Progress so far

Enough whining.  I may not be taking the class, but as I said, I'm learning the language anyway.

So, since the new year I haven't really done much to get started with the language (I'm pretty certain I was already ahead of the guys who will still be taking the class anyway, so getting any further ahead risked making the class boring).

So anyway, less than a week ago, I started watching Ros Na Rún again, spurred on by a mention Teango made of it on my main language blog (Lingua Frankly).

Now when I was watching this before, I did pick up a reasonable number of things -- either structures that are similar to something in Scottish Gaelic, or things that use similar words in a different way.

So I was familiar with things like "Tá mé [taw]" (I don't know the proper spelling of that last word) -- similar to "Tha mi taghta" (that's quite a Uist thing in Scottish Gaelic). I even spotted the use of "le" (with) to explain how long you've been doing something -- it's something that's getting less common in SG, but it's slán (healthy) in Irish.

I also recognise a few things that aren't exactly like Scottish Gaelic from previous false starts: "Tá brón orm", for example, which is completely different from the Scottish Gaelic for "I'm sorry" ("tha mi duilich"), but uses a structure which exists for other purposes in SG.

I've watched over 2 hours of the programme in just a few days, but I'll be running out soon (it's only on twice a week, about 25 minutes a time).  Anyway, there's plenty more stuff out there I can watch.

(Oh, but the irony! Ros na Rún is set in the Connemara Gaeltacht, and it's the Connemara dialect that they're teaching in the college.)