Wednesday 30 April 2008

Gorseth Kernow


...de Red Orbit:

The bustling streets of East and West Looe came to a standstill on Saturday morning as a procession of around 70 blue-robed Bards brought their message of Cornish unity to the twin ports.

In bright sunshine, members of Gorsedh Kernow, led by piper Merv Davey, temporarily halted trade as shoppers - many wearing bemused expressions - watched the spectacle.

With its roots in ancient times, Gorsedh Kernow is an organisation dedicated to the preservation of Cornwall's identity and distinctiveness through literature, language, music and the arts, and the recognition of all forms of important service to its people.

Each year a Gorsedh ceremony is held in a different part of Cornwall - and Saturday's event represented the formal adoption of Looe as the venue for this year's full gathering, on September 6…

… The entire ceremony is conducted in Kernewek - the Cornish language - and as tradition dictates, the circle of Bards are asked first by their Herald to announce the call of the Gorsedh to all points of Cornwall...

Morgane Cloitre


...de Le Télégramme:

Entrée à Diwan en 1981, Morgane Cloitre a fait partie des promotions de la première heure de l’école en breton. Aujourd’hui, à 28 ans, elle est naturellement bilingue et se passionne pour le droit et... le breton.

« Le breton, c’est ma langue maternelle au même titre que le français ». Morgane Cloitre qui habite Loc-Eguiner-Ploudiry (29) jongle avec les deux langues au quotidien. Le français avec sa famille. Le breton, elle le parle avec son frère (qui s’y est mis à 18 ans), ses amis de promo et, depuis peu, avec son petit garçon, Pol, né il y a six mois. « Il fait déjà la distinction entre les deux langues », s’émerveille-t-elle. Morgane a commencé à apprendre le breton à la maternelle, à une époque où Diwan en était à ses balbutiements...

Irlandalingvo en Oksfordo


...de la Oxford Mail:

A new community group is being formed, aimed at keeping the Irish Gaelic language alive and well in Oxford.

Posters have been pinned up in pubs and supermarkets and organisers are keen to get the group established as soon as possible.

Dublin-born Loretta Plunkett, 76, has lived in Oxford since 1991.

She told the Oxford Mail she used to attend Irish language classes in the city, but that several years ago numbers dwindled and the classes stopped.

For years she has travelled to her homeland for three or four weeks annually, to keep up to scratch by staying with an Irish-speaking family...

But - along with friend and fellow Irishman Barry O'Riordan - she has set her sights on starting up a new Irish conversation group in her adopted city. About 3,000 Irish people are thought to live in Oxford.

Kimralingvo sur Turneo


...de la Evening Leader:

A week of promoting the Welsh language is under way, as figures show the number of speakers and learners in a county is growing.

Aiming to promote use of the Welsh language in schools, communities, and the workplace among Welsh speakers, learners and non-Welsh speakers across the county, the Welsh on Tour week is in full swing.

Gwawr Cordiner, chief officer for language body Menter Iaith, who organise the week, said: "The Flintshire Welsh On Tour week's timetable is full of an exciting variety of activities and events which reflect the wide use of the language and culture across Flintshire."

Tuesday 29 April 2008

"Dingle Daingean Ui Chuis"


…de Agence France-Presse:

The town of Dingle, one of Ireland's best-known tourist destinations, won its battle on Tuesday against a government edict to adopt the Irish language version of its name.

Under a 2004 order enacted by Irish Affairs Minister Eamon O Cuiv, Dingle became Daingean as part of a move requiring over 2,300 towns to adopt Gaelic names.

The order reversed a British mapping programme that started in 1824 and resulted in mainly anglicised names.

But in a local plebiscite two years ago, 1,005 of the 1,222 residents of the southwestern town opted for the bilingual compromise of "Dingle Daingean Ui Chuis"...

Monday 28 April 2008

Bretona kaj Kornvala Lingvoj por Skybus?


