Dia duit gach daoinne, Táim ag iaraidh ciorcal comhra a thosiú i mo ceantar. Táim i mo chonaí san Inse i gcontae Mí. Tá sé in aice leis Baile Brigín agus Droichead átha. Níl ach mé ag foghlaim Geailge mé fein ach Táim ag iaraidh an clactadh! Is feidir liom a thamaint go ciorcal comhrá eile ait eigaen eile comh maith.

HI everyone, I am trying to start up a new Irish group for beginers in my local area. I am in Laytown co. Meath and have a very basic understanding of the language but am determined to improve as I speak Irish to my young daughter who is less than two every day. I could do with the practice and hopefully some guidance. I can drive to anywhere local enough to me in the Drogheda, Laytown, Balbriggan area or maybe even further. I am looking for like minded people to help each other out and just enjoy speaking our language.

Fáilte! Ní fheicim aon cheann i do cheantar féin ar an liosta thíos, ach tá grupaí i gContae an Lú. Féach ar an liosta ar an suíomh thíos
Welcome! I don't see any in your own locality on the list below, but there are groups in County Louth. Look at the list below:

http://gaeilge2013.ie/en/about/learning ... al-groups/

Go n'éirí an t-ádh leat. Rinneamar an rud céanna lenár gclann.

_________________

Just read your other thread and am not going to get into the mad, bad, sad stuff over there AGAIN (this time anyway). There are loads of cartoons on TG4 that you and your child can watch. There are beautiful children's books, some with cds that you can buy or borrow from a library. Anything by Futa Fata I would highly recommend; they do gorgeous stuff. Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin is from Conamara. There is an organisation called Comhluadar www.comhluadar.ie that may be able to give you some useful advice. Also check out our useful links section here on ILF - you may find a few worthwhile sites to help you out too. viewforum.php?f=32

If you are finding it difficult at the moment to find other Irish speakers / learners, you should certainly stumble across them when your child begins school. In fact, you could contact the Gaelscoil and ask them if they know of any ciorcal comhrá in the area or even anyone who may be interested in beginning one with you.

Another interesting place is a week long course in Gaoth Dobhair in July for parents and children. www.piarsaigh.ie/ It is in no means an intensive course, but is great fun and has learners at all stages. They have a naíonra and Irish is the only language used there. Most of the people attending do not have Ulster Irish - in case that scares you off! Having been there a few times myself, I can now understand Lughaidh's love affair with that particular brand of Irish. Don't tell him I said that!

One of the exciting things ahead of you is that you will end up learning alongside your child and that is actually very cool! It is a very positive thing that you doing. Enjoy the journey.

_________________

Go raibh mile maith agat. Tá sé sin iontach a Shaoirse! Seicéilfidh mé lista sin go bhfuil tú ag caint leis. Tá siul agam go bhfuil ciorcal comhrá ar siul ait eaigan in aice liom. Bá mhaith liom ag rá as Geailge a thosiú arís go luath! Bhí mé i ciorcal comhrá eile cúpla mí ó shin ach chaith mé a stopadh mar thosaigh mé post núa agus deirigh sé ró chrúa a dul.

I hope that was not toooooooo bad! I don't look things up as I write them. So if I have made mistakes please point them out as that is how I learn. I will never take offence to that. I think my biggest bug bear at the moment is that while I have a bit of Irish I am in danger of directly trying to translate English which I know can often not be done. I have learned how to say certain things properly by making that mistake and having my errors pointed out to me. I would appreciate if more knowledgeable people could feel free to point these out to me and set me straight and be a bit patient with me if I constantly get stuff wrong - I will get better! I litterally had no Irish at all when I started this bar a few nouns we all remember from school. I also know my spelling is often off too but as I say I am not checking these things as I go. I find that process knocks your confidence. I know others may scorn at this but I am proud of how far I have come so far even if you think I know nothing so please be nice!

_________________
Caithimíd dul siar chun teacht aniar.

Maith thú, Luke. Coinnigh ort! (Keep at it! - Continue on!).
Bhí cara liom ag freastal ar chiorcal comhrá i Leabharlann Bhaile Brigín ag tús na bliana. Seans maith go bhfuil sé ag dul ar aghaidh (or to borrow from another thread - ar siúl) i gcónaí. Ba cheart duit glaoch ar an leabharlann le fáil amach. Seans go mbeidh sos acu aimsir na Nollag ach go dtosnóidh siad arís san athbhliain.

I think you're correct to an extent in not being too worried about the spelling but at the same time, while Irish would not be considered a phonetic language, I find that it is much more phonetic than English and thus the spelling is linked to the pronunciation. So, if you check yourself on your spelling (very easily done on line by having http://breis.focloir.ie/en/ open on a tab beside what you're writing - and you'll see that there are pronunciation files for a lot of the words there too) you will find that your pronunciation becomes clearer too and more people feel comfortable about having a conversation with you. That has been my experience in any case.

But you have the right priority as regards not trying to translate directly from English which is a totally different language - that's the main thing to avoid. And I think the best way to do that is to listen to and read as much as you can in quality Irish. What I mean by quality Irish is reading from published books and listening to native speakers on TG4 and RnaG. Of course, sound files of single words or phrases such as at the URL I gave above or those that Bríd supplies here are top class too. Saoirse gave you some great sources for quality material also. I would concur 100%. That way you'll pick up on the idiom. An dtuigeann tú cad a bhfuilim ag caint faoi? Tá súil agam go bhfuil sé seo ina chabhair.

An dtuigeann tú cad a bhfuilim ag caint faoi? - do you understand what I am speaking about. Is this ok to say? I did that before as a direct translation but was told I should be saying - An dtuigeann tú cad a bhfuilim ag caint leis? As I understand it 'le' or 'leis' is always used when talking with anyone or listening to something.

_________________
Caithimíd dul siar chun teacht aniar.

'Ag caint leis' for talking to someone, Luke. Bhí mé ag caint le do dheirfiúr inné -I was talking to your sister yesterday.





But 'ag caint faoi' (or 'ag caint ar') for what you are talking about.

Bhí mé ag caint léi faoin aimsir - I was talking to her about the weather.
Bíonn siad ag caint ar chúrsaí polaitíochta - they do be talking about political affairs.

An dtuigeann tú cad 'tá ar siúl agam?

You could say:

An dtuigeann tú cad air go bhfuilim ag cainnt? or
An dtuigeann tú cad air a bhfuilim ag cainnt?

Tháinig mé ar seo ar Google - tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sé sách sean - ach....

Tá Ciorcal Comhrá I Leabharlann Bhaile Brigín gach Déardaoin ó 7 go 8. Ní tosaitheoirí muid ach bhéadh fáilte romhat má bhíonn suim agat. Bain triail as.

Hi I saw this on a Google query. There is a Ciorcal Comhrá in Balbriggan Library from 7 to 8 each Thursday. It isn't a beginners group but everyone is welcome and you could give it a try and see what you think.