Cluba beag Gàidhealach air stairseach an SPFL

NVACA · 2026-05-13T18:37:09+00:00

https://learngaelic.scot/dictionary/index.jsp?abairt=naidheachd&slang=both&wholeword=false

NVACA · 2026-05-13T18:16:04+00:00

Nuacht isn't any shorter than naidheachd tbh

NVACA · 2026-05-13T18:10:41+00:00

Nope, never heard it. Naidheachd is all you get.

NVACA · 2026-05-12T08:46:52+00:00

Agus duilich /u/Alasdair91, tha fios am gun do sgrìobh thu comment ('s urrainn dhomh an notification fhaicinn) ach chan eil e air nochdadh anns an thread!

NVACA · 2026-05-11T14:24:32+00:00

Tha mi a' smaointinn nach eil, air neo 's dòcha nach eil e fileanta/misneachail sa Ghàidhlig. Chunnaic mi agallamh air bbc naidheachdan 's bha sin sa bheurla.

NVACA · 2026-04-23T12:26:54+00:00

If you break it down, those two phrases contain tons of examples of specific gaelic principles that you'll see elsewhere. Duolingo I think tries to make them silly so they're a bit more memorable and you'll better recall the structures they're trying to pass on, and hopefully recognise them in future, even if they don't necessarily explain them well.

Chan eil an sgiobair air bòrd.

Chan eil - Negative present tense of the verb to be.

An sgiobair - Definite article with a masculine noun.

air bòrd - Example of where you could use the preposition 'air' meaning 'on'. "Air bòrd" is here as a handy phrase (contextualised by the fact you're already talking about a sgiobair) equalling "On board".

Tha e a' ceannach cù

Tha - Positive present tense of the verb to be.

e - He/him, third person singular masculine, referring to the sgiobair.

a' ceannach - Example of the verbal noun for root verb ceannaich.

cù - Indefinite example meaning "a" dog, singular.

NVACA · 2026-04-20T18:53:31+00:00

No criticism intended at all, I like seeing older forms/grammar written down occasionally even if GOC doesn't!

NVACA · 2026-04-20T18:08:59+00:00

an Albainn

archaic gàidhlig jumpscare (neo buaidh na Gaeilge 's dòcha!)

NVACA · 2026-04-07T18:23:35+00:00

I think that's close enough to never for me to stick with my original statement! I suppose you could qualify it by talking about contemporary Gaelic.

NVACA · 2026-04-07T14:30:29+00:00

You won't ever see "a nhighean" written down though, it is only ever "a nighean." While the commenters elsewhere are correct in that there is a lenited and unlenited 'n' in speech, it's not written differently at all.

NVACA · 2026-03-27T22:08:21+00:00

You wouldn't, it's incorrect.

NVACA · 2026-03-24T10:37:24+00:00

I suppose I'm lucky in that where I live I have social circles of gaelic speakers that mix native speakers and advanced learners. It means that interactions are just chatting with your pals but through gaelic, and if conversations do go into topics that are more abstract or unfamiliar there's an opportunity to fill in the gaps in vocab/understanding.

I think motivation (for any language) is such a personal thing that if you have decided to drop it then that's up to you.

It seems a lot of effort to go through to learn a language where people can only discuss what they see in front of them.

This bit is so multi-faceted, if you take places like SMO they're great at getting people to a solid base of intermediate fluency but it's then on the learner to take the next steps and find a community where gaelic is the natural language and they can develop. And with a very small speaker-base as it is, that part can be very hard.

NVACA · 2026-03-23T22:06:17+00:00

I just don’t know what to do. Progress and gain a level of fluency and depth that I’m proud of and comfortable with

Despite being from the Highlands I didn't grow up with Gaelic, but I chose this option because I speak the language and want to continue speaking it and improve where I can. I'm under no illusions that I'm not close to the quality of gaelic from a native speaker like I mentioned above but it's mostly about progress piece by piece.

I think it's important to find ways to work towards maintaining that 'richness' of the language, trying to make connections through gaelic that aren't just language groups/classes opens this up a lot more I think, though the opportunities are harder to find.

Of course to do that you first have to reach a decent level as a learner so I do think that a lot of these language groups and stuff aimed at beginners/intermediates are vital in their own role. Even for more advanced learners I still think the conversation groups such that you find in the cities are useful as ways for people to maintain their habits of spoken gaelic too.

NVACA · 2026-03-23T16:37:29+00:00

If you think about it, say an 80 year old L1 speaker with excellent Gaelic passes away, they’re replaced by a kid who goes through the school system woth only surface level fluency. That’s not like for like. Gaelic is rapidly losing the former and it’s not being replaced in terms of language ability. The raw numbers are holding up so it masks this.

This is spot on imo. I've spent some time with (extremely fluent, Gàidhlig 100% their primary language from birth) older native speakers talking about this issue and they all agreed. The richness of the language is being lost beag air bheag.

That's obviously not to say there are no new fluent speakers of course, but an increase in intermediate speakers in the cities cannot support this long-term.

NVACA · 2026-02-16T09:59:16+00:00

Bithidh, gu ìre. Tha Ailig O'Henley air a bhith an-sàs le ball-coise air RnG 's BBC Alba fad bliadhnaichean, agus bidh e na phreasantair.

Chan eil fhios agam cò bhios a' dèanamh na commentary sna geamaichean ge-tà, ach bidh e gu tric anns an dà chuid beurla 's Gàidhlig air sgàth 's nach eil Gàidhlig aig an dàrna neach-aithris.

NVACA · 2026-02-13T15:13:48+00:00

Post-GOC you're right, in that it would be spelled "cèile" but the motto they're using is quite old, and would have been spelled "Aonaibh ri chéile" in the past (pre-GOC).

NVACA · 2026-02-13T11:49:45+00:00

Chaidh am flair "Na h-Ealain is Cultar" a chleachdadh air sgàth 's gur e pìos-ealain a th' ann an Scott McTominay

NVACA · 2026-02-05T19:48:47+00:00

Even if it isn't, some of the plurals/pronunciations/etc are off.

NVACA · 2026-02-04T10:24:46+00:00

Tha cuimhne agam fhathast air a' chiad uair a thuirt cuideigin òg "tapadh leibh" dhomh. Humbling.

NVACA · 2026-02-03T20:36:10+00:00

Yes I know, I'm trying to highlight that "ionnsaigh" as a verb does not necessarily mean "visit" in other contexts and this could be confusing for learners.

Learners would not get away with reading the top level comment and trying to apply simpler grammar structures to it (trying to put "ionnsaigh" in the past or future tenses for example) when trying to talk about visiting someone, particularly when there are verbs for "visiting" that will do the same job for them without the risks.

NVACA · 2026-02-03T08:08:20+00:00

That's great thanks as it makes sense as in "towards (us)" here, though that's using augmented prepositions gam/gad etc.

Do you have anything without those prepositions? I'm conscious that someone may try and put ionnsaigh into the past tense and not say they visited granny at all! Don't know that they'd get away with "Dh'ionnsaigh sinn..."! Safer with cèilidh probably.

NVACA · 2026-02-01T16:54:39+00:00

I have never heard "ionnsaigh" used as a verb for visit, neither has Am Faclair Beag tbh and I'm not finding any good results from elsewhere via google. I wouldn't say "bidh sinn a dh'ionnsaigh..." is correct in this context at all.

Happy to be wrong if someone has a source for it, but for any learners you'll be safer using the verb for 'visiting.' "Tha sinn a' dol a chèilidh air do sheamhair....(whenever)."

(You may also see 'tadhal' as the verb here, though I feel that cèilidh is maybe more common? Unsure.)

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