Do you say to yourself “I’d love to speak some Irish Gaelic”, but “I can’t get around to it”?
You can’t get around to it because it sounds like work. I’m sure you can “get around” to checking Facebook or turning on the TV. It’s not as difficult as you might think.
I have lately loved reading Khatzumoto’s All Japanese All The Time blog. He learned (or has been learning) to speak Japanese, and has blogged in opinionated ways about how to get there. Hat-tip to him for this concept.
Show up each day, that’s what counts.Today, tomorrow, the next day. Make Irish Gaelic part of your daily life. And here’s how.
What do I mean by showing up? Just put yourself in a position where you’re absorbing some Irish Gaelic.
You don’t have to set out and say “Right, today, I’m going to do three Bitesize Irish Gaelic lessons!”. Nope. The most you have to do is “Right, today on my phone, I’m going to open the lessons on my phone, and see where that brings me”.
You don’t have to set out to listen to Raidió na Gaeltachta for an hour. Nope, just open up their streaming player and start listening.
You don’t have to feel bad that you don’t know your eclipsis from your lenition. Nope, just open that lesson (if you’re a privileged member of Bitesize Irish Gaelic, if you’re not take a free trial), and listen and repeat just a single example. You don’t have to finish the lesson, just start it.
You don’t have to feel bad that you don’t know most Irish language words? Nope, just open the English-Irish dictionary focloir.ie and search for “dog”. Click on their “C M U” pronunciations of “madra” (the translation for dog), for speakers from different regions pronouncing the word.
It really is easy, right?
6 thoughts on “How to Show Up in 2016”
I have read Khatzumoto’s blog about full immersion to achieve fluency by using modern media and other resources. As far as I know it is based on another website blog, Antimoon created by two polish men who have Learned English to a high standard using the full Immersion method.It is a method to consider. But there is another interesting blog which I think would be worth looking at, if one is a beginner, or struggling to get over the initial difficult learning stage in any language. Go to WWW ScottYoung.com TEDx Talk for a video on U Tube an that will give the whole story. It’s worth checking it out.Happy learning! Pádraig
Hi Pádraig,
Thank you for your suggestions.
Yes, we have read Khatzumoto’s blog and we agree with his approach.
Le meas,
Ana.
I would love to have some real stuff to read, could be children’s rhymes, short stories for beginners, anything that could be suggested to a foreign language student to see the real thing even from starter level! (Which I consider myself part of….)
Hi Valéria,
Thank you for commenting.
You might find this website interesting: http://www.litriocht.com/
Le meas,
Ana.
“Just show up”. That could apply to so many things in our lives, couldn’t it? I finished your on-line course several months ago, and had a hiatus as i tried to figure out how to continue. Lately, though, taking that advice, I’ve been going over my course notes and even bought an Ipod so i could listen to RnaG/ look at TG4 without distracting the rest of my household. Just a little every day really does work! Go raibh maith agat.
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for commenting.
We are glad to hear that you are applying this advice and that it works for you 🙂
If you have any questions regarding our lessons, we will be glad to assist you.
Le meas,
Ana.