Pìosan beaga siud an seo

College acceptances have begun to arrive, and while I haven't decided whether or not to disclose the names of the colleges I've applied to, I have been accepted by two of my three Scottish universities! I am still waiting back on a few, but I've been accepted into one of my top 3 schools, so I am happy.

I just started Saoghal na Gàidhlig 1 at UHI in January and I have jumped, feet first, into Scottish (well, really British) history. In the medium of Gaelic. I am relieved to find that my mind, which during the fall had been spurting random bits of German, is now back to its normal state of Gaelic-ness. One difficulties has been the fact that I simply have never been exposed to a lot of the ancient stuff. For one thing, I had never had much interest in it. For another, I'm an American! Now I'm finding that knowledge of things such as Dal Riada and Ogham and the significance of 1066 is taken for granted and I'm trying to shove 12 (or so) years of Scottish history into a month or two. It's been entirely thrilling and I know that all this knowledge will be useful if next year I attend *undisclosed Scottish university.*

So that's a random update! I hope to have more posts this spring, articulating some my ideas and learning from my various classes and well as perhaps even creative writing. Who knows!

P.S. Tha mi really, really ag ionndrainn air Alba an-dràst'. Tha big-time cianalas agam.

BBC Radio

Well, well, well. It's been quite awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that.

My summer in a word?: DANCE. I went to two dance camps, qualified for nationals for the first time, three highland competitions, and even more Ukrainian dance shows. It was a blast. I'm hoping to post a video soon of some photos and videos from the summer.

This year is my senior year of high school and it's a great, but crazy one! I'm taking several college classes which have stretched me to new levels of independence and confidence.

But what I wanted to post about today was something Gaelic-y! I was interviewed at the US Mòd by Coinneach MacIomhair, (duine uabhasach còir is gasta) and it was on his program! I'm so excited! Take a listen if you'd like to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mtpx3

'S fhada bhon uair sin!

Hello all! Well, it's been quite... *quite* a long while.

At the moment, I am about to send in my last assessment for An Cùrsa Adhartais for the year. I have learned lots this year, and, I am happy to say, furthered my Gaelic skills. Now some of the verbal assessments are conversations and I have quite enjoyed them. I am usually paired with Sarah, whose Gaelic I very much admire, and we a' capadaich really well together.

I also met recently with a representative from U of Glasgow, which was informative and interesting. I am definitely going to be applying to Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen this fall for college. Whether I end up attending any of them is another matter, but I feel more and more at peace with my decision to at least *consider* Scotland for college and, well, life! Things are still very much in pencil at this point, though. It's funny, I am super excited about the possibility of going to school in Scotland, but whenever I think about leaving the US I get sad... the going is exciting, but the leaving, not so much.

In other news, I am off to two dance camps in the next two weeks, and then the US Nationals for highland dancing (yes, I made it to Nationals!!). I am also singing this weekend at the Ohio mòd.

Well that was a quick update, and I hope to be back soon with more personal posts and more Gaelic-y stuff!!

Giveaway

Chan eil sin co-cheangailte ris a' Ghàidhlig ach....

Here's a cool giveaway my amazing friend Charity is doing:

(scroll down to the end of the page)

http://footprintsinthesand23.blogspot.com/2012/01/photo-musing-and-giveaway.html#links

And by the way, you all really ought to check out her blog! It's fantastic. :)

Nollaig Chridheil!

Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful holiday!

Here is a poem that my teacher, Mr MacKay composed on Christmas (translation at end):

Air oidhche shàmhach gheamhraidh fhuar
‘S a’ Ghealach shoilleir chiùin
A’ coimhead air an talamh foip’
‘S na reultan os a cionn
An saoghal umam cho neo-thorach
‘S mo smuaintean air an àm
Tha romham ‘measg mo chàirdean
Is mo charaidean caomh blàth

‘Nam smuain thàinig dealbh
‘Bh’air a tabhairt dhuinn bho thùs
Leanabh beag sèimh socair
Thàinig thugainn le deagh rùn
Le Naidheachd mhùirneach shòlasach
Bheir faochadh dìonach rèidh
Do mhac-an-duin, is nic-an-duine
Dh’èisdeas, ‘s dhi ‘toirt spèis

Chan urrainn dha a h-aon againn
Bhith cinnteach dè ar dùil
Nuair dhùineas sinn ar sùilean
Gun am fosgladh ‘rithist le umhail
Ach fhad’s a tha sinn beò tha tròcair
‘S maitheas ann, is stàth
Na tha mi-rèidh a shocrachadh
Is strì a chur gu tàmh.

