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T. Phillips
| Posted on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - 01:32 pm: |
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Hi! I'm a newbie to the Irish language(my Learning Irish came in the mail 2 days ago) and I'm still in the trying to read it phase. I'm a great language lover and would love to learn how to speak, read, and write it! In my search I found this software at http://www.linguashop.com and I was wondering if anybody else had used it and what they thought of it. Thanks! |
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gerard valencia
| Posted on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 01:47 pm: |
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Im not sure about that particular software but it seems to be similar to the one I bought ( 'Learn Irish Now ' , by Transparent. ) it has the same kind of features, and I would say that anything that gives you audio play back of gaelic is a plus as it is not a language you could learn solely from a book in my opinion. I think you could do worse than this so go for it , perhaps you could do have a look at www.transparent.com before making a final decision and see which best suits you. Seeing as we seem to be both at the same level I would be happy to discuss the lessons with you if you feel it would be of mutual benefit. Let me know. |
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Nina
| Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 03:16 pm: |
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Thanks for the reply gerard! Right now I have Learning Irish with the tapes but I still sometimes wonder how close I really am especially since why certain letters sound as they do is an Irish mystery to me. I wanted to get something that would compare my voice to the speakers. since we're both relatively new I want to know if you've done enough in the Learn Irish Now! to know it it's really for beginners. I went ahead to Amazon.com on similiar software for different languages and I got the impression it was mostly for if you've had recent exposure. The "site" of course for linguashop had good reviews about the TalkIrish, but of course who really knows since it was on their own website. And just out of curiousity, how long have you been studying Irish and your reasons for doing so? I just love the melodic quality of Irish and I hope to learn it with a friend of Irish descent to talk to. Again thanks for the response! -(Now Nina, it's shorter) |
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Gerard Valencia
| Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 04:40 pm: |
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Hi , Nina , firstly I dont think the one I have would be the best to have on its own but in conjunction with another book and tape. It is a pretty advanced level in some ways but it also goes down to the basic words and phrases as well as pronunciation too and it has a grammar guide, otherwise I wouldnt be able to make much use of it. Perhaps its not ideal for a beginner but it was the one that my local book store had and I like the idea of the audio elements and the recording facility. I am learning gaelic becuase I feel that I should , I think its almost a political act in some ways. I wish the young Irish would get as excited and proud of their heritage as say the Catalans and the Welsh do , I think it is changing and Gaeilige has a future , as they say even the greatest journeys start with one step. Im Scots by birth but of Irish parents , Im from Glasgow but am working in Spain at the moment. As to how long , well I have heard the odd phrase and word throughout my life but this is the first time I am sitting down to actively study. How about you? Is it just because it sounds nice or do you have other reasons to learn?? |
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Nina
| Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 05:21 pm: |
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Well, Gerard, I think I might have to get the linguashop for now though...I going to college in the fall and even though I have a scholarship to pay for my school I have to still pay for books. I really shouldn't have gotten the Irish program I did but I did anyways. I hear Learning Irish is pretty thorough though and I mostly just wanted to make sure I sounded right, maybe I'll ask my friend to get the other one! As for why it probably logically doesn't make sense with my background; I've never even seen Ireland. My mom is half German and Mexican and speaks German fluently and my dad's half German and English and seemed to consider learning German when I was still little as UNAmerican. My best friend Rachel, however has Irish parents and has relatives in Ireland and she would tell me various things about it and she wanted to learn Irish. I really love language(passionately so) and when I came upon that Ireland had a language,Irish, I knew I came upon a language from which so much things I liked about as far as its music and the land it came from. Also, as a great lover of language, I would hate the thought language with such a background to be with so relatively few speakers(I mean what if it met the same fate as Manx with it no longer a first language?) I thought if I'm so language crazy,self-motivated, and once I sink my teeth in not let go, why not learn Irish? Language has always been typically easy for me anyways and plus me and my friend could help each other with it. I live right now in Missouri...who knows? Maybe I