidated by the idea of learning by reading or listening to things I don't understand). Right now I have good playlists for Norwegian, German, and Scottish Gaelic music, and want to work on refining others for some of the other languages I'm interested in. I think trying to translate some lyrics on my own could be a good exercise, too.

Other ideas for content this summer:

I have a PDF of The Hobbit in German, which I think might be an okay book to tackle at my level?

I'll be working on translating all those letters my mom has with a friend who speaks much more fluent German.

If possible, I'd like to read at least one NRK article a day. I want to try to find ones on topics I'm interested in, but I need to keep reading in Norwegian now that I don't have my class

Similarly, there's a good NRK history podcast with episodes on the Middle Ages (a favorite historical era of mine) that I should really check out!

Getting back into Gaelic -- I have used the LearnGaelic site extensively, but have been too busy to check out SpeakGaelic, which I know has more content of the sort I'm thinking of (still aimed at learners, but I need to strengthen my Gaelic to where it was before I stopped studying it regularly)

If I'm brave enough -- join Scottish Gaelic and/or Irish-language chats in the Celtic language Discord server I'm in! They do them regularly and there are even native speakers there.

Going to keep thinking about this, and I'm definitely open to recommendations for more good/fun/interesting content in any of my target languages, but I think it's a good start.

[jsmcqueenhorror]

learngaelic is good, speakgaelic is good, Gaelic with Jason on YouTube is good

gàidhlig has a lot of really great resources like that. idk about gaeilge I'd have to imagine it has some too

I’m so fucking tired

[sgribhisg]

FEÒRAG

[Squirrel]

Boireann IPA: fjɔːrag 🎧 Faidhle-Fuaime leis an Fhaclair Bheag: http://bit.ly/2d0zYau 🎧 Faidhle-Fuaime le Learn Gaelic: https://bit.ly/3biO5sC

Instagram

[honeypunk3]

A' Ceithir Deochan na Maidne

A’ Ceithir Deochan na Maidne

source Yesterday I was reminded of a’ Ceithir deochan na Maidne – the four traditional drams of the morning… – The first dram is taken in bed– The second, while rising– The third you drink after rising but before getting dressed– And the forth is a wee something to tìde you over till breakfast See the LearnGaelic dictionary for details Agus bho Gàidhlig Gu Leòr: An ceathramh deoch – tha e…

[sztupy]

duome.eu still has the old grammar descriptions, I do still use them for Gaelic:

Would be good to have a good alternative though, learngaelic is good as a resource but I do like some gamification to push me forward

I used to use duolingo, but honestly...it's rubbish; I'm learning Welsh and duolingo is dreadful when it comes to explaining the mutations, so randomly letters would change. I've made more progress learning with an online welsh group than I have with that stupid green owl in ages...not to mention they're no longer updating the Welsh course :( (Plus the Welsh Language Course is free for 18 to 25 year olds, like hell yeah, no adverts, full language course with face-to-face groups, are you kidding me? Yeah, punting the owl into the sun for real).

Yeah, Duolingo has never been great for learning grammar. I've seen quite a few people argue it's supposed to be supplementary but that's not what Duolingo advertises itself as. Also over time the actual courses have stripped away any sort of focus. When I first started using Duolingo there were forums that I read regularly about regional changes and other wee linguistic gems that were super interesting. They either binned that feature entirely or made it impossible to find.

[crumpetsandcrabsticks]

Bit of a fun, Impromptu collage for @learnmanx showing the first 4 #chalkandcheesechallenge daily prompts. #learngaelic #gaelg #manx #isleofman #drawcember #discoverunder1k (at Isle of Man) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIZDafspA2j/?igshid=ewzakgf2kcue

[a-luran]

hhh to exorcise the tender feelings that refused to let go.

I have a lot of Secret, Tender AUs on a wide spectrum from ‘incredibly sweet’ to ‘heartrending’ (with varying degrees of humour thrown in to boot). But lately this one scene has been stuck in my mind:

In an AU where *handwaves* a baby is suddenly thrust into their lives (even if only for a brief time). Maybe Ali’s biological child but not Arthur’s. Where Alasdair is winded by the circumstance, so very afraid to mess this up, but very quickly realises that he doesn’t have to do this alone. (It truly takes a village to raise a child. Or in this case: a clan of well-meaning idiots.)

Coming home one day, bracing to awkwardly thank Arthur for babysitting but being caught short when he crosses the threshold to the living room only to hear—

“‘Math gu leòr,’ ars ise.’” Arthur’s voice, carefully enunciating each word; matching the soft rhythm of his reading to the rocking of his arms. “‘Nì mi sin.’ Agus fad na bliadhna thug i brochan is bainne dha mar bhiadh, gach madainn no gach feasgar, a rèir a thoil fhèin.”

