Or year. ‘Analu is a student in our online Hawaiian language class, and I can relate to his feelings. Since returning from Ireland some 3 and a half years ago, I’ve tried to make some progress with learning Gaeilge, only to give it up after a few weeks, and then starting from scratch again months later. Here’s the best part: “I do have a cassette for studying the language, but your podcast was the first time ever that I was able to hear Hawaiian as a true living language!” I know exactly how ‘Analu feels, as An tImeall and Cumann…
Nahenahe.net Podcasts going native.
I posted an announcement and a brief podcast on Nahenahe.net announcing my decision to cease the use of English in my podcasts. I’m sure some people will be unhappy with this decision, but I spent the better part of a week pondering. English is my native language, and Hawaiian my language of choice. I couldn’t justify starting another podcast just to do one in Hawaiian, and I didn’t want to do a Hawaiian language podcast and simply talk about Hawaiian language in it. As Conn does with his An tImeall podcast, I didn’t want Hawaiian to be simply the vehicle,…
Measuring Linguistic Diversity on the Internet.
Coincidences (or signs) seem to abound this week. Following Conn’s post and my reply on his upcoming decision on whether or not to begin posting in English as well as Irish, I recieved this link from a totally different source… “UNESCO has been emphasizing the concept of ‘knowledge societies’, which stresses plurality and diversity instead of a global uniformity in order to bridge the digital divide and to form an inclusive information society. An important theme of this concept is that of multilingualism for cultural diversity and participation for all the languages in cyberspace.” I should also note that Bernie…
To Gaeilge or not to Gaeilge, that is the question.
Conn at an tImeall posted about a topic that I’ve been agonizing over as well – weblog and podcast language choice. His blog is, of course, done in Irish. I was a bit surprised to see that the bulk of hist post today in English, though the accompanying podcast was still predominantly in Irish. His quandary – should he continue to blog and podcast in Irish exclusively (BTW, I like the term “GaelBlogs”), or to begin to also produce them in English as well. Is it better to have separate blogs for each language, or produce a dual language blog.…
Signs pointing to Belfast?
I don’t consider myself a particularly superstitious person, but I do look for signs in my life that sometimes help guide me in one direction or another when making decisions. Of course I don’t feel compelled to take a particular path, but I have noticed that when I see these signs and ignore them, I later wish that I had paid them more attention. I’m faced with the decision of choosing the school that I will attend to pursue a Ph.d., and have made a commitment make a choice by the end of this semester. As I have mentioned (more…
NUIG Irish language requirement removed.
[ From the Galway Independent ] A Bill was passed last week removing an obligation on NUI Galway to appoint people competent in the Irish language to offices or positions in the University. NUI Galway has welcomed the new legislation. Under the new legislation the University will still be required to ensure its strategic development plan contains a provision for the delivery of education through the Irish language.
First Welsh language protester locked up in 11 years.
The granddaughter of former president became the first Welsh language campaigner to be locked up in 11 years. Gwenno Teifi Ffransis was sent to a prison for five days after the 19-year-old refused to pay court-imposed compensation to a Welsh radio station. She damaged Radio Carmarthenshire’s Narberth studio in protest over its lack of Welsh broadcasts.
Funding to help business in city go bilingual.
[ From the Daily Ireland ] “Businesses in Belfast are being encouraged to embrace the Irish language with the relaunch of a scheme to help them benefit from using it more. Foras na Gaeilge is offering small to medium-sized enterprises funding to erect bilingual outdoor signs on their premises or produce brochures or websites in both Irish and English.” I’ve sometimes thought of starting a program in Hawai’i that would encourage the promotion of Hawaiian in the business arena. More and more my family and I encounter Hawaiian speakers that we don’t know, and learn this by some chance encounter.…
U2 Grabs 5 Grammys.
I was a good night to be Irish and in Los Angeles.
Messing with Perfection?
[ From the Irish Times ] Diageo promises their new mid-strength stout will offer the same taste and the same colour as full-strength Guinness, along with the distinctive head. Drinkers of Limerick will decide whether this reduced-alcohol version of Guinness goes on sale across Ireland later this year.