Mar sin, is mar a mhaith E dhuinn
Aig ceann a bheath, le gaol
A h-uile cron a thig nar cois
Nuair a nochdas sinn ‘san t-saoghal;
Gabhaibh an cothrom, stadaibh greis
Is tionndaidhibh ri chèil’
Cha trod ‘s cha bhagar againn ann
Do’n Ghràdh nach dèan gèill

Oir chì sinn oidhche shàmhach fhuar,
A’ Ghealach is an speur
‘S cha bhi ar càirdean gràdhach ann:
Bi ‘n anaman mu rèir
An sin, is ann a bhios ar cridhean
Ris an t-Slànaighear rèidh
Gun do dhealaich sinn ‘s an àm
Gun chonnsachadh, gun èis

On a cold, silent winter night
And the clear, gentle moon
Looking on the earth below
And on the stars above
The world around me so empty
With my thoughts on the time
I have left with my family
And my dear friends

To my thoughts comes the image
Given to us from long ago
A peaceful, calm baby
Come to us with good will
And with the happy, joyful News
That gives salvation
To the men and women
That listen and pay it heed

Not one of us
Can be certain what to expect
When we close our eyes
Never to open them again
But while we’re here, there is mercy
Goodness, and worth
In setting straight differences
And calming strife.

So, as He forgave us
At his life’s end, with love
Every fault and failing
We bring into this world
Take the time, stop for a moment
And turn to each other
There is no quarrel or squabble
That will not yield to Love.

For we will see a cold quiet night
The moon and the stars
And our loved ones will not be there
Their souls will have fled
There, our hearts will be
At peace with our Savior
That we parted with them
Without contention, without want


-- Micheal MacKay

Cum Gàidhlig beò!

Bha mi a' smaoineachadh gum bi ùidh aig daoine mu dheidhinn a' phìos seo:

I was thinking that this would interest you all:

Revitalizing Languages

Gaelic myths

"Tha a' Ghàidhlig agam agus chaneil mi marbh"


http://www.newsnetscotland.com/affairs-scotland/1741-scotland-language.html


Le taing do Gaelcast a-rithist.

Word Nerd 3

Word Nerd àireamh a h-aon, agus a dhà.


Seo an facal: probhadh/probhail

Tha e a' ciallachadh: "probhadh: experiment. probhail: experimental is toigh leis a bhith probhail he likes to be experimental saidheans probhail experimental science." (Bho "The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark)

Previous Word Nerd: Word Nerd 1, Word Nerd 2

Here's the word: experiment/experimental

It means: "probhadh: experiment. probhail: experimental is toigh leis a bhith probhail he likes to be experimental saidheans probhail experimental science." (From "The Gaelic-English Dictionary" by Colin Mark)

Mòd Naiseanta America 2010

*Note: this post is going to be a mix of Gaelic and English, for time's sake, but let me know if you would like a full English version.* *I've been house-cleaning, and this draft has been sitting in my "Edit Posts" for a long time.*

Well, where to begin? When we, Mommy and I, arrived at the Antiochian Village we were still in time for registration and dinner. Chunnaic mi Mr agus Mrs MacKay, Mr Freer, is Mr Cassidy, agus an uair sin chaidh sinn suas an staidhre a chur an luggage againn anns an seòmar againn. During dinner I sat at the same table as the adjudicator, Paul MacCallum. Bha e gle laghach, a' cur ceist agam mu dheidhinn an guth agam, agus dh' innis e dhomh beagan barrachd mu dheidhinn Margaret Fay Shaw (whom I had interviewed him about last year). As deidh sin, chaidh sinn sios an staidhre airson "the oral events." Chunnaic mi an sansair as fheàrr leam a tha ag ràdh -- "Egypt. There for thousands of years" that never fails to crack me up. Oir bha Ar n-Oran choir à Ottawa ann, bha mòran ann nach robh mi ag aithneachadh. Bha sight reading co-fharpais anns an bliadhna seo agus bha an ceathamh competitor was rallied to compete, agus bhunnaich Mr MacKay. Bha original poem recitation by Randy Waugh, the choir's director.

As deidh sin, bha sgeulachdan ann. I asked to go first, party because I wanted to get it over with, and party because I knew that watching the others would mess me up and I'd be comparing my performance with theirs. I did pretty well, only made one minor mistake, and that in the English part. Agus bhuannaich mi! Yippee! (Out of two competitors :). B' e oidhche bhrèagha a bh' ann.

