Anyone still doing WAYK for Gaelic?

[Kay Kro]

Hello, all!

I was wondering if there was anyone still alive and kicking that was using WAYK to teach/learn/teachlearn Gaelic through video chat? It's a heritage language of mine that I've been wanting to pick up, and I also want more exposure to the WAYK method (I've learned some Chinuk Wawa with some of the core team via google hangouts, but I want more exposure to WAYK, as well in a language that has more personal connection for me).

If not Gaelic, then Tagalog? Chinese? Spanish? I'm willing to settle. 

Happy language hunting!

KK

[Terry Simons]

Yeah, there are active communities of people doing "Tea with Grandpa" through Language Hunters (languagehunters.org).

To be clear - are you referring to Irish Gaelic or Scottish Gaelic?  I'm assuming Irish, but it's an important distinction.  If referring to Irish Gaelic you should call it "Irish".  Most Americans (for whatever reason) call it Gaelic, but to the Irish that means Scottish.  They instead prefer you refer to it as "Irish" or "Gaeilge", which is the Irish name for the language.

There's also an Irish course in Duo Lingo which is helpful once you have a bit under your belt.

You can find a bunch of Tea with Grandpa videos on YouTube from language hunters specifically in Irish, and they've got a pretty good game board and book to help you along.

Are you looking for folks online to do this with via hangouts, or in person?  I recommend in person, with at least 3 people but 4 is better.

Hangouts might work, but I think that could be super confusing unless you've got a really good leader.

Cheers,

- Terry

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[Seumas Macdonald]

I assumed he meant Scottish Gaelic, because that's what "Gaelic" usually refers to. Americans confuse me!

If that's the case, I do a bit of wayk-ing and can set you up with the fundamentals in Gaelic, but I'm too time-poor to commit to much more than the basics.

Seumas

[Terry Simons]

Hah... Well, I have a personal theory about why we Americans call it "Gaelic". Given that we had ancestors come over in the 1600/1700/1800s and our ancestors wouldn't have had a good way to communicate back home (no phones, spotty letters, etc) it's possible that the change occurred in a language reform in Ireland, and that American's referred to an older colloquial usage that generally referred to both Scottish and Irish, but I'm not sure.

There was at least one Irish language reform in the past century, but by that time any Americans with heritage would have been long ingrained with whatever old useage came over to the states and we'd have had no way of knowing the "proper" name.

It's also possible that there was just a mixup regarding the name, and it just stuck and we never knew any better. Gaeilge and Gaelic are far too similar, imo. The Wikipedia page on Scottish Gaelic also mentions that "Gaelic" may refer to Irish outside of Ireland and Great Britain: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic

I've met 0 Americans that knew it should be called "Irish" and 100% of the Americans I've met who even know that Ireland has a language that isn't English think that it's called "Gaelic" unless they are actively learning the language. In fact, it's common for people to say "You mean Gaelic?".

The vast majority of people think I'm trying to cultivate an Irish-English accent when I tell them I'm learning Irish. ;)

- Terry

[Seumas Macdonald]

Well, exonyms for language are always tricky. Scottish Gaelic was for a time called Irish in Scotland in English which was probably part of a general trend to foreignise it. I am not so much concerned about what things are 'properly' called - there's no intrinsic reason American English speakers can't call Irish Gaelic 'Gaelic', it's just confusing because it's not the convention in other Englishes. 

[Kay Kro]

Sorry about the delayed reply! For some reason, I didn't get an email telling me people were actice on the thread.

Thanks for the correction in regards to the wording. You are correct, I am interested in Irish. I was wondering what the distinction between the "Gaelic" and "Gaeilge" spellings was.

I would like to do it in person, but I'm in Chicago, and thus rather far away from other WAYK-ers/language hunters. I'll check out the Tea With Grandpa videos. I've played before on google hangouts (with Sky) and it did take some creativity to figure out how to make the TQ's work on video chat. 

Thanks!

KK