29 Mys Ebrel, 2008

Mr. Jeff Marston
Isles of Scilly Steamship Group
Chi an Gorholyon-Tan
Stret an Kay
Pensans TR18 4BZ
Kernow

Dear Sir:

I am both heartened and intrigued by a recent newspaper article in which you cited your Welsh-language website for Skybus.

This certainly reflected a forward-thinking vision on the part of your organization.

Indeed one wishes that more of your competitors, as well as organizations in other industries within the private sector would emulate you in this regard.

Given the Skybus serves Brittany and that your headquarters are based in Cornwall, have you ever considered expanding into the Breton and Cornish languages?

I am certain that Ofis ar Brezhoneg (
http://www.ofis-bzh.org) and the Cornish Language Partnership (http://www.magakernow.org.uk) would be able to assist you with Breton and Cornish respectively.

Again, I commend and thank you for your company’s recognition of the place of the Welsh language.

Gaelscoileanna



Gaelscoileanna around the country are turning hundreds of children away, as they do not have the capacity to cope with the volume of applicants.

Some Irish language schools are so oversubscribed that they cannot take applications for the next two years.

There are 169 primary gaelscoileanna outside Gaeltacht areas and 43 secondary, which cater for 35,500 students, and a further 139 primary and post-primary schools in Gaeltacht areas catering for 9,500 students...

Saturday 26 April 2008

Atestantoj de Jehovo & la Kimralingvo en Patagonio


...de la BBC:

As we drive past, my shaky Spanish is just good enough to read the sign that shows this is going to be a new church for the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Getting back to the house of my host in Gaiman in Patagonia that night, we find a phone message from that very church.

They need some help. A translation for their new sign. They want it to be bilingual.

No, not Spanish and English. Spanish and Welsh.

Because this is Welsh Patagonia, the place where, in 1865, emigrants came from Wales seeking a refuge where they could speak their own language and practise their nonconformist religion in peace.

Irlandalingvo por la Novaj Irlandanoj


...de la Derry Journal:

A fascinating event aiming to introduce foreign nationals to the Irish language will take place in Derry next week.

The “Irish for the New Irish” workshop will take place in Room MI022, Aberfoyle House, on the Magee Campus of the University of Ulster on Wednesday, April 30 (10.30 am.-1 p.m.).The event - organised as part of the programme for Community Relations Week - will be hosted by Mary Delargy, a a researcher in minority ethnic communities at UU’s Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages.
She says: “Recent years have seen a large number of people choosing to make their home in our country - from the Chinese and Indian communities who settled here in the last century to the people from Eastern Europe who arrived in the last five years. This workshop aims to introduce them to the Irish language in local place names, in words we use in English and by the end of the session to a few useful phrases in Irish.”

The event is free but advance booking is essential. Those interested should contact Mary Delargy on 02871375398 or delargy@ulster.ac.uk.

Friday 25 April 2008

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, TD


Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, TD
Teach Laighean
Sráid Chill Dara
Baile Átha Cliath 2, Éire
ocaolain@oireachtas.ie
(Kluku sur la bildo. / Gliogáil ar an íomhá.)

Kornvala Ortografio


…de la Agence Bretagne Presse:

It has not been an easy matter, getting agreement on a standard written form for the Cornish language. But Jenefer Lowe, Cornish Language Officer for Cornwall County Council in an interview for Radyo Kernew, has said that an announcement can be expected by the end of this month (April).

But we shall have to wait and see whether this will mean that from next September the language will be gradually introduced into schools and whether there will be some official documents in the language.

And although the official British government supported Cornish Language Partnership appeared some weeks ago to be coming to the opinion that the most widely used Kernewek Kemmyn (Common Cornish) would form the basis of the new orthography, supporters of other forms are reluctant to agree...

Irlanda Festo en Novjorko


...de la Irish Voice:

When the weather starts to warm up in spring time, everyone is anxious to get out of the house and enjoy the start of the outdoor festival season.