Sin Dihaoine dhuibh. Chan eil fios agam gum bi Disathairne agaibh a-chaoidh, ach chì sinn.

Word Nerd 2

Word Nerd àireamh a h-Aon.

Seo an facal: lachanaich.

Tha e a' ciallachadh: "laughing loudly, loud laughter. thòisich iad air lachanaich they began laughing (loudly)." (Bho "The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark)

Previous Word Nerd: Word Nerd 1.

Here's the word: lachanaich

It means: "laughing loudly, loud laughter. thòisich iad air lachanaich they began laughing (loudly)." (From The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark)

Dà "links"

Dìreach post beag dhuibh an-diugh. Seo da "links" agus tha iad inntinneach, tha mise a' smaoineachadh. Tapadh le Gaelcast.

Just a short post for you today. Here are two links, and they're interesting, or at least I think so. :) Thanks to Gaelcast.

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/features/1467-language-history-part-1

Agus/And: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTk3JL01TZ0)

Word Nerd 1

Bha beachd agam mu phost ùr -- faclan Gàidhlig a tha inntinneach agus gu bheil còrdadh rium! :)

So I had an idea for a bit of a series -- random Gaelic words that I think are interesting and that I like! :)

Seo a' chiad facal: ait. (Chan eil accent an seo! :) Agus seo dè tha e a' ciallachadh (bho m' fhaclair -- The Gaelic-English Dictionary le Colin Mark.):

Here's the first word: ait. (There isn't an accent there! :) And here's what it means (from my dictionary -- The Gaelic-English Dictionary by Colin Mark):

"1. Blithe, cheerful, cheery, droll, funny... joyful. Gu h-ait he spoke cheerfully. 2. funny, odd, peculiar, strange. 's e duine caran ait a bh' ann he was a rather odd fellow."

Bithibh ait uile!

Giotàr update

As you may remember, I started playing the guitar about three months ago. I've made a lot of progress since then, I think, and I certainly have learned a lot! I've picked out the Gaelic song, "Loch Maruibhe" from Fiona J MacKenzie's cd and I can play the melody and I am working on chords and now singing with chords. I've learned a lot about music theory -- how to pick out chords of a song based on the notes, and before that, how scales are formed. I can play the melody of Joy to the World, the arpeggio of "The House of the Rising Sun" (albeit very slowly), and am starting to learn how to play "Greensleeves."

One of the problems I've been having is that my hands are rather weak. I've never really had to develop the muscles in my hands because besides typing (and washing dishes :) I don't use them beyond the normal things that anyone would do with their hands. I've started an exercise to learn how to bar -- cover all the strings with your index finger -- which is hard to do until I develop the muscles there.

So that's all for now!

(*I would like to apologize for my last post -- I hadn't realized that the Gaelic for Punks had crude language as I only listened to the first phrase. I've now deleted the post. Thank you for understanding.*)

Latha Math

Tha còmhlan ùr -- 's e Mànran an t-ainm a th' orra -- ann an Alba agus tha iad a' feuchainn a bhith ann an "Top Forty" anns an UK. 'S e "Latha Math" an t-ainm a th' air an òran agus tha e sgoinneil gu dearbh. Oir chan eil mise anns an UK, chan urrainn dhomh rud sam bith a dheanamh ach seo! Ceannaich e an-diugh agus tha mi 'n dòchas gum bi iad ann an "Top Forty" a dh' aithghearr!

Seo iad air an eadar-lìon:

Website: http://manran.co.uk/wp/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manran/130674593637945

Agus seo Latha Math!

There's a new band, Mànran, in Scotland and they are trying to be in the "Top Forty" in the UK. Latha Math or Good Day is the name of their single and it's great! Because I'm not in the UK, I can't do anything but this! Buy it today and I hope that they will be in the "Top Forty" soon!

Here they are on the internet:

Website: http://manran.co.uk/wp/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manran/130674593637945

And here's Latha Math!

