Gaeilge in Oxford, Ríocht Aontaithe?

ExiledMike

Dia dhaoibh!

Is mise Mícheál. Rugadh mé i Londain, ach táim i mo chónaí in Oxford anois. Tá cúpla focail gaeilge agam, ach táim ag foghlaim go mall!

I've been learning bits of Irish over the past year or so, entirely through self-study. I'm now able to write some simple sentences and Radió na Gaeltachta has gone from being completely incomprehensible to mostly incomprehensible with words I recognise thrown in.

Thing is, I feel like learning Irish this way isn't really very efficient. I tend to learn languages best when able to try things out, speak to people and work things out in practical context. So I'm very keen to find lessons or conversation groups.

Surprisingly, there is actually a ciorcal comhrá here in Oxford (I read somewhere that there's an estimated 3000 Irish people in Oxford and its surroundings), though I'm told it's very high level and so maybe not for a beginner. I've also been in touch with Coláiste na nGael and am trying to see if they are able to organise any lessons in Oxford any time soon.

So I guess this thread is firstly to see if anyone knows of any more Gaelgeorí hanging around my part of the world, and secondly for people to share any advice they have on getting more practice with the language/picking up the language in an area where there aren't a huge number of speakers around.


Míle buíochas mo chairde!

pog it

Hey I was in Cambridge for a while and at the time heard about funding from Foras na Gaeilge for Irish events in Ireland and abroad. Maybe you could hold an event related to Irish, put up posters, and get in touch with the uni to get a contact, and that organisation for example and spread the word! The funding was announced this time last year so maybe it's going to come available again but you don't necessarily need much money to do something like that.

GaelMise

ExiledMike wrote: »

Dia dhaoibh!

Is mise Mícheál. Rugadh mé i Londain, ach táim i mo chónaí in Oxford anois. Tá cúpla focail gaeilge agam, ach táim ag foghlaim go mall!

I've been learning bits of Irish over the past year or so, entirely through self-study. I'm now able to write some simple sentences and Radió na Gaeltachta has gone from being completely incomprehensible to mostly incomprehensible with words I recognise thrown in.

Thing is, I feel like learning Irish this way isn't really very efficient. I tend to learn languages best when able to try things out, speak to people and work things out in practical context. So I'm very keen to find lessons or conversation groups.

Surprisingly, there is actually a ciorcal comhrá here in Oxford (I read somewhere that there's an estimated 3000 Irish people in Oxford and its surroundings), though I'm told it's very high level and so maybe not for a beginner. I've also been in touch with Coláiste na nGael and am trying to see if they are able to organise any lessons in Oxford any time soon.

So I guess this thread is firstly to see if anyone knows of any more Gaelgeorí hanging around my part of the world, and secondly for people to share any advice they have on getting more practice with the language/picking up the language in an area where there aren't a huge number of speakers around.


Míle buíochas mo chairde!

Firstly, I would suggest that you join the Ciorcal Comhrá, if it is a fairly high standard, thats not necessarily a bad thing, nothing like a little bit of immersion to learn a language.

There are also plenty of sources online for engadring with the language. Raidio na Gaeltachta can be a bit of a challenge when you are starting off, you might want to try Raidio na Life, urban Irish should be a little easier to get to grips with.
You could also look into Gaeilge Amháin on facebook, best chance to find people with Irish would be to ask there (Just remember its 'Gaeilge Amháin' so no posting in English'.)

ExiledMike

Thanks for the responses, guys.

pog it wrote:

Hey I was in Cambridge for a while and at the time heard about funding from Foras na Gaeilge for Irish events in Ireland and abroad. Maybe you could hold an event related to Irish, put up posters, and get in touch with the uni to get a contact, and that organisation for example and spread the word! The funding was announced this time last year so maybe it's going to come available again but you don't necessarily need much money to do something like that.

I have wondered whether there is anyone at the university doing the language. I'm pretty sure they do a 'Celtic Studies' undergrad course that covers early and modern Irish as well as Welsh. I'd be a bit wary of arranging an event myself - just because, although my Irish is getting better, I don't think I speak well enough to be organising things myself! On the other hand, someone who I contacted at Coláiste na nGael said they'd be willing to run an introductory class if I can get a handful of interested people together.

GaelMise wrote:

Firstly, I would suggest that you join the Ciorcal Comhrá, if it is a fairly high standard, thats not necessarily a bad thing, nothing like a little bit of immersion to learn a language.

Yeah, I definitely want to get in touch at least. I don't know if I'd even have enough Irish yet to carry me through a single session at the moment, but I definitely do want to get talking to the people behind an ciorcal - if only so I can get more contacts and more opportunities to learn.

GaelMise wrote:

There are also plenty of sources online for engadring with the language. Raidio na Gaeltachta can be a bit of a challenge when you are starting off, you might want to try Raidio na Life, urban Irish should be a little easier to get to grips with.

I've been listening to Raidío na Gaeltachta pretty regularly. A lot of it is beyond me at the moment, but I notice that as I pick up more grammar and vocabulary, it's starting to make more sense to me. Is maith liom na cláir cheoil, freisin!

Míle buíochas, mo chairde!