Tag: Irish

Let’s Begin

So it has come to this, I’ve started a blog.

I am basically a Luddite too, maybe not the violence part, but definitely the I’m-not-a-huge-adapter-to-technology-part. I keep my phones until they are updated out of existence (I stayed with Nokia until the bitter end).The fact that now, in their zillith year, I am now discovering blogs seems just about right.

Really, the only thing I know how to do with computers is type on them, so I have absolutely no business doing this. It is just that I need some help, some community, some accountability. (link?)

Language learning is hard……….

Learning a minority language is even harder. Not only do you have to work harder to find all the (any) resources, you are likely all on your own.

People who run marathons have groups, even people who run marathons in deserts have groups. People learning obscure languages should also have groups!

……….but much easier with someone else

I am not a polyglot, not an anything-glot. Just a regular person with a job and kids and poor time management skills….but I want to do this. I bet you want to do this too. Let’s do it together.

How should we start?

There are a few ways to do this. If you are at the absolute beginning of your language journey I recommend that you start with the set “homework”.(link) Spoken languages are structured via sounds. By starting with them way you set the base for everything else. (link) (link) (link)

What else?

The other way to do it is to check back here and see how I am coming along with my goal. I will be giving regular check-ins to share with you how I am (or am not progressing–feel free to write-in and remind me to get on it!)

Are you learning Irish?

So am I! I will have some specific post related to the joys and trials of trying for the ‘cupla focal’. If you are not, then write in and tell us what you are learning. Someone else out there is learning your language too. Send in your best tips (and gripes 🙂 about your language.

Let’s set some goals…..

Runners have races, gym rats track the weight they can lift. Language learners need milestones too. Maybe you want to have a complete conversation with your grandmother in her original language, or not seem too much like an idiot the next time your travel. Whatever it is, things seem to move along better when you can measure them. Find something specific and work towards it.

2020 Declension Destroyer!

Many languages have official testing bodies with fancy sounding names. They often give proficiency exams. These are excellent trackers. I know, what? I am going to start taking tests for fun? A test is just a tracker. You are out of school now, no one will rap your knuckles if you fail. This is for you to see how you are doing. It is just like the races that runners do (just no t-shirts; “I crushed my conjugations 2020”, “Verb-master”)

My goal for 2021 is to be able to take (and pass) the A2 TEG language exam when (if?, no let’s be an optimists, when) it is given in spring 2021.

What do you want to do? (link to lang exams)

(link to language milestones)

Sounds of Language

What does your language sound like? Does your language use tones? How many? Is vocal inflection used with questions? When?

Did you know that English has 44 different sounds? Did you know English has 20 different vowel sounds? If you are a native English speaker like me, then that answer is probably, no. Nor did you likely know that these sounds are called ‘Phonemes’. Phonemes are the legos of the language, the parts that are put together to transmit information. We humans were talking long before we were writing so these, rather than letters or characters are really the way a language is built.

The brain is adapted to learn a language via sound. This is how you did it. That is why I am starting our journey with sound.

So what does your language sound like? Does it have dialects?

A language is a living thing. Like all living things it is constantly changing. People move and their languages move with them. Their nicknames and abbreviations came along too. Just like in biology, separation causes a sort of ‘speciation’. First you may have a regional accent, the rules and words are all the same but the particularly the vowel sounds may change a bit. With accents the changes are technically minor. People from Wisconsin have no troubles understanding people from Alabama but they can both likely hear the differences in the others’ speech

After accents a language may develop dialects. Groups have been separated long enough that some words have changed, word order and other grammar rules may also be different. The sound of the language may be noticeably different. At this point native speakers will notice the differences but are unlikely to be unable to understand each other. Dialects can be tricky for learners, to us the “small differences” do indeed sound like another language. If I have learned “Conas atá tú?” in one Irish dialect and someone asks me “Cén choai bhfuil tú? in another dialect I may have no idea that they both mean, “How are you?”. A native speaker would have no difficulties but they would recognize that one speaker comes from the southern part of Ireland and the other from further north.

What is a Minority Language?

A Minority Language is a language that is spoken by a minority of the population in a particular area. It is also generally a language that is spoken as the mother-tongue of fewer than 100,000 people and therefore endangered.

Finding resources, or even recordings can often seem just as hard as attempting the language. In my case I am lucky. Irish, the language that I am attempting, has the support of 2 states (Ireland and Great Britain).

Myaamia, the language of the Miami tribe in North America does not have state support but it does have University support. Miami University (located in Ohio on, sadly, what was once Miami land) is developing classes and programs in Myaamia.

Those of you out there trying to learn other minority languages can hopefully find each other, share resources and attract interest.