Because a child raised in their household would be rocked to sleep to the sound of a well-loved voice and their father’s language. Would know only familiar arms—Sean’s and Dai’s and Arthur’s—, and the soft mattress of their handmade cot; carved with care from wood polished smooth by Alasdair’s own skilled hands. Old traditions brought forth, and older lullabies. Blankets and soft toys and handwritten notes sent from Norway; from France. India. Japan.

An unexpected gift, a child, but one cherished. One loved.

(translation: ’Good enough,’ she said. ‘I will.’ And all year long she fed him porridge and milk, every morning or evening, as he had willed.)

[learnirishgaelic-blog]

Learn Irish (Gaelic) with Irish (Gaelic) Flashcards

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/languages-flashcards-pictures/id926123212?ls=1&mt=8

[watches-and-windchimes]

Currently the only translation of autism available on LearnGaelic is "uathachas" which is really derogatory

Uathach means abhorrent, hateful, or spectral/ghost-like

I know for a fact that a better word for autism exist in Gaelic - òtasam - but it's not on there

Can I submit words to LearnGaelic?

[studyscrasic]

February in Review; Goals for March

Rolling in pretty late with this for the same reasons I didn’t manage as much learning as I wanted to last month -- among other things, I started back at my museum job again and have been super exhausted. But I think the chronicling is helpful for visualizing progress/goal-setting, so I thought I’d do one anyway.

In January:

I got 4 more German skills to gold on Duolingo and made progress in 7 others (more than I usually have open at a time, haha, but some of the lessons in question feel more like review than anything)

I got 2 Scottish Gaelic skills to gold, made progress in 6 others, and passed Checkpoint 4 (which used to be the end of the course, so hey!)

I also got 1 Irish skill to gold and 2 Norwegian ones, and made progress in 3 other Norwegian skills, although that was more incidental

I completed Beginner’s lesson 8 on LearnGaelic

I got up to Unit 1, Lesson 4 on IcelandicOnline

I created a Norwegian Anki deck to go with my other ones, since I’ve kind of been feeling it lately

I participated in the #langblrwotdchallenege for about a week, before I got a little too busy to juggle it with everything else

In March:

The biggest thing is honestly just that I want to get back on track. Almost all my progress is from the first 2 weeks or so of February, before I was back at work, and after that I did very little, which is more of a break than I want to be taking. Figuring out a balance is key.

I still want to use LearnGaelic more. Even when I was doing more practice, it was mostly on Duolingo, and I think they’re both good

Practice, practice, practice with my Anki decks. They’re great to have, but I won’t get much out of them without actually using them and having the vocabulary start to stick with repetition.

Looking for another langblr challenge/project might be a good idea. I have fun with them when I try to participate, even if I often can’t keep up the momentum. But even doing a week or prompt or two is more than nothing, and worth something in the long run!

Every month I say I’ll do it, but I want to stop chickening out and actually join a session of the Gaelic speaking practice group in one of the Discord servers I’m in. Speaking and listening are my weakest skills in all my languages, and the group seems nice and I should stop being scared!

[trail-of-harts]

(( in the spirit of learning native languages and the new followers I’ve gotten recently, the language Mar speaks on occasion is Scots Gaelic! (Ga-lick, gay-lick is the Irish one ((haha gay lick)))

This is the dictionary I use incase your interested or I forget to translate in the tags:

https://learngaelic.scot/dictionary/index.jsp?abairt=mo&slang=both&wholeword=false

The Duolingo course is also very good!

Personally I know words and I can read basic sentences but my grammar is non existent))

[lostspacegirl]

Hi, this might be a dumb ask, but I'm trying to teach myself gàidhlig and I was wondering if you've found any resources that are especially helpful? Thanks so much!

i'd be happy to help!! tbh i still haven't gotten very far with gàidhlig (taking a break from studying it atm), so idk how helpful these will be for you, but here are the ones i've found the most useful:

i HIGHLY recommend blas na gàidhlig. it's an absolute goldmine if you want to develop good pronunciation and understand how the writing system works. it explains in detail how to pronounce each sound in the language and goes over all the spelling rules.

am faclair beag is a great online dictionary that has ipa transcriptions for a lot of words and audio recordings for some as well.

learngaelic has TONS of resources. there are lessons in both text and visual formats, videos and audio with transcriptions and translations, and another great dictionary (that i believe has more audio recordings than am faclair beag).

the scottish gaelic grammar wiki can be a good grammar reference, and has pages on phonetics/phonology as well. i think it's kind of heavy on linguistic jargon though so it might not be best for a beginner.

in terms of actual textbooks, i use teach yourself complete gaelic, but i've heard scottish gaelic in twelve weeks is better and i believe that’s what many actual classes use.

i feel like this is all the same stuff i've seen other people recommend ahaha, but hopefully it helps you a bit! :') good luck in your studies!!!