The sun... is doing what?

The sun is shining....? Bull!

 

Tá an ghrian ag taitneamh

The sun is.... pleasuring. Or do I mean enjoy? Enjoying? Taitneamh certainly doesn't mean shining

I love translations, they're always so... flexible. What a strange way of phrasing it. Do I mean strange, or very forward? This is why I choose to learn Irish, it has a constant capacity to surprise me. Especially when I think, I should know this. Frequently I should, frequently I don't.

But there's more to a language than the words. Are you keeping count of how often I say that? ;-)

For those trying to practice their Irish, there's a fun weather game to try, you match the Irish phrase with the picture. It's online here It's part of a website called http://www.jcspraoi.com/, put together by two students. It's fun!

Irish language weekend - arrrggghhh!!!

So, my first (and last?) Immersion in the Irish language, was the annual gathering of Colaiste na nGael (Irish college) at Aylesford priory

Some days you're the bear...

The tutors were excellent, but as expected the tutoring was all in Irish. For someone who is barely making headway into verbs (being able to translate "Dúirt sí póg mo thóin" into English or vice versa was one of my proudest moments) being confronted by teaching in Irish blew my mind. I was lucky if I got one in four words.

But this is the question, how do you expand your limits and understanding without stepping beyond them? And have I actually learned anything useful in my ignorance, or simply wasted my time surrounded by people whose language I don't speak yet....

How do you feel when you try something new... and how do you find the right balance when learning between exposure to the new and plain exposure?