 

Gee-tar

This is not my guitar :) -- from Balthus Van Tassel on Flickr

So one day last week my mom says to me, "I have an idea -- you should learn how to play the guitar. What's a folk-singer without a guitar?" Beware: when my mom has an idea, you'd better watch out. And today I found myself walking to my first lesson. There's a man who teaches guitar just a few blocks from my house. He was very good, or so my mom says. It's not that I doubt it, it's just that I don't know anything about music. I learned a lot, and I still haven't absorbed it all. It's hard to put all your fingers down at once on the strings. My fingers just don't want to cooperate. It's partly because I have double-jointed fingers and arms and partly because my hands are pretty weak. I just have never had to do too much with them, musically. So now I find myself learning how to play the guitar with no idea how it happened. But that's okay, I'll just strum a little bit over here by myself. *bong*

In other news, I'm re-entering the blogsphere! I've decided that I need to revitalize at least one of my blogs, and I decided that I have the most to share in my journey of becoming a Gaelic speaker. Please visit often, and as you can see, I don't always write much in Gaelic, like today. (Tha mi duilich -- tha mi ro shgith (sp?), agus chan eil àm gu leòr agam a-nochd.) So don't worry about the Gaelic side of things, anyone is welcome.

That's it for now!

Sin e an-dràsta!

Geek out!

*An update on the mòd is coming soon!*

So I check my email today and see an update from ACGA saying "Did you know that you can get Google and Open office in Gaelic?" I totally freak out. In fact, only a few minutes after the fact, I'm a little embarrassed to tell you... but I jumped up and started running around the room. :) SO EXCITED! And SO geeky!!

I'm hoping that Google translate and maps will soon follow.

When you put in jiberish:

Cha do lorgadh sgrìobhainn sam bith air son - sldfjskfjsf -.

Molaidhean:

Dèan cinnteach gum bheil a h-uile facal sgrìobhte gu ceart.
Feuch faclan-luirg eile.
Feuch faclan-luirg nas cumanta.



EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Okay, here's the link:

Google 's a' Ghàidhlig

3 days until US Mòd '10 -- Deiseil? Ready?

Almost there! Can't wait to see everyone!

Here's a link to a vid of Sineag Macintyre singing Teann-a-Nall. She will be at the mòd this weekend as she won at the Royal Mòd last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/songs/song_04/index.shtml

Smaller classes for Gaelic schools comes under attack

Just a quick link for y' all today. 17 days until the US Mòd!

(Tha mi duilich. Chan eil mòran Gàidhlig agam idir an diugh. :(

Seo e: (Here it is):

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/smaller-classes-plan-for-gaelic-schools-comes-under-attack-1.1046592

Sheena's Garden (An Gàradh aig Sìne)

After the competition in Antigonish my mom and I headed to the Pictou-Antigonish Library to check email. While we were there I was extremely excited to find a Maisy book in Gaelic! The librarian noticed my highland dance bun and we struck up a little conversation. When she found out I was learning Gaelic she handed me a little card with the web address of a new E-book in Gaelic and English.

As deidh an co-fharpais anns a' Bhaile Mòr, chaidh mo mhàthair agus mi dhan Pictou-Antigonish Library to check email. Nuair a bha sinn an seo bha mi gle shona a fhaic (?) an leabhar mu dheidhinn Maisy 's a' Ghàidhlig. Chunnaic an librarian m' fhalt agus bha sinn a' bruidhinn rinn. Thug i an cairt beag dhomh.... (I can't translate anymore!!!)

I checked it out and was very pleased! Obviously meant for small children, it re-enforces the names for numbers and vegetables (and their plurals). I learned some new vocabulary for words like bean, cucumber, tomato, etc. It's a great learning tool as it is completely bilingual and a fun children's book as well. I love the animations. Check it out!

The link to a page with two E-books on it. Click to read it and a second web window will appear:

http://www.parl.ns.ca/onlineservices/ebooks.html

(And in case you were wondering, Lewis MacKinnon is the narrator for both Sheena's Garden and the story Dòmhnall agus na Sithichean. :)

(I took some cool screen shots but Blogger won't let me upload them. Bah!)

Dòmhnall agus na Sìthichean - Donald and the Fairies

At the Gaelic college, my Gaelic class did a play based on a Cape Breton story. I was one of the narrators. Here is a video showing the same story, animated. Enjoy!

Thanks to Gaelcast.

Aig a' Cholaiste Ghàidhlig, rinn mo chlas Ghàidhlig cluich à Cheap Bretainn (sp?). 'S e narrator a bh' annam. Seo bhideo mu dheidhinn an sgeul sin, animated. Tha e gle mhath!

Le taing do Gaelcast.

(I know it's all in Gaelic, so if you would like a rough translation please leave a comment saying so. :)