The Irish Language (Gaeilge) - Main PageLearn how to speak IrishIn between everything else I plan to do I have also started to teach myself the Irish language (Gaeilge). At school we were forced to learn Gaeilge but the only result of that episode was to encourage great antagonism towards our little used native language. When I moved to Achill a few years ago I came to realise that our language is not the 'enemy', only those who would like it to be forced on people. So up to a few years ago I actually hated the Irish language and yet today I am taking the first steps to learn (or re-learn) a few words. I have decided to share this learning process with all those out there in internet land who have some interest in learning how to speak the Irish language - Gaeilge, or even those who would like to hear a few phrases in a different language. One thing I have to add is this - the sound files have been recorded by myself and thus are my pronunciations and my own interpretation of the language - I can barely remember the Irish I was taught in school about 30 years ago (though it may as well have been 300 years ago - senility is starting already!). Also keep in mind that my pronunciations are based on the Dublin Irish (as in any language there are different dialects). Because of the difficulty of any direct dissection of most phrases I'll use inverted commas '????' to denote a very approximate translation. I have included special gaelic characters - characters with accents - and I hope that these are reproduced correctly. You can check them out below. Check Validity Of Gaelic Characters
The set of characters on the left are a graphic image. The characters on the right are normal text - these SHOULD match up (not as regards size but as regards accents). If they don't please send me a message and I will try and fix the problem. GAEILGE PAGES ON THIS SITE
Gaeilge Basics
Lesson One (1) Updated: 26th July 2010 |
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