#language restoration

[reportsofagrandfuture]

FUCK YEAH

(I also kind of think, there have to be songs that if you translate them, are just universally good for teaching conjugation or whatever, not just vocabulary...unless the structure is so different that what covers useful ground in one language doesnt in another.....maybe just translating popular songs the kids already know the words to in one language.....like if they like disney movie sing-alongs maybe the songs would be memorable and understandable in translation....I did this the last time I was trying to learn a language as an adult, which, im bad at so I needed stuff like this)

[davecottrell]

The No 1 Reason to Save a Dying Language is Culture

The Number 1 Reason to Save a Dying Language is Culture The number 1 reason to save a dying language is to save the culture, itself. Culture is inextricably linked to the language (which is why it is necessary to study culture in order to do good translation work). Photo by Mikhail Nilov Many words in any language are unique to the culture. They often reflect the way the people who used the…

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[septemberbells]

“Jim Thunder, at seventy-five the youngest of the speakers, is a round brown man of serious demeanor who spoke only in Potawatomi. He began solemnly, but as he warmed to his subject his voice lifted like a breeze in the birch trees and his hands began to tell the story. He became more and more animated, rising to his feet, holding us rapt and silent although almost no one understood a single word. He paused as if reaching the climax of his story and looked out at the audience with a twinkle of expectation. One of the grandmothers behind him covered her mouth in a giggle and his stern face suddenly broke into a smile as big and sweet as a cracked watermelon. He bent over laughing and the grandmas dabbed away tears of laughter, holding their sides, while the rest of us looked on in wonderment. When the laughter subsided, he spoke at last in English: "What will happen to a joke if no one will hear it any more? How lonely those words will be, when their is power gone. Where will they go? Off to join the stories that can never be told again.”

-Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer

[galatur]

Language Matters asks what we lose when languages die and how we can save them. It was filmed around the world: on a remote island off the coast of Australia, where 400 Aboriginal people speak 10 different languages, all at risk; in Wales, where Welsh, once in danger, is today making a comeback; and in Hawaii, where a group of Hawaiian activists are fighting to save their native tongue.

[cuimhnigh-i-gconai]

Oh my goodness

Since I started posting the clíséanna, I have gained followers at an alarming rate (seriously guys, I love all of you, but it's freaking me out a little) and a lot of them have been asking questions about resources for learning/speaking Gaeilge.

Now, to clear things up, I am by no means a fluent, or even proficient, speaker. English to Irish translations terrify me to the point of tears and I can never remember the articles, but that being said it is my primary life goal to help restore the language and as two dear friends pointed out, Tumblr is an amazing place to start working on that, as there is an obvious interest and I am always looking for people's experiences with learning Irish. 

So, as per people's requests, I will do my best to start posting videos of pronunciations and possibly even posting some of our slides for grammar and tenses and such, as well as possibly finding online resources (although I don't know of any right off hand)

Thank you all for giving this American Celticist the chance to live out her dream