Hi jsanger and Lauren - have you two tried learning together? Rebecca is also starting off. Perhaps you could message each other, or comment on each other's profiles. A really great, simple way to start practicing your Irish is to use it to say something about what's happening to you or around you. So you could use your status update to say how you feel. Look at the examples below.
Tá mé go maith. I am good.
Tá mé go measartha. I am middling/OK.
Tá mé go hiontach. I am wonderful.
Tá mé go dona. I am bad.
Tá mé tinn. I am sick.
Tá mé sasta. I am happy.
You could maybe try to describe the weather (an aimsir) where you are:
Tá sé fliuch. It is wet.
Tá sé ag báisteach. It is raining.
Tá sé fuar. It is cold.
Tá sé te. It is hot.
Tá sé go breá. It is fine.
Tá sé go deas. It is nice.
Tá sé go dona. It is bad.
Tá sé go hálainn. It is beautiful.
Tá sé go hiontach. It is wonderful.
If the weather's the same as yesterday, you can add the word arís to the end of the sentence - so it's wet again! is Tá sé fliuch arís!
When you're confident with these basics, you could then try using negatives:
Níl sé go deas. Tá sé go dona. It isn't nice. It is bad.
Níl mé go dona. Tá mé go maith. I'm not bad. I'm good.
Here are some other basics that can help you open and close