Fiona
Don't panic! Gaelic follows the English!
Hi, My name is Fiona and I live in a small town called Gunnedah in Australia.
I have only just started learning Gaelic, first of all from a book and cassette set (horrible!) and now from Beag air Bheag. The second option is definitely the best. I have found it difficult to learn a written language and then translate into spoken - I only end up making a fool of myself with my pronunciations.
I started to learn Gaelic because it is such a beautiful language, but I was spurred on by the thought of helping to save a language from becoming extinct. I want to move to Scotland sometime in the future and I believe that speaking Gaelic will help my get a job and will also help me be accepted by the locals.
I don't get to speak Gaelic in my everyday life.
The picture I chose is very beautiful and is the type of place where I would love to live. The yellow would remind me very much of the yellow wattle we have here in Australia.
I don't know any Gaelic expressions, but I found some good ones on the Internet. I particularly like
"Cò an caora sin còmhla riut a chunnaic mi an-raoir?" (Who was that sheep I saw you with last night?) and
"Cha b'e sin caora, 'se sin mo chèile a bha innte!" (That was no sheep, that was my spouse!).
They remind me of the old joke about the lady asking the butcher if he had a sheep's head, and he said that it was just the way he parted his hair.
Hi, ‘s e Fiona an t-ainm a th' orm agus tha mi a' fuireach ann am baile beag leis an ainm Gunnedah ann an Astràilia. Tha mi dìreach aig toiseach tòisichidh, fhuair mi leabhar is teip agus a-nis le Beag air Bheag, agus is e seo an rud as fheàrr leam, bha e doirbh a bhith ag ionnsachadh cànan sgrìobhte agus an uair sin, bha e doirbh a bhith a' bruidhinn, bha na fuaimean neònach. Thòisich mi air Gàidhlig ionnsachadh oir ‘s e cànan àlainn a th'innte, ach bha mi nas diongmhalta nuair a dh'ionnsaich mi gun robh an cànan a' crìonadh. Tha mi an dùil a dhol a dh'fhuireach a dh' Alba san àm ri teachd tha mi a' smaointinn gum biodh e cuideachail nam biodh Gàidhlig againn son obair fhaighinn is càirdean fhaighinn. Chan eil cothrom agam son a bhith a' bruidhinn Gàidhlig nam beatha làitheil. Thagh mi an dealbh seo oir bu mhath leam a bhith a' fuireach ann an àite mar seo agus tha na flùraichean buidhe gu math coltach ri flùraichean Astràilianach. Chan eil mi eòlach air tòrr abairtean Gàidhlig ach lorg mi feadhainn matha air an eadar-lion, is fìor thoigh leam.
"Cò a' chaora sin còmhla riut a chunnaic mi an-raoir?"
"Cha b'e sin caora, 's e mo chèile a bha innte!"
Tha e a' cur nam chuimhne am fealla-dhà mun bhoireannach aig a' bhùidsear, agus ‘s i a' faighneachd a bheil ceann-chaorach aige agus tha e ag ràdh gur e sin am bearradh fuilt.
