Languages - So To Speak

[SeamusAlba]

Originally Posted by tig

so thats a no then?

troll on

It appears you are doing so

[tig]

oh n btw.....my "tone" has always been in good humour...even is its not followed by lol or smilies

it may sound a tad harsh sometimes(as ive been told off a few times) but its the way i speak and is never intended to be aggressive in any way

[Polwarth]

Seamus
Forgive me if I've got you confused with someone else - but didn't you start your Scotland.com career by asking for advice about setting up a Gaelic language book shop in Edinburgh, lo, these many moons ago?

[Crofter]

SeamusAlba,

I am glad you took my comments as constructive criticism; this is an encouraging sign and shows that there is some hope for you yet. Apart from that I am afraid your response did not meet, or even come close to, expectations. Let me try and explain why.

To begin with I would like to make it clear that I am not a teacher or tutor and as such have not got the qualifications, skills or patience to teach anyone. Neither do I have the time to devote to doing justice to a request for personal tuition. I have tried to explain in my post that, as the first prerequisite, the brain has to be in gear and you have to be sure of yourself before you open your mouth or commit to writing. This basic, straight forward, logical piece of advice you choose to ignore, you carry on regardless, aware that you may not be right but what the hell. I glean from this that you would be an inattentive, difficult student.

Next, what’s all the apologies and excuses for? The job, tired, the computer, the dark, the virus? Who cares, you organise your own life and if it overwhelms you that’s your business and problem, you are certainly not answerable to anyone on here. Be firm. As a rule the Highlander, and especially the Lewisman, will make sure, before he commits, that he’s right, then no power on earth will shift him. Defer to nobody, that is why we are the last of the free. This is a part of our culture that is bred into us from birth, it cannot be taught. A genuine foreigner is preferable any day to a fake, wishy-washy apology of a Scotsman or Lowlander, bereft of pride or culture.

Next, “'s chiad bha mi trang fad air falbh aig obair agam an diugh” You have translated this as “Firstly, I’ve been at work all day” What you have actually written is “100 I was busy far away at work of mine today” In English, apart from the 100, your meaning is conveyed albeit clumsily, in Gaelic it looks like a sentence written by a retard. You have chosen to ignore my other tip that word for word literal translation does not work. The same goes for 100 percent. Is that a proper English word?, think of a sentence where you would use it, find an alternative and translate that. In Gaelic, as in any language, the sentence is meant to convey what you are trying to get across as simply as possible. You do not use words and terms that you do not understand yourself, you use words you know.

Finally, “Tha mi” means “I am”. I am a Lewisman and I see nothing wrong in using it. In fact I use it all the time, how else could I say “I am”? “English Gaelic”? that’s a new one on me. If this Lewis teacher is filling your head with nonsense he must have an ulterior motive. If I were you I’d check his credentials.

I will check out your contribution on Gaelic Wikipedia and let you know what I think. In the meantime get your computer sorted, your lights working (have you tried 50p in the meter?), take a deep breath and try the Celtic Radio Forum. They not only discourse in Gaelic but someone has taken the trouble to lay out Gaelic lessons.

I started this thread as a clean slate, so to speak, to point out to you your total disregard for the correct use of the Gaelic language and in the hope that you would be prepared to take some constructive criticism, help and advice, away from all the nonsense you’ve got going all over the place. You have now deviated from that objective and introduced that same nonsense here. How many threads do you need? Obviously your interest in Gaelic takes a lower place to your interest in provoking and indulging in totally pointless shyte.

The very same, Polwarth. It seems like ages ago but it’s less than 6 months. He might have more luck with an Arabic shop perhaps.

JC,..... Welcome back. No sooner had I got over the joy of seeing you back but you go off gallivanting on another holiday. I don’t understand what the world is coming to.

It’s been fairly quiet on here while you’ve been away. The Colonials, as usual, being abusive and displaying delusions of grandeur. The Lowlanders, as usual, displaying social unrest and contempt for their betters. A different language to cope with every day.

As a linguist perhaps you could explain the intricacies of grammar to Seamus on this thread as only you can.

[Duthill]

Originally Posted by Crofter

It’s been fairly quiet on here while you’ve been away. The Colonials, as usual, being abusive and displaying delusions of grandeur. The Lowlanders, as usual, displaying social unrest and contempt for their betters. A different language to cope with every day.

'crofter'troll has, as per usual , neglected report that it has been lying , again .

[Cadbren]

Originally Posted by SeamusAlba

tha mi a sgriobadh anns a dorcha (Im typing in the dark)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't it be 'an dorcha'

From the Teach Yourself Gaelic book (Boyd Robinson et al)-

To express in the, Gaelic uses anns followed by the:

...If the noun starts with f, it is lenited

...If the noun begins with b, c, g, m or p, the becomes a', and the noun is lenited...

D is not included in the above so the normal rules for the apply.

[Lachlan09]

Originally Posted by Crofter

A genuine foreigner is preferable any day to a fake, wishy-washy apology of a Scotsman or Lowlander, bereft of pride or culture.

Judging from your frequent references, you profess to being a Lewisman.

I have known Leosaichs over the years, including Gaelic singers and one of my secondary teachers, "Long" John Murray (since writer and broadcaster).

In no case that I can think of did they ever come forth with insulting views on their countrymen such as you proudly display, nor did they display your arrogance.

You need to get out more and see the World - then see how small your world is.