Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic (pronounced: galick) is the celtic language native to Scotland. It was also the language of the crown and government of Scotland. The use of the language declined because people wanted to suppress the gaelic culture. There are alot of attmepts to keep the language going, I hope it succeeds. I'm on board anyway.

It really makes me sad when I find out a language is dying. I always want to just learn them, hoping that even if its just me I can keep it going. It doesn't matter what the language is, or how little people speak it, languages should be kept alive. A culture is preserved in those words, how people see the world is in the langauge they speak. When beautiful words die, ways of life die, and its not always for the better, actually it never is. I would love to go to Scotland, and learn the language from native speakers. It seems to me that type of journey would be life changing, but I've never been the child of a rich family, and I doubt I'll ever be well-off enough for that.



The truth is I never knew there was a langauge from Scotland, I feel a little bit ashamed of that. I knew about Irish Gaelic, but thats because there are so many "kiss me I'm irish" stores where I am from. It took me by surprise when I was wandering around in the bookstore and found a book about Scottish Gaelic. It came with a Cd too, I got "yeach yourself Complete Gaelic" book. It is for beginners and is absolutely perfect for me. I actually have it infront of me now. Inside is alot of information about the language and of course lessons on how to speak it.

I love the language, but I have to admit it isnt easy to learn. I know that isnt knews to language learners, most languages are hard to learn, but this is especially difficult for me. First off, there is so many different sounds for letters depending on where they are in a word or if there is an h next to them. The sound of consonants also depends on what vowel comes first. Whenver I see some of these gaelic words, I just want to say them the english way, but I can't. As for the vowels, there are accents, which other than a little knowledge of spanish, I don't know alot about. If you ever figure out how a word is pronounced, thats great, but trying to say a sentence in the flowy fast way that native speakers do takes alot of time and patience. Even with the Cd it is really difficult to say the words right. I have to really concentrate to say it right. (on another note, once you get it right its so fun to say! You don't want to stop!!) No its not easy, but I'm up for the challenge.

There is also a website that is really, really helpful for this language, here the link:
Scottish Gaelic

I learned a Gaelic song on the website called 's morag. I spent what felt like forever getting the pronunciation right, only to loose the cheatsheet I made. I bought the song off of itunes, I can only sing the chorus and the first verse, the rest, not so much.

Here are some Gaelic phrases I found also, just for fun :)

"Dè an t-ainm a tha oirbh?" (Jeh un TAH-num uh HAW-ruv?) What's your name?

"'S mise.....(insert your name)." (SMIH-shuh...) "My name is..."

"Ciamar a tha sibh?" (KIM-mer uh HAH shiv?) "How are you?"

"Tha gu math, tapadh leibh." (HAH guh MAH, TAH-puh LEH-eev) "I'm well, thank you."

"Dè tha thu a dèanamh?" (Jeh HAH oo uh JEE-ah-nuv?) "What are you doing?"

"Chan eil mi a' dèanamh càil." (chahn-yel mee uh JEE-ah-nuv KAHL) "I'm not doing anything."

"Tha mi airson Gàidhlig ionnsachadh." (hah mee EHR-sawn GAH-lik YOON-sa-hugkh) "I want to learn Gaelic."

"Càit a bheil an taigh beag?" (KAHTCH uh vehl un tye bek?) "Where's the bathroom?"

"An toir thu dhomh pòg?" (Un TUH-r oo ghawnh pawk?) "Will you give me a kiss?"

"Slàinte mhòr agad!" (SLAHN-tchuh VORR AH-kut!) "Great health to you!" ("Cheers!")

"Nach i tha teth an-diugh?" (nahch ee hah TCHEH un-DJOO?) "Isn't it hot today? (It's hot today.)"

"Tha gaol agam ort." (Hah GEUL AH-kum orsht) "I love you."  

"Chan eil fhios agam." (CHAHN-yel iss AH-kum) "I don't know."

"Dè thuirt thu?" (jeh HOORSHT oo) "What did you say?"

"Chan eil mi a' tuigsinn." (chan-yel mi uh-TOOK-shin) "I don't understand."

"Tha mi duilich." (hah mee DOOH-lich) "I'm sorry."

"Gabhaibh mo leisgeul." (GAHV-iv moe LESH-kul) "Excuse me."

"Ceart gu leòr." (kyarsht guh LYAWR) "Right enough" -- "Okay."

"Tha sin glè mhath!" (hah shin gleh VAH) "That's very good!"

"'S math sin!" (SMAH-shin) "Great!" -- "Terrific!"

"Ma 'se ur toil e." (mah sheh oor TUL-leh) "please."

"Tapadh leat." (TAH-puh LAHT -- also -- TAHplett) "Thank you."

"'Se do bheatha." (sheh doe VEH-huh) "You're welcome."

"Mar sin leibh an dràsda." (mahr shin LEH-eev un DRAHSS-tuh) "Ta ta for now."

--JSparrow