księżycowy wrote:Well, given my last post on this thread, Romance languages don't float my boat much. But I'm not you, so I'm glad you have a language you're into (as I would be with anyone with any language really).
They don't interest me much either from a linguistic perspective, I don't think I would have developed a particular passion for them if they weren't ubiquitous enough that they've crossed my path so many times.
księżycowy wrote:I personally wouldn't call Irish all that exotic. Lesser know, sure, but not my picture of exotic.
Well, maybe not the in "grass skirts and drinking out of a coconut" kind of way, but in the obscure and distant kind of way...
księżycowy wrote:At any rate, sorry to say this so late, but it's good to see you back!
Go raibh maith agat!
kevin wrote:I wasn't really thinking of living there again, but just spending a few days with some Spanish or Japanese speakers, which might be more likely to happen.
I'd say a good deal of it would come back if I rededicated myself to them for a few days/weeks and tried listening and reading as much as possible, but for Japanese, I'd very much have to go out of my way to do so. For Spanish, I know lots of Spanish speakers, but they all speak English far better than I speak Spanish, speaking to them in Spanish is a bit like "okay, let's let Ciarán do his little trick and then we can go back to having real conversations". I could find Spanish speakers with a more basic level of English who eould be easier to persuade to speak Spanish to me, but again, I'd have to go out of my way.
kevin wrote:Creidfidh mé é nuair a fheicfidh mé é.
Yeah, táim saghas abhógach (flakey, níl a fhios agam más é sin an focal is fearr a chur air) maidir leis an fóram seo, gath mo leithscéal!
kevin wrote:Primarily not Irish enough that I would have thought you'd content yourself with it.
Taking a different tack this time - I'm learning a language with hundreds of millions of speakers, where there are loads of opportunities to use it and media to consume in it. I not motovated by an interest in the language itself really, it's more what you can do with it once you know it. I actually know comparitively little about Portuguese grammar, but I can speak it far more fluently than I can Irish because I get hours of exposure every day, which would be almost impossible to acheive for Irish.
vijayjohn wrote:
For me at least, it's not at all about how exotic it is but rather about the fact that...I mean, it's at least your heritage language, right? I know firsthand what it's like to lose your heritage language. I wouldn't wish that on anyone even if I hated their guts.
I'm still interested in Irish, and still proud of it as part of my heritage, but it's difficult to integrate into your life. I didn't choose Portuguese randomly, it chose me, I have an opportunity/necessity to learn it that almost rivals living in a country where it's spoken. It's hard to do that with Irish (and I do live in a country where it is spoken!).