I am guessing that my regular readers want a rundown of my
intensive Irish language weekend. It started Friday evening with a couple hours
of class. We were divided into four levels, and I was in the beginning “never
spoken the language before” level. One woman in our level was kicked up to
Level Two the next day, but the rest of my classmates were as clueless as I
was. Our teacher was an energetic lady from Connemara who taught us the
standard greeting in her dialect, and I can’t even begin to describe how it
goes because it has sounds we just don’t have in English. It basically means, “God
be with you,” and then the response is, “God and Mary be with you.” Then she
taught us how beginning consonant sounds change in Irish depending upon the
context, like if you were addressing someone named Colorado you would say, “A
Cholorado,” which is pronounced like a ch in German, basically. However, if you
were standing in Colorado, you would say, “i gColorado,” which is pronounced
Golorado. I was relieved that she and another teacher, who was from Donegal,
both agreed that Irish standard spelling makes no sense, so it isn’t just us
English speakers who think so!
Friday evening after class we played a game somewhat like
Taboo, where we were split into teams with a person from each level on each
team, plus a teacher. The fourth level student would try to describe a word in
Irish, and then the rest of us were supposed to provide the word in Irish. The
teacher was there to do some translating for us poor first level students. Then
after about ten minutes we got a different fourth level student so we got to
work with all of them, which is only fair since some were better at this game
than others. A guy from Dublin was really good at it, not just because his
Irish is so good but because he was just good at describing concepts, like he
said, “A big plant in the forest” in Irish, and someone said the Irish word for
tree. Our team did not win, but we came in second.
Saturday morning class started at nine, which was a bit
cruel in my estimation, but I got going with even enough time to grab a coffee
and croissant beforehand. We learned some useful phrases, like how to say, “My
name is ____,” but if I write them for you, they will make no sense. Irish is a
language best learned by hearing rather than reading, is what I got out of all
this. For the most part it isn’t too hard to pronounce, though there are
definitely sounds we don’t use in English. But I still could not predict how to
spell something I’d heard, or pronounce something I’d seen written. One thing I
did learn is that a word starting with a bhf is pronounced with a w. Doesn’t
that make sense? Or maybe it’s a fbh, I can’t remember offhand, and my notes
are at home.
We had a break for lunch, and I went to pray the rosary in
the Perpetual Adoration chapel, but unfortunately I still have not learned how
to pray it in Irish so it was just good old English for me. In the late
afternoon we could take a dancing class, a singing class, or watch an Irish
movie; you will no doubt be stunned to learn that I chose singing. My teacher
commented on how quickly I picked up the language, and she would ask me if I
remembered what particular words meant. It’s good to know I still have a gift
for languages, even in middle age. At night there was a concert given by the
man who taught the singing class, but I skipped it to hear Bach.
Sunday class began at the slightly more humane hour of ten,
so I had plenty of time to get coffee and a muffin beforehand but not quite
enough to go to Mass. I was overjoyed to hear there would be free classes in
Irish here in town but then very sad to hear they would be on Tuesday evenings,
right during my regular adoration hour. Today I called the chapel coordinator,
and he was happy to switch my hour, especially since my boss is OK with me
taking a long lunch on Mondays to cover an hour they desperately needed to
fill. I should be able to stay late on Mondays to make up the time, so I’ll
still get adoration in every week, plus I’ll get to keep going with Irish. So
life is good.
Famous Hat
