Hi Geri

Let me know how you progress on your Wire-strung Harp :)

Did you see the article about metal strings in the issure of Folk Harp
Journal that came out last week?

Joe





On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 6:39 PM, bayharper<bayharper@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- In clairseach@..., "Alasdair Codona" <calumcille@...>
> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Geri,
>>
>> Co. Galway and Co. Donegal apparently have the greatest numbers of
>> professedly fluent Irish speakers in the Irish Gaeltacht so this will be
>> what you're most likely to encounter even in the States.
>>
>> Munster Irish has something of an elevated place in literary history
>> though. In certain respects, it relates to the other forms of Gaelic as
>> would Spanish to French. It has kept more of the synthetic verbal forms than
>> other forms of Gaelic which tend more to split the person off from the verb.
>> This is like having Spanish penso, pensas, pensa instead of French je pense,
>> tu penses, il pense.
>>
>> It also has structural differences in word stress compared to other forms
>> of Gaelic: elsewhere the first syllable of a word is stressed but in
>> Munster, the stress can be moved onto other syllables. This has important
>> implications when it comes to relating words to musical rhythm. This would
>> like having Spanish word stress (any of the last three syllables) instead of
>> French word stress (generally on the last syllable); compare libro/livre,
>> comprendes/comprends, memoria/memoire stressing the same syllables but
>> música/musique, próximo/prochaine, magnífico/magnifique stressing different
>> syllables.
>>
>> Learners of any form of Gaelic are going to encounter different ways of
>> talking wherever they are. The media, whether the web, newspapers, radio or
>> television, will inevitably bring you into contact with different dialects
>> of Gaelic, either in written or in spoken form. The important thing is to
>> start off with one dialect and to graft knowledge about other dialects onto
>> your own core language.
>>
>> Pairings of monolingual Anglophones and bilingual native Irish speakers on
>> Live Mocha of course offer nothing to Irish speakers so that's out. Rosetta
>> Stone would cost far too much unless you can agree to share the cost and the
>> use with a group of trustworthy, like-minded individuals. Byki is free but
>> it is only a learning tool for memorising by drilling phrases (spoken in
>> Connaught Irish) with flashcards (althought it does have the impressive
>> option to press the tortoise and slow down the speech of the native speakers
>> so you can really listen to them). It will not explicitly teach you either
>> the connection between spelling and pronunciation or grammar.
>>
>> BBC Northern Ireland's Radio Ulster has a short beginners course which
>> displays the language points online. These are short aural lessons in Ulster
>> Irish and don't offer the exercise that the Byki cards would but they are
>> downloadable for free.
>>
>> Most people will need a full course, either by buying a book and tapes or
>> by doing an online course. Gaeltalk does a reasonably priced online
>> beginner's course which will teach you Munster Irish and offer you Skype
>> sessions online with native speakers. Have a look at the following webpages.
>>
>> http://www.gaeltalk.net/shop/
>> http://www.learn4good.com/distance_learn/ireland_online_irish_courses2.htm
>>
>> Congratulations on the progress so far!
>>
>> Beannachdan,
>>
>>
>>
>> Alasdair
>>
>> --- In clairseach@..., "bayharper" <bayharper@> wrote:
>> >
>> > First, I wanted to share the news that I have placed the deposit on my
>> > Student Trinity Harp. I am really excited. The Triplett wire harp has all
of
>> > its strings now and is beginning to hold its pitch. Actually, it is
sounding
>> > pretty good. I just have to add some satellite speakers to my laptop for
the
>> > Skype lessons with Ann and make arrangements with her to get started.
>> >
>> > Second, I have joined a forum called "Learning Irish". I asked for
>> > opinions on software and a program called "Transparent Language" BYKI was
>> > recommended. My concern is that the reason I want to learn Irish is to use
>> > it as an aide in learning the ancient music. Is there any special dialect I
>> > should be looking for? Or will a program like BYKI be sufficient for these
>> > needs? I appreciate any opinions.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Geri
>> >
>
> Dear Alasdair,
>
> Since your last post that provided me with much good information and
> direction, I have tried the free sample of Gaeltalk. While I like the
> format, the speakers talk so fast that I cannot quite catch the proper
> pronunciation of the words. I did buy their suggested book "Progress in
> Irish", but it is more a dictionary without pronunciation keys. I still
> think that Gaeltalk would be the best choice for me, but is there a book
> that you can recommend that would help me with pronunciation?
>
> Thank you,
> Geri
>>
>
>