Dia duit everyone ! That means God to you in Gaelic (Irish language). This is literally how they say hello. They have no other way of saying it but God to you! Anyways, this has been a hard but wonderful journey, and for my class project I must answer five questions about the time I have had with learning Gaelic. The first question is what was my favorite part about this project? My favorite part was applying the phrases I'm learning to my everyday life. It's always fun to incorporate it in conversations. It helps me practice even though the other person may not understand. My least favorite part of this project was the fact that there are many different ways of saying Irish words all across Dublan and Ireland itself really. So it was hard to pinpoint one way of saying the phrase, but I eventually got down to one. The third question is, What do I like best about Genius Hour research?(Genius Hour being the name of the activity I am participating in). What I like best about Genius Hour research is the abundance of information I learn from it. It's like all the things I don't know and have always wanted to know, I know and understand. What I like LEAST about Genius Hour research is that it takes SO MUCH TIME out of your day. Especially when you pick something complex like learning languages. The helpful thing is that if you have a strong passion for it, like I do, then it helps with dealing with icons of the project. The most important thing that I have learned in this time about the way I learn and work is that whenever I choose to work on something and pursue a hard topic, I must create a timeslot in my day for it so that I don't get caught up at the last minute researching everything at once. So in all, I have learned to manage my time. Time management is part of the reason I don't have a lot of blog entries. I haven't been managing my time wisely. But no worries! This is not the end of my postings. I will pursue this project even after the end of Genius Hour. I'm determined to learn and grow in this research. Until next time! Beannacht leat go bhfeicfidh mé aris thú!

The first step! .... The accent..0.0

                   Lets learn Gaelic I say! But what's the first step? The accent. YIKES! I know. But thankfully this will only take up one of my posts.  So many things go into learning the Irish accent. For starters there's so many Irish accents! There's the North Dublan Irish accent. The "th" will turn into a "d" sound, and the "Ir" will become "oor". There's also the South Dublan Irish accent which is the same thing but more mixed with American phrases. So they'll say things like, "Oh my Gods", "Hellos!", and "Totallys!". There's also the stereotypical lepricon of American media, but never mind that. The one I will focus on is that of Northern Ireland. Hence, the actual place Gaelic originated.
                   So the Northern Ireland accent is quite similar to the North Dublan. You bring every phrase up at the end like a question, and you use all of the front of your mouth. For me I had to first go to the English accent and then slide to the Northern Ireland. Since I am American, its just easier that way. The same as North Dublan, the "th" is "d", and the "ir" is "oor". In this accent, I always feel like I am using my nose like the voicing is coming straight out from in between my teeth and my nose. It's also kind of like I am using my head voice, where everything is breathier and not as bright as the American accent.     
                  It's kind of funny if you witnessed me attempting to learn this accent. I would be in the cafeteria repeating phrases over and over, changing the shape of my mouth, and making so many annoying noises to sharpen the phrase that my friends thought something was wrong with me. Their first words to me were,"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?". I think you can imagine their reaction when I said I was learning Irish.
                  So many things go into learning the Irish accent. It's so hard! But it's the first step to getting the language right, so I am determined to do it.

Go to the Youtube links below if your interested in learning any Irish accents. I encourage you! It's fun!
I will post a video of my Irish accent soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9SApeProCY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2PHch4IPPQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fch8MqqhQw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNukOsD7Nuc - This one is where I got most of my info :)

Can i learn to speak an endangered language?

       Can I learn an endangered language? I hope so! I have a passion for learning languages , and have currently came from learning Ukrainian. It's not easy but it's not impossible! My goal is to learn endangered languages and help those languages grow.  A lot of them are really cool!
             I researched the most endangered languages of the world and found that there are many. But one that really caught my mind was that of the Irish language. Also known as Gaelic, the Irish language began to decline at the start of the British rule in Ireland in the seventeenth century. The fate of the language was influenced by the increasing power of the British, and by the end of the British rule, the language was spoken by less than 15% of the national population! Efforts have been made to revive the language but those efforts have not been too successful.
           This has motivated me to learn and explore the world and language of the Irish. I'm so excited! It may be random and foreign to me but that's what's so awesome about it. I'm so interested to see what the Irish are all about!
         I may fail and get frustrated with the Irish language, but I know I'm determined to see through this awesome project. So stay tuned, learn some words, and have fun with the videos I post! This is gonna be the best rollercoaster ride ever!