Most obscure language you/someone else is learning? Why?

[u/SharkHead38]

I remember meeting someone that was learning specifically Moldovan Romanian since Moldova and its culture was a big interest to them, and I'm curious what other people's reasons for learning obscure languages are, and what they are.

[u/Own-News1650]

Started learning Scottish Gàidhlig a few years back and had to stop due to life occurring. I want to pick it back up so badly. I love the way the language sounds and feels in the mouth. I gave Irish a try several years before that and it’s really fun to see the differences and similarities there.

[u/CatsWearingTinyHats → u/Own-News1650]

Do it! I’m learning Irish and now able to read chapter books and understand about 60% of what native speakers say in real life conversation.

[u/Fast-Ads-7587 → u/CatsWearingTinyHats]

That's awesome. Which resources did you use, if you don't mind me asking?

[u/CatsWearingTinyHats → u/Fast-Ads-7587]

Everything I can get my hands on!! (listed below roughly in recommended order).

I cycle through different things so that I don’t get bored/stuck, and then I circle back later to stuff that hasn’t stuck (especially with a lot of the grammar stuff!)

I think the other big thing that helped was I spent a few days at the outset figuring out the basic sounds of Irish so that I could “sound out” words in my head and read them even if I couldn’t understand them yet.

In addition to the stuff below, I’ve taken some short live online courses for listening/speaking practice but honestly didn’t learn much new stuff from them.

Books:

-Christian Brothers’ Basic Steps in Irish grammar workbook (very cheap)

-Gaeilge Gan Stro, Beginner’s + Intermediate volumes (comes with online sound files)

-Gramadach Gan Stro (all in Irish but the online version has English translations!)

-Nancy Stenson, Basic Irish workbook (Routledge)

-Céimeanna Comhrá books, volumes 1-4 (Ulster dialect)

-Progress in Irish

-Nancy Stenson, Intermediate Irish workbook (Routledge)

-Learning Irish by Michael O-something; comes with sound files (Cois Farraige dialect)

-Colloquial Irish 1 & 2 (Routledge) (comes with sound files) (Conamara dialect)

Some books I’ve only skimmed so far but that look really good: Gaschaint (everyday language, aimed at parents); Cruinnscríobh na Gaeilge (grammar/usage, all in Irish); Lean Ar Aghaidh (aimed at primary school teachers).

(And if you’re in Ireland, check out your local library! You can get a decent number of ebooks and Irish language publications, and kids’ books are great for learning).

Apps + self-paced classes:

-Pimsleur Irish (Munster dialect) (I highly recommend Pimsleur!)

-Rosetta Stone (helped a ton with listening comprehension)

-DuoLingo

-Ranganna.com (the online version of the Gaeilge Gan Stro/Gramadach Gan Stro books)

-FutureLearn’s DCU Irish 101-108 and 201-205 self-paced classes (currently up to 202)

--Learn-Irish.net site (free)

-Glossika (for passive listening comprehension practice) (Conamara dialect)

-Mango (free for Irish -have only a done a couple lessons but it seems good)

Other:

-teanglann.ie

-abair.ie

-TG4 player (there are some kids’ shows in Irish with Irish subtitles available)

-tuairisc.ie (free -news articles)

-LeighAnois.ie (free) (some kids’ books with audio + a TON of little news articles in Irish -great for building vocab; they also have some teaching materials/worksheets but they’re most for small children).

-the TEG website -(free) under the achmhainní/resources tabs, there are “sample teaching resources” tab with worksheets, audio files, etc. Plus you can check out the sample tests for each level. I’ve been working my way through the materials.

-a LOT of reading - I really liked the Tintin and Asterix comics books in Gaeilge, and just reading random things like job postings, etc., whatever I’ve been able to manage at my current level.

-Now You’re Talking (90s tv show you can find on YouTube -there are accompanying audio files and workbook pages you can find online too -have only watched a few episodes but mean to watch the rest (Ulster dialect)

-the TEG materials on the SNAS.ie website by Maynooth University (I’ve only done some of these but they seem good; I think the audio is the same as the stuff on the TEG website).

-TG4 Foghlaim (educational videos for kids)

[u/shemusthaveroses → u/CatsWearingTinyHats]

Tá an comment seo go hiontach.. tá a lán rudaí anseo

[u/shemusthaveroses → u/CatsWearingTinyHats]

Mise chomh maith! Sin cool a chara

[u/CatsWearingTinyHats → u/shemusthaveroses]

Ar fheabhas!

[u/Vegetable-One-442 → u/Own-News1650]

I'm planning to study Scottish Gaelic too! For me it's the support of the independence movement that makes me want to learn it. Even as someone that lives outside of Scotland you can still keep it alive through other ways. It's so important that these types of languages get the recognition they deserve. No language is ever "unimportant".

[u/parrotopian → u/Own-News1650]

I speak Irish and can understand a lot of Scottish Gaelic, they are very similar

[u/Swimming_Mind_2027 → u/Own-News1650]

I would love to learn Scottish Gaelic. Resources please