Dia Daoibh,

I would like to translate "Learning Irish from Afar", would it be: "Ag Fhoghlaim Gaeilge i Bhad Uathu" ?

Buíochas,
Alan

No! even if you had "i bhfad" it would be odd.

I suggest "ag foghlaim gaeilge i gcéin"

Tá an ceart agat, a Aonghus, ach bíodh 'A' ag Alan as an iarracht a dhéanamh. Not many people grapple with the structure of the language as aggressively as Alan. He was probably thinking of the seanfhocal, "Is glas iad na cnoic i bhfad uainn." Also, there is this in the de Bhaldraithe dictionary: I saw it from afar, chonaic mé i bhfad uaim é.

I would go with Aonghus' version, except that I would not object strongly to "i bhfad". In fact, for anything beyond the SE of Canada, north of a line from Halifax to Sudbury, "i bhfad" fits quite well.

Ádh mór.

Go raibh maith agaibh,
It was the Collins Gem that confused me. It gave the basic word for it "gcéin" but also gave the "I saw it from afar" version. I wasn't sure which to use, but as I was saying "...from afar." I took a shot at the latter. Guess I was wrong. The lack of "f" in "Bhad" was my little spelling error, tá bron orm.

I have actually been asked to write an article on a Gaeilge related subject for the Irish-Canadian magazine "The New Era". I thought as I know actually very little Irish, but alot about the lengthy process of undertanding the language as a adult who's only recently discovered it, so I will be wriring an article titled: Learning Irish from Afar. I think I will be able to include quite a bit of basic Irish in the article, but my goal is to point people in the right direction as far as the process and resources go. I will definately be referring to Daltaí as one of the major aids in my little journey. I am hoping this article will give the average Canadian (most who read are of Irish descent) some confidence to move beyond "Céad míle fáilte" into the realm of conversational Irish.

Buíochas arís as bhur gcúnamh,
Alan

Seosamh, Alan
sorry my answer was so curt - Alan deserves an A alright.

Bhíos faoi dheifir, ach ní léithscéal é sin ar droch múineadh.

B'eagal liom go ngacfadh sé an comhartha uaillbhreasa (exclamation point) mar chomhartha cáinte, sin a raibh. Nós Gearmánach, b'fhéidir, nach dtuigeann Béarlóirí go minic.