Colloquial Irish 2

The Next Step in Language Learning

Tomás Ó hÍde, Máire Ní Neachtain, Roslyn Blyn-Ladrew, John Gillen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429536335
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Enseignement des langues

Colloquial Irish 2 is the ideal way to refresh your knowledge of the language and to extend your skills from the beginner level to advanced beginner.

Structured to give you the opportunity to listen to and read plenty of modern, everyday Irish, Colloquial Irish 2 builds on the skills acquired in Colloquial Irish by expanding vocabulary, increasing awareness of grammar rules and building spoken fluency while dealing with many of the same communicative themes. The popular Cois Fharraige dialect from West Galway continues to be the main focus of the book.

With dialogues, vocabulary, grammatical explanations and cultural points based around communicative themes, as well as free sound files online, recorded by native speakers of the dialect, Colloquial Irish 2 provides everything the advanced beginner needs to take their language skills to the next level. Free sound files, recorded by native speakers of the dialect, are available at www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials.

1 ÓCÁIDÍ SÓISIALTA

Social occasions

In this chapter, we will look at:

• 
  expressing introductions and greetings
• 
  excusing yourself and saying goodbye
• 
  expressing opinions
• 
  talking about the weather
• 
  using the copula and the substantive
• 
  using the past tense

Dialogue 1 (Audio 1:2)

An chóisír

Áine:	Dia dhuit, a Phádraigín. Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?
Pádraigín:	Tá mé go breá. Agus tú féin?
Áine:	Go maith, go raibh maith agat. An bhfuil tú ag baint taitnimh as an gcóisir?
Pádraigín:	Tá. Tá sé thar barr. Tá an ceol thar cionn, nach bhfuil?
Áine:	Tá. Tá sé go hiontach. Ach tá an bia go dona, nach bhfuil?
Pádraigín:	Níl sé ródhona.

Note: The translation is located at the end of the chapter.

If you previously used Colloquial Irish, you may have read the ‘Dialect Appendix’ on pages 190–199 of that book. In Colloquial Irish 2, we will remind learners of those dialectal differences and introduce new ones directly in the text, offset in boxes. The dialogues in this book are in Connacht Irish. One dialectal difference that can be pointed out in reference to the above dialogue concerns Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? In Ulster, speakers say Cad é mar atá tú? (pronounced Goidé mar tá tú?). In Munster, speakers say Conas atá tú?

Starting with weather (Audio 1:3)

When we first meet others at a social occasion, we might begin by making a comment about the weather. This is especially the case on islands where the weather changes frequently, such as Ireland and Britain.

Tá lá bog ann.	It’s a soft [light rain] day.
Tá sé fliuch, ceart go leor.	It is wet, sure enough.
Tá drochlá ann.	It’s a bad day [weatherwise].
Níl sé fliuch, ach tá sé meirbh.	It is not wet, but it is close [humid].
Tá sé fuar.	It is cold.

Of course there are dozens of words to describe the weather. You can hear many of these words when watching TG4 live following the news or when listening to the news on the radio. Visit www.tg4.ie to learn more about the Irish language TV station. One of the radio stations that would have frequent weather reports is RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. Access that radio station at www.rte.ie/rnag/.

Excusing yourself (Audio 1:4)

When we are late to a social gathering, there are many ways to express sorrow for tardiness.

Tá brón orm go bhfuil mé deireanach.	Sorry that I am late.
Bhí an trácht an-trom.	The traffic was very heavy.
Tá tú ceart go leor. Ná bí buartha.	You are okay. Don’t worry.
Is cuma. Fadhb ar bith.	It doesn’t matter. No problem.

Although the adjective deireanach for late (and last) is taught here for Cois Fharraige Irish, déanach (late/last) can also be heard in this and other dialects. The vocabulary word mall can also be used for late in both Connacht and Ulster Irish; in Munster Irish, however, mall is more often used for slow than for late.

Cleachtadh 1/Exercise 1

Cén chaoi a bhfuil an aimsir? How is the weather? Write complete sentences for each region using the terms ...