Today I had my first Irish language class and I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. The pronunciation of some of the words is even stranger than I expected it to be, but the instructor is helpful in providing us with phonetic keys.
As of right now I can introduce myself, say hello, goodbye, order coffee or tea, and say thank you. Also, we learned how to ask people to speak slowly, and then even more slowly. From what I've heard around town so far it seems like everyone has their own way of making the different sounds so the same word sounds different depending on who is speaking. We are also only learning the Connacht dialect, which includes counties Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo. The West of Ireland has one of the larger "Gaeltacht" regions in the republic, which means Irish is spoken as the primary region. The whole region of Connemara, to the east of Galway, has lots of residents who still speak only Irish. The first week in November the Irish courses will have the opportunity to go and spend a long weekend in the Carna Gaeltacht so we can practice our Irish, learn Sean-nós ("old-style") dancing, and get to see the countryside.
I will let everyone know how my lessons are going! So far so good.
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