It’s true for those folks at the Irish Arts Center as well as they escape for a day from their West 51st Street home in Hell’s Kitchen for a day on the Hudson River for their seventh annual New York City Irish Dance Festival on Saturday, May 4 from 1-8 p.m...

… Area two will have Irish language sessions for adults from 1:15 to 2 p.m. and for children at 2:15 p.m., followed by an Irish song circle at 3:30 p.m. and Moloney’s panel discussion at 4:30 p.m. Area three will be a space for music sessions to spring up all afternoon, while face-painting and arts and crafts for children will occupy area four...

Mary Jane Lamond


...de The Guardian (Insulo de Princo Eduardo):

Mary Jane Lamond burst onto the music scene as the hypnotic Gaelic voice behind Ashley MacIsaac’s hit song Sleepy Maggie in 1995.

Thirteen years, four CDs and countless concerts later, she has become one of the best-known Gaelic singers in the world.

“At this point in my career, I get to do a variety of things, but my favourite is performing,” says Lamond, who will be in Georgetown for a concert at Kings Playhouse on Saturday at 8 p.m.

“I’m so excited. It’s the first time I’ve ever performed there. It’s also been a long time since I’ve played with a full band. These days I’m mainly a guest performer so it will be fun to get back with everyone again,” says Lamond...

Pàrlamaid na h-Alba


...de la Stornoway Gazette:

The words 'Pàrlamaid na h-Alba' are to be introduced into the Scottish Parliament's official logo it was announced today (Friday).

The Gaelic for 'Scottish Parliament' will begin appearing from today on new parliamentary publications, transforming the Crown and Saltire device into a bilingual English–Gaelic logo.

The move comes as part of the Parliament's Gaelic Language lan, required under The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, which seeks to give effect to the principle that the Gaelic and English languages should be accorded equal respect...

Thursday 24 April 2008

Dún Bleisce


…de la Herald Sun:

A village in the southwest of Ireland has won a battle to get its ancient name, "harlot", restored.

For centuries, the village in County Limerick, known as Doon in English, had been known in Gaelic as Dun Bleisce, or Fort of the Harlot, but the name was changed in 2003.

The village's Gaelic name was changed to An Dun, or The Fort in Gaelic, on the advice of the country's Placenames Commission, the official arbiter of names in Irish.

The unpopular move resulted in about 1000 locals signing a petition seeking to have "harlot" added back to the name. They were backed by local politicians...

Raidió na Gaeltachta


...de la Irish Independent:

There are no plans to allow any advertising on Irish language radio station Raidio na Gaeltachta despite interest from some potential advertisers.

The head of advertisers' body IAPI told the Irish Independent that RnaG could certainly secure some advertising "if the price was right".

"With Irish becoming an EU language you'd have advertising from Government departments, then there's the likes of Conradh na Gaeilge, and then there's all the brands associated with Gaelic games," said IAPI's Sean McCrave.

"There's also been a real revival in Irish amongst the nouveau riche, so you could see some interest in advertisers targeting them."...

Wednesday 23 April 2008

La Drako Blekegas


…de Dylan Phillips:

Of the six Celtic languages that have survived until modern times, it is probably Welsh that today enjoys the strongest position of them all. At this time, over half a million people in Wales still speak Welsh, and with the advent of the Welsh National Assembly in 1999 it
was declared one of Wales’s two official languages.

Welsh-medium education is freely available throughout the country, it has its own radio and television service, and you can even buy a Welsh-language version of the famous BigMac in Wales—namely the Mac Mawr. What greater proof of the language's vitality could there possibly be?

However, behind the current comparatively healthy position of Welsh lies a tale of immense endeavour, perseverance, courage, sacrifice and sheer guts. Because less than fifty years ago, you'd easily have been excused for thinking that Welsh wouldn't survive to see the third millennium. So during my paper I'd like to examine the miraculous recovery the Welsh language has witnessed during the last half century, and the key part played in that recovery by civil disobedience...

