Everything Comes to A Close...

Kinda sounds like a the title of a sitcom finale, doesn't it? With our final presentations coming up for this project next week, this'll probably be my last post. As always, my progress the last two weeks was slow and rocky, but sure. I find it amazing just how different this was from how I thought it would be at the start. While I'm not speaking Irish like a natural born Irishman, I now know more than I did at the start, so that's definite improvement. Since this is the last post, I guess I can't leave without teaching you a swear word (Sorry, Mrs. Finco!), so this week's lesson is Pog ma thoin (Poag mah hone), which means "Kiss my arse!" (Another good Irish word at the end there!) Thanks for everything, and as always, slainte!

I Promise I Won't Try Poetry Again...

I'm can still feel your eyes rolling thinking about that. About to enter a week off (except from chemistry), I'm feeling pretty good. A classmate asked me about some of the phrases I've been learning, and I was surprised that I actually managed to get quite a few right away. SO, despite all of what even I've thought to the contrary, I am actually learning stuff. This week's lesson is, appropriate for next Thursday, the phrase for "Thank you", "Go raibh maith agat" (gura mie ugut) Slainte!

Gather Round, Ye Lads and Lasses!

Set ye for a while, and harken to me rocky tale about my Emerald Ire. Since I can hear you groaning after that, I guess I should probably avoid poetry. With nothing outlandish to report, I decided this week will be my comment response post. I am sad that I can't go full immersion on this one, though that would be great. Might be a little difficult to do other work, but I could probably make it work. Pronunciation has been getting a little better since I've started noticing some trends, but it's pretty difficult to understand why they do that. I thank you all for enjoying the wit I put in everything, but it'd probably more difficult to pull that off in Gaelic. I'd have to start off speaking like a toddler before I can get to witty parts. I haven't had the chance to talk to Dr. Patrick, though I may get the chance to soon, but I have checked out the TG Lurgan YouTube page. To anyone who wants to hear this language fluently, stop reading right now and check it out. These teens are excellent at translating songs, and can hopefully bring back Gaelic into a spoken language again. This week's lesson is "Tá sé go deacair" (tah shay guh dyakker), which means "It is hard work", a common theme for all of us. Slainte!

Holy Stress, Batman!

As with most things during senior year, this week has been a lot of juggling projects, studying, and social life, but I think I'm through the worst of it now! I appreciate all the comments, and will respond to them more fully at a later date. I've done some unconscious work on my Gaelic this week, thinking some of the more uncivilized words I've learned numerous times this week. However, to try to break the blunt impression my teacher has of me, this week's lesson won't be those words, but instead Buíochas le Dia (bweeahhkus lay deeyah), which, though difficultly, means "Thank God!" or "Thanks to God!". Slainte!

Always on the move!

As they work to improve the school wi-fi, the've managed to block Blogger for wahetever reason, so I'm typing this on my phone right now. I'll try to avoid any errors, but this might be a week to cut me some slack. I appreciate the comments you're required to post, and will answer any questions probably next week, when they stop coming in. Slow and steady is the name of the game as usual, so I'm making about the same progress I have been. I've got some key phrases down, but I'm far from learning a full language. In light of my medium of choice right now, this week's lesson is teilefón (tay-ley-fon), which means "telephone". Slainté!

Late, Early, Can't Make Up My Mind!

So, this week our class time came early, so here  I am, posting off schedule again. I'm finding that I can remember a few phrases off the top of my head no problem, which is certainly an improvement. The bad news, unfortunately, is that these phrases aren't generally those you want to use in polite company. I really need to stay out of the "Curses" section of the handout I'm using, no matter how fun it is. The lesson this week is probably what you're thinking about this post (not my running), "Tá sé go tapaidh" (tah shay huh tahpee), "He is fast". Thanks for the views, it always surprises me to see how many people are actually reading this. Slainte!

Friday Again?

It feels like it keeps sneaking up on me. I'm back, and posting on schedule, so I'm sure you're happy for me. Not too much has changed since my last (and late) post, though I did have a little more time to work this week since my Lit teacher skipped on our homework last night so we could work on this. The language lesson this week, that I had time to learn last night, is "Cén t-am é?" (cane tom ay?) which means "What time is it?", so I'm sure I can practice this a couple times a week. Slainte!