Bitesize Irish members hail from all corners of the world and all walks of life – we have everyone from realtors, musicians and engineers in our community! One of our newest members is Ricardo, a musician from Brazil who came to Gaeilge through his interest in Sean-nós singing and Irish literature.
Read about his journey so far!
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
I am a professional classical musician (singer, classical guitar, luth, arranger) born in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. I have done concerts and recorded my solo albums (medieval, renaissance and baroque).
As a professor, I regularly teach Gregorian Chant to the benedictine monks of the Monastery of Saint Benedict in Rio de Janeiro (which was founded in the sixteenth century).
What got you interested in speaking the Irish language?
Irish Sean Nós song and poetry have deeply got me, these are the reasons I was interested by Irish language and culture.
Here and there, some Irish books and albums crossed my way until I made my first trip to Ireland. Its history – from the huge medieval monasteries, passing through Turlough O’Carolan, the hard XIXth century – reveals one precious part of the Irish character: a people who despite so much suffering have been able to write marvellous music and poetry.
Do you have Irish ancestry? Can you tell us about it?
As far as I know, I haven’t any irish ancestry
What advice can you offer to a complete beginner of Irish?
My advice for a beginner would be study hard, write a lot, pay attention to all dialects’ subtleties, read, watch and listen hundreds of times.
How do you use Bitesize Irish?
Having studied some of Irish Grammar (when there were no audio-video on line courses as Bitesize, so lots of reading and writing), I spend my energies studying even harder, paying attention to phonetics and accents through the video lessons and classes.
3 thoughts on “Ricardo’s Advice: “Read, Watch and Listen Hundred of Times””
Ricardo, how do you accept the need to repeat something hundreds of times? For many of us, it can feel like it’s not worth it, that we are too slow learning. Perhaps you are more self-forgiving than most? 🙂
Hi Eoin, thanks for the comment!
Well, I have been a self-taught in many very different disciplines, ( some of them I would never have a chance to study otherwise. Music, years in navy and monastery have taught me that patience, discipline and hard work work, as for a farmer who takes care of his crops every early morning….so, I accept this, even when it’s tough. Irish Gaelic is a wise and marvellous language, and its celtic root is quite different from latin, slavic and anglo-saxon ones…so, I want and need to read it, write it, listen to it as many times I can, and wish, as I were living in gaeltacht or not 100 % gaelic native speaking region…so, all this hard work is a matter of passion for Ireland, irish people and their language, music, poetry and history, Bitesize helps me A LOT every early morning!
Go hálainn! Eoin