Tuesday 22 April 2008

Ar Redadeg


…de Le Journal du Pays Basque:

A l’occasion des 30 ans des écoles d’immersion Diwan, la première Ar Redadeg, course pour la langue, cousine bretonne de la Korrika est organisée à grand renfort d’animations, d’enthousiasme et de soutien de Seaska et AEK du Pays Basque…

….Cela faisait un moment que l’idée leur trottait dans la tête alors les parents de Diwan ont sauté sur l’occasion des 30 ans de la fédération des écoles en immersion en langue bretonne pour se lancer dans la course. Dans les starting-blocks le 1er mai à minuit précis à Nantes, les bretonnants vont s’élancer pour leur première Ar Redadeg -la course- et parcourir 600 km jusqu’à arriver à Carhaix le 3 mai à 17h au beau milieu de la fête des Diwan...

Na Ceithearna Coille


…as Lá Nua:

I ndiaidh na blianta fada a chaitheamh ag fanacht go ciúin foighneach ar thaobh sléibhe agus ag bun gleanna, ar chúl eastáit tithíochta agus ar chlaí carrchlós, tá seabhaic na ndaoine ar ais arís chun teachtaireacht na nGael a scaipeadh go fairsing forleathan, go feiceálach fiannach. Tá na Ceithearna Coille ar ais ar an bhóthar.

Tá sé mar aidhm ag na Ceithearna Coille láithreacht na Gaeilge a ardú ar fud na hÉireann agus a chur in iúl don saol Fódlach go bhfuil teanga dhúchais na tíre beo beathach bocléimneach.

Tá sé de sprioc againn chomh maith a chur i gcuimhne do bhunaíocht na Gaeilge nach féidir luí siar ar an obair thábhachtach atá romhainn mar phobal.

Is eol do na 100,000í cainteoir atá againn go bhfuil spraoi agus spiorad inár dteanga ach is rí-annamh a thugann na meáin Bhéarla aird ar bith uirthi, nó ar na daoine a labhraíonn í. Ba mhaith linn sin a athrú... .

Caerdydd


…de la BBC:

Programme makers who filmed a sex scene in the Welsh assembly building for a drama series did not make officials aware of its nature, it has emerged.

Caerdydd (Cardiff) a Welsh language drama series broadcast on S4C, featured the scene shot in a Senedd toilet in a recent episode.

But the Assembly Commission who approved the filming said they thought it would be a "conversation scene".

S4C said it was investigating the matter and had contacted producers.

Edukaj Kriterioj


…de la Belfast Telegraph:

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane was today embroiled in a new controversy as it emerged that a vital strategy to improve the dire reading and maths standards of young people leaving school will be delayed by up to two months - because it has to be translated into Irish.

The Department of Education has confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that the important Literacy and Numeracy Strategy will now "probably" be issued for consultation in June - just as schools are preparing to close for their long summer break…

…Sinn Fein Fermanagh/South Tyrone MLA and Irish speaker Barry McElduff said that he supported Caitriona Ruane's plan to translate the document into Irish.

" I regret that Irish language speakers are always placed in a defensive position when it comes to the promotion of the Irish Language," he said...

Monday 21 April 2008

Menter Patagonia


...de la Daily Post:

Two Welshmen have gone to Patagonia to help teach Welsh to Argentinians – including many who are of Welsh descent.

James Williams and Dyfed Sion will be staying there for 10 month s and will be the first two to work for a new project called Menter Patagonia.

The aim of the Mentrau is to facilitate the use of Welsh on a community level.
This scheme will be a partnership set up through the following organisations Mentrau Iaith Cymru, Yr Urdd, the Argentinean Welsh Society (Cymdeithas Cymru Ariannin), and The British Council.

Sunday 20 April 2008

Lámh Fada na gCeithearna Coille!