could more interest here going. Learning Irish is also learning the heritage with it and the culture has just simply attracted me for quite a long time(first through the beautiful music) but I love to read and am learning there are some great authors and playrights too. I only recently found out Ireland had its own language. I mention the sound of it because to me the way a language sounds was determined by the speakers and is therefore like their "signature" and represents other deeper aspects and I love this signature and so far I've found that meant I liked many other things about Ireland as well. I wish I had someone Irish in my family,but alas I shall it least know the language! I guess to put it simply it is one of those languages I feel drawn to learn. I've learned a lot of Spanish and German too but it is hard to say how much I learn from a practical desire or from because of the language itself and with Irish it proves to be not for practical purposes at all so I know I'm learning it for its own sake and to in some way connect to Ireland. |
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Nina
| Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 05:33 pm: |
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Well, Gerard, I think I might have to get the linguashop for now though...I going to college in the fall and even though I have a scholarship to pay for my school I have to still pay for books. I really shouldn't have gotten the Irish program I did but I did anyways. I hear Learning Irish is pretty thorough though and I mostly just wanted to make sure I sounded right, maybe I'll ask my friend to get the other one! As for why it probably logically doesn't make sense with my background; I've never even seen Ireland. My mom is half German and Mexican and speaks German fluently and my dad's half German and English and seemed to consider learning German when I was still little as UNAmerican. My best friend Rachel, however has Irish parents and has relatives in Ireland and she would tell me various things about it and she wanted to learn Irish. I really love language(passionately so) and when I came upon that Ireland had a language,Irish, I knew I came upon a language from which so much things I liked about as far as its music and the land it came from. Also, as a great lover of language, I would hate the thought language with such a background to be with so relatively few speakers(I mean what if it met the same fate as Manx with it no longer a first language?) I thought if I'm so language crazy,self-motivated, and once I sink my teeth in not let go, why not learn Irish? Language has always been typically easy for me anyways and plus me and my friend could help each other with it. I live right now in Missouri...who knows? Maybe I could more interest here going. Learning Irish is also learning the heritage with it and the culture has just simply attracted me for quite a long time(first through the beautiful music) but I love to read and am learning there are some great authors and playrights too. I only recently found out Ireland had its own language. I mention the sound of it because to me the way a language sounds was determined by the speakers and is therefore like their "signature" and represents other deeper aspects and I love this signature and so far I've found that meant I liked many other things about Ireland as well. I guess to put it simply it is one of those languages I feel drawn to learn, I guess that's as LOGICAL as it gets; I mean why does anybody like what they do. Why does someone say they like the color blue the best? So it is with me and Irish. Its like one of those thoughts that you've had for a lond time and just won't go away and you feel restless until you do it. Of course, maybe I've just chosen to make myself that way about Irish. I just do! Out of so many languages I've wanted to learned it just jumped at me. I've learned a lot of Spanish and German too but it is hard to say how much I learn from a practical desire or from because of the language itself and with Irish it proves to be not for practical purposes at all so I know I'm learning it for its own sake and to in some way connect to its land, or Ireland. I |
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Nina
| Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 05:34 pm: |
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OOps! |
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gerard valencia
| Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 08:58 pm: |
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Well Nina , you dont lack the passion for learning ,thats for sure. I have the same passion for langauges too , I am fluent in Spanish and can get by in french , italian, and Valencian and some Swedish. Dont lose that passion it will serve you well. If you would like to keep in touch so that we can check in on each others progress from time to time , or just talk about Irish language in general you can email me at Ádh mór ort !! Gerard |
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Nina
| Posted on Friday, June 18, 2004 - 09:48 am: |
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Thanks! Tú freisin! |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Friday, June 18, 2004 - 11:15 am: |
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Thusa freisin The emphatic form of "thú". mé mise tú tusa thú thusa sé seisean é eisean sí sise í ise muid muidne sinn sinne sibh sibhse siad siadsan iad iadsan Just so you know! |
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