I've already told you about Irish and Scottish so now it's time for Welsh which closes my list of favourite Celtic languages because I'm not so familiar with others like Cornwall and so on. I'm pretty sure some of you've already seen this word:

http://www.travelingboy.com/john/northwales5.jpg

…and yep, it's in Welsh. But don't worry, this language has no more words as long as this one ;) ok, so maybe you wonder how is it possible to read so many consonants one beside another. I'll tell you - this is not the way Welsh speakers read it. For instance, w is usually read as u. But how to read this long word? It's simple because it is made from many words and full meaning is Saint Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave. Ok, now let's delete all spaces and we'll still be reading it very well, as the Welsh in their version. Let me make you Welsh version easier. Here you have an IPA version: /ˌɬan.vair.puɬˌɡwɪ̈n.ɡɪ̈ɬ.ɡoˌɡerˌʌːˌχwɪ̈rnˌdro.buɬˌɬan.tʌˌsil.jɒˌɡo.ɡoˈɡoːχ/

The thing I can tell you for sure is the fact that for me all these languages sounds very mystically and ancient a bit, like the part of old magic is hidden behind old languages, don't you think? Hearing Irish, Scottish or Welsh I see castles, lakes, mystery of some creatures like Nessie from Loch Ness or maybe people using magic like an old buddy Merlin. I don't know. For me there's an untold story covered under these old languages and reading in it or hearing it is like discovering something unknown. This is the way I like imagining for instance the king Arthur and his knights. As for our university and Welsh connection 23th may 2014 there was first  Eisteddfod a festival of Welsh culture. So maybe, next year when you'll see a poster about a next one you will take part in it. If so, see you ;) 

And here's a song in Welsh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOrhPofaOsI

Do you remember my last post about Irish? Let me continue this topic but in a bit different way. I want to tell you something about Scottish language.

Scottish, like Irish, belongs to the Celtic languages group. I can bet that most of you saw a movie or a few where brave men were fighting to death in their kilts for the land they loved. I did. And it really makes me sad that their language is extincting.

Recently I've come upon tv series called „Outlander”. It's about a lady living in the 1940s who in magical way, by touching big stones in Scotland, travelled 200 years in the past to the 1740s. There she was saved from a British solder (who looked exactly like her husband, the one from 1940) who was not really a good man. Rescued by a Scottish man and taken to his village, Claire, because that's her name, is helping villagers due to her nurse skills. The thing I like the most about this series is the way they speak. This is not a fake accent as it has always been in other movies or series that I'm familiar with. Producers took care of details like putting Scottish phrases into English speech. Even Claire is called Sassenach - an outlander or a foreigner, more specifically an English person, usage generally derogatory (as the producers, more specifically Àdhamh Ó Broin, explain). The thing that I love about it is the fact that fans, addicted to the series, will start to learn Scottish. Searching something more about Scottish parts in dialogues, I bumped into videos on youtube connected with series which can teach you how to pronounce some phrases or words in Scottish. Here you have one of those videos in which one of the main characters pronounces: Tha gaol agam ort (I love you) in Scottish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbB0IbXWC3I&list=PLus0YZufzZ8BhbKnZ-yJhtoS8E9KuuWlJ&index=12

I hope you' ll get some interest in this fascinating language. Below I put the wedding vow from this series, which is really lovely, so you could see what this language looks like:

Is tu fuil 'o mo chuislean, is tu cnaimh de mo chnaimh.

Is leatsa mo bhodhaig, chum gum bi sinn 'n ar n-aon.

Is leatsa m 'anam gus an criochnaich ar saoghal.

(Literal Translation

You are blood of my veins, you are bone of my bone.
Yours is my body, that we may be one.
Yours is my soul until our worlds end.)

sourse: http://www.lallybroch.com/LOL/blood-vow.html

Dia duit! Or hello! 

This week starts off our club of Irish called X-Fada where I can learn a very beautiful language (as for me of course) which is Irish. I was in Ireland some years ago and I fell in love with this country, people and language of course. Ireland is sooo beautiful and really worth visiting. It has breathtaking views, great history and very intereseting myth background. And music of the Ireland is so specific. You can get into some pubs and there will be some people not knowing one another but playing their instruments together and singing together while having some beer. But as for me the best part of Ireland is out of cities, in the places where you can breath fresh air and just enjoy this peace and silence that we miss sometimes. Moreover, if you want to go somewhere because you saw before some pictures with informations about an interesting place, I'm sure in your way you'll encounter other intriguing places worth seeing. And it is the way I found Ireland- misterious and full of gorgeous buildings, castles, ruins or just nature. I hope this country will stay as it is, some would say old-fashioned, but for me truly as it just it took my heart away. I hope too I'll be back there some day. As for now I have to learn more Irish to be prepared ;) To show you how great Irish sounds here you have last year top song „Wake me up” by Avicii but in irish made by Lurgan project. I hope you like it.

Slán!    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A6__HssHW8

Irish lyrics:

Fáinne fí i gcoim na hoíche.
(Níl) 'tada riamh nach mbíonn thart.
Diabhail fhios a'm cá bhfuil deireadh mo scéil
Ach táim ar an mbealach ceart.

Deir siad liom gan a dhul sa tseans,
Nach dtagann ciall roimh aois.
Bhuel 'sé m'aistear é, Ní léir cén fhad a mhairfidh sé,
'Sé togha ar aon chaoi.

So Lig mé saor ón suan 'tá orm.
(Tai)speáin 'om bóthar éasca cothrom.
Bainfidh mé ceann scríbe amach, sí m'aidhm,
Cíbe treo átá i ndán.

(Tá) Mé ag iompar úalach mór an tsaoil
Ach níl a'm ach péire lámh.
Suile troma is an ghrian a dhul faoi
Ach ní chodlaíonn mé go sámh.

"Bris amach agus tú fós sach óg."
Chinnigh mé le dul in aghaidh.
Seo mo ré, Seasfaidh mé an fód,
'S leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh.

The very beginning...

Have you ever wondered how does it feel to save someone's life? By the word 'someone' I mean not only human's life but also other beings that we can say that "live" all around us. From animals to our beloved teddybears that we took care of and shared a great part of our lives with. Once I did encountered a very interesting page where I could "save the words". On this page there was a lot of words mostly unknown for me. I tried to figure out what this page was all about but then it came to me. The words started to speak "Hey, pick me" and all I had to do was to choose an option "Adopt". Then I became the saviour of this word by learning it by heart to use it in the future. What is that for you may ask. But it's a great pleasure for me to save words that are not so far from the oblivion. What's more, I think I'm saving a part of a great but a bit old culture by doing so. Just wonder how this world would be like if everyone knew just a couple of words? Sick plan, huh? So if you want to have a great companion of your English adventure, pick a friend ;)

http://web.archive.org/web/20110325150610/http://www.savethewords.org/