Grand Central Station, Nua Eabhrac/Novjorko


Manskaj Fervojaj Signoj


...de la Isle of Man Today:

The Steam Railway has unveiled a series of bi-lingual station signs displaying places in Manx as well as English.

The new signs, introduced ahead of the summer season, are designed to celebrate the Manx language and educate rail users to places' original names.

Pictured at Doolish next to one of the signs is the 1874 locomotive Loch about to set out with the 4.20pm train to Purt Chiarn.

Presbiteriana Eklezio de Barbeque


...de la Fayetteville Observer:

Times change. Heck, even centuries change.


But the door remains unlocked for all who would enter at Barbecue Presbyterian Church.

This weekend, as the red brick church nestled off N.C. 27 celebrates its 250th anniversary, many stories about the region’s oldest continually operating church that stays open at all hours will be told...

...Barbecue remains a church as rich in history as in faith. Until the end of the Civil War, it was one of the few churches on American soil to hold services in the Gaelic language, and the slaves who are buried in the lowland to the west of the church were well-versed in the language.

The church itself got its name not from pork, but from property. According to Cameron, a new settler to the area named “Red” McNeill saw steam rising from a nearby creek. It reminded him of the meat-cooking pits he had seen in the Caribbean, and he named the creek Barbecue Creek. The name became official in the early 1750s, as settlers began moving into the area.

Skeeal


...de la Scotsman:

This contemporary folk group is unusual on two counts: they sing in the Manx language (also Gaelic and English) and the instrumental melodic lead is taken by woodwind, with nary a fiddle in sight.
One traditional old-style wooden flute and a modern metal Boehm system stack up fine harmony lines.

Three singers share the vocal lead and one guitar supplies a rhythmic bed.
While the dance tunes sound quite Irish, they're sourced both locally and from across the sea gaps.

Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann


…de la Sunday Business Post:

Funding is available for media research projects from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).

Areas of interest include such topics as implementing the EU audiovisual media services directive; Irish language and Irish music on mainstream radio, political advertising, media concentration, and digital audio broadcasting in Ireland.

The BCI intends that two projects will receive €16,000 funding each year. Applications are sought under any one of three categories: short, medium or long-term research.

Friday 18 April 2008

Gnó Mhaigh Eo


…de la Mayo Advertiser:

Individuals and companies in Mayo that are eager to incorporate the Irish language in their work ethos can now avail of a new support network, advice and consultancy from Gnó Mhaigh Eo.

Based in Westport,
Gnó Mhaigh Eo is a business advisory and consultancy firm that helps companies increase their profile, profits and performance by utilising the Irish language medium.

Gnó Mhaigh Eo is now set to establish a new business network, database and marketing initiative to support, promote and advise companies in the county that are eager to tap into the rapidly growing Irish language market...

Kimro kaj Eŭskio


...de la Western Mail:

The Welsh Affairs Select Committee is to travel to the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Bilbao to learn about globalization.

According to the committee’s chairman, Aberavon MP Hywel Francis, the proudly autonomous nations of northern Spain, Catalonia and the Basque country, of which the two cities are the capitals, have adapted far better to the modern world than Wales…

…“We are particularly interested in the Basque country,” Dr Francis said.

“We learned 25 years ago about developing co-operatives from Mondragon and we are going out there to see how they are developing and using the co-operatives to support and in order to serve the tide of globalisation.”..

…Caernarfon MP Hywel Williams, a committee member, said Wales could learn from the independent media of the Basque Country and Catalonia where he said many more people read a daily newspaper in their own language.

He said: “We will certainly be looking at the way the media are dealing with influences from outside.

“Eighty per cent of people in Wales read newspapers from England. Speaking for myself, I am worried that the reality of life in Wales is not being reflected for most Welsh people because they are not reading newspapers which do that job.”...

Irlando kaj Francio


...de VEF:

A rare half an hour in control of the remote led to me to watch an innovative programme by comedian Des Bishop entitled “In the Name of the Fada”…

…Watching this programme I was amazed firstly by the level of knowledge that I actually have of our native language but more importantly, I began to really feel a real sense of pride and honor to be able to speak this language that has defied history and is still today a living language and now one recognized by the European Parliament….

…It is perhaps this strong sense of national identity that both nations share that has helped forged a special relationship with France over the years, and why today France still remains one of the most popular destinations for overseas property buyers....

Thursday 17 April 2008

Plurlingva Reklamo

...de la blogo, From the Balcony, de Máirtín Ó Muilleoir:

Anyhow more interesting pictures to follow of the new Continental airways ad campaign on the subway in New York which asks in a trillion languages if you have business to do in Amsterdam, Beijing, Sao Paulo etc with the poster language being the language of those cities.
For Belfast, however, the poster asks in English, "Doing Business in Belfast?"

This will only add petrol to the flames of Daithí's campaign to get Continental to introduce Irish greetings on their flights to Dublin AND Belfast.

Simon Mackenzie


...de All Media Scotland:

One of the shining luminaries of the Gaelic community, Simon Mackenzie, has died. He was aged 58.

Harris-born, he was primarily known by the public for his acting role as college principal in the BBC’s Gaelic soap opera, Machair, between 1993 and 1998.

He was greatly respected among fellow Gaels as a radical activist who practised myriad Gaelic art disciplines over a 30-year career...

Ródseó na Gaeilge


…de la Strabane Chronicle:

Ródseó na Gaeilge is out on the road again during April 2008. An initiative developed and implemented by the Irish language umbrella group, Pobal, the Ródseó uses the Arts, especially music, to help promote the spoken Irish language.

Sponsored by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Ródseó consists of two parts: a workshop aimed at young people during the day in a local Irish medium school or cultural centre.; then a concert, that is open to all, is held that night. The tickets for the concerts are only £8 per adult, £4 per child, with special rates for family tickets or school groups.

"The Ródseó first started in 2004 with six concerts but has since gone from strength to strength year on year," said Liam Stone, Arts Development Officer with Pobal…

Kimralingva Eduko


...de la Western Mail:

Welsh Higher Education is facing both a challenge and opportunity in the creation of structures and provision to enable students to study part of their degree programme through the medium of Welsh.

Universities and colleges across the higher education sector in Wales have been working together for more than a year through a network supported by the Higher Education Funding Council and organised by Higher Education Wales. This network allows us all to develop a shared understanding of the demand and to plan strategically to respond to that demand.

The changes in the education system across Wales during the past 30 years have led to a generation of young people who have received a significant proportion of their primary and secondary education in the Welsh language…

...As a consequence of a planned strategic approach to bilingual study, we saw at Bangor University a 20% increase in the level of Welsh-medium study in 2006-07, which is an unprecedented increase in an academic year.

This increase would not have been possible without the active support of the heads of colleges, the team that support the bilingual Blackboard platform and the planning office.

A team effort and strategic ownership at Bangor University is making a significant contribution to creating a highly- qualified bilingual work force in Wales.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

Lernu Manksalingvon!


...de Ynsee Gaelg:

Welcome to Learn Manx (Ynsee Gaelg) a web site dedicated to the Gaelic language of the Isle of Man. Regardless of whether you are new to the language or a fluent speaker then we hope this new resource will help you to find out more about Manx Gaelic, Çhengey ny Mayrey, Ellan Vannin.

King Godred Crovan (Ree Gorree) is one of the great leaders of Manx history and he, or someone claiming to be him, will escort you through the Manx lessons. Good luck with your Manx; it’s one of the Island’s greatest cultural assets and with your support will continue to be a living language for generations to come.

Colm O’Snodaigh


…de la Irish Voice:

One of the most exciting bands to come out of Ireland in many a decade is Kila. They are traditional musicians with an almost pagan disregard for the genre, throwing rain sticks, bongo pattering and other international textures into their Irish stew.

It’s a thrill each time one of them steps away from the pack, and the new release from Colm O’Snodaigh, Giving, is no exception. He trades in the tribal textures for a good old-fashioned acoustic guitar for his first solo album since 1994...

…He even recruits Lisa Hannigan for this project. I almost thought she joined the witness protection program since leaving the company of Damien Rice last year. Over a watery guitar, she sings a beautiful Gaelic coupling on “Uaireannta” and adds a subtle vocal brush stroke on “Rol On-Roll On.” There is a restless element of percussion in the title track that complements Hannigan’s lo-fi humming perfectly.

Like the best work of Kila, the choice of Gaelic singing on half of the tracks adds a primeval texture to the songs. Gaelic has its share of harsh and awkward phrasing, but in these sparse arrangements the words are allowed to breathe and expose a poetic beauty to the language.

Nick Clegg


...de la Western Mail:

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is confident that children growing up in a bilingual Wales will find it easier to learn future languages.

Together with his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, he is raising his two children to speak English and Spanish.

The 41-year-old speaker of five languages said: “If children learn more than one language in school and at home they then tend to be able to be able to learn additional languages more easily. I don’t believe learning Welsh as well as English will serve as detriment to wider language learning.

“All the experience is quite the reverse – it removes the fear that some children have of learning languages.” ...

Cluich@anTaigh


...de la Inverness Courier:

Toddlers and their parents celebrated the launch of a new book of play ideas in Gaelic by enjoying fun and games in an Inverness park today.

Cluich@anTaigh, is the new Gaelic version of the Play @ home toddler book which is offered to all parents in Highland to encourage active play for children under three years old. Since the scheme, which is run by Highland Council and NHS Highland, was introduced in 2002, the book has only been available in English, but from today parents and carers who read Gaelic will have their own language version.

With the book is a CD of songs and rhymes “Cluich Comhla”, sung by children from Acharacle Primary School in Lochaber...

Monday 14 April 2008

Gorsedd Kernow


...de Ceres:

Gorsedd Kernow is an umbrella organisation with the stated aim of maintaining, and giving expression to, the national Spirit of Cornwall as a Celtic Country and in particular:

To foster relations between Cornwall and other Celtic Countries

To promote co-operation and goodwill between those who work for the honour of Cornwall

To encourage the study and use of the Cornish language

To encourage the study of Cornish History, Art, Literature, Music and related subjects

“Britaj Lingvoj”?


…de LX News:

The national media constantly stresses what it is to be British. The traditional definition is no longer a viable one. I personally doubt that it ever was. One of the first things people point to is the language.
The “to be British is to speak English” mentality is a naïve one at best. It negates the marginal languages of Cornish, Gaelic, Irish and Welsh, even though the people who speak these languages (monolingually or otherwise) are accepted as being “British”.

The cultural benefits of having people from different parts of the world living in the U.K. do not, hopefully, need to be explained. Their varying customs and traditions all contribute to what it is to be British in the 21st century. Furthermore, they compliment the Anglo Saxon customs which have existed here for many centuries, and make Britain a richer place to live...

Moghrey Jedoonee


...de Manx Radio:

Join Bob and Brian for discussion relating to the Manx Language and Language in general.

Local customs and how they relate to the Celtic world and the whole wide world.

Irlandalingva Kurso en Ontario


...de la Whig Standard:

Those who want to connect with their Irish roots will have a unique chance to do so at the end of the month.

From April 25 to 27, the Harp of Tara branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann will host its 12th annual Irish language immersion weekend where the focus will be on speaking Gaelic.

The event takes place at the Country Squire Best Western Resort in Gananoque. A complete package, including accommodations and meals, costs $200.

For more information, contact Jack Hickman at 613-546-7597 or by e-mail at jack.hickman@sympatico.ca.

Sunday 13 April 2008

"Hevva! Hevva!"


...de la Falmouth Packet:

School children throughout Cornwall have been benefiting from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall's Education Outreach Programme.
The programme, which is supported by the Ernest Cook Trust, is designed to take the learning opportunities and resources available at the museum out to schools that would otherwise be unable to access them...

...Due to the success and popularity of Voyage of the Mystery the Maritime Museum is expanding the outreach programme to offer a second living history performance entitled Hevva! Hevva! This interactive workshop celebrates the skills, language and life of Cornish pilchard fishers in the 1870s.

Kolegio Lehman kaj la Irlandalingvo


...de la Bronx Beat:

Dierdre O’Boy, 41, was born of an Irish father and Irish-American mother in New York. Despite coming from such a strong Irish background, she said she wondered why the English-speaking Irish sound so “poetic.”

“It seems that so many phrases are simply a mirror of the literal in Irish, if that makes any sense,” she said. “For example ‘Tá ocras orm’ literally means ‘I have hunger on me.’”

O’Boy is one of the 120 students studying at Lehman’s Irish language program begun three years ago.

At a recent visit to the college, Brian Ó Cuív, Ireland’s Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs minister, noted that students like O’Boy are contributing to the revival of Irish language and heritage.

Ó Cuív said that there is an increased thirst for learning and teaching Irish due to Ireland's growing economy. “

The Celtic Tiger years saw Ireland increase its economic influence in the world,” he said. “In addition, we have seen an international renaissance where Irish culture is concerned.”

He was at Lehman College to launch the Fulbright Irish Language Program, which is being funded by a €660,000 ($1 million) grant from the Irish government. The City University of New York will share the grant with other colleges and universities in the country to fund Irish language teaching assistants and scholars over the next three years.

"Ksenofobio"?



An eminent Irish language literary figure said to me last week that she had been startled recently to realise what a deep and widespread hatred there is of the Irish language in this country. She was absolutely right; there is: although this is seldom acknowledged by the small core of those who wish to promote Irish.

The conventional approach among Irish language proponents is to claim that everyone loves the language, regards it as their first and native tongue, and would wish to use it daily if only they had the opportunity. Equally, they claim that everyone has at least a reasonable smattering of the language, and the majority of people have a working knowledge of it. In their minds, those who don't speak Irish, therefore, are bloody-minded, anti-national, negative bigots.

And that is exactly why there is such a hatred of Irish. Its politically-minded proponents (as opposed to those who just speak Irish fluently and gracefully without using it as a weapon) refuse to accept the irrelevance of the language in most people's lives, and by their antagonism towards that majority view, have gone a long way to institutionalising negativity towards the language...

Friday 11 April 2008

Nordamerika Manksa Asocio


….de la Isle of Man Today:

Nominations are being sought for the annual North American Manx Awards.

The awards are presented on behalf of the North American Manx Association for outstanding achievement by young people under the age of 18 in the Isle of Man.

In 1978, the convention of the NAMA resolved to spend $1,000 on a project to commemorate the Millennium of Tynwald in 1979.

association's executive committee decided that the NAMA millennium project should be the striking of silver medals to be awarded from 1979 onward to Manx youths for outstanding achievements in certain areas. The categories were amended in 1984.

categories are now Manx music, Manx art and crafts, Manx language, outstanding contribution to Manx culture, outstanding contribution to the Manx community and overcoming disability...

Bretonalingvo kaj la Franca Respubliko


…de la Turkish Daily News:

From that point on, the French Republic initiated a long war against the “non-French” languages and cultures – a policy which lasted until very recently, and whose traces arguably still survive.

The basic idea behind “national education” in France has been the eradication of plurality.

After 1918, the use of German in Alsace-Lorraine would be outlawed. In 1925, Anatole de Monzie, minister of public education, declared, "For the linguistic unity of France, the Breton language must disappear."

Only in 1964 the French government would allow Breton on regional television – and only for one and a half minutes.

Yet even in 1972, President Georges Pompidou would autocratically announce, “There is no place for the regional languages and cultures in a France that intends to mark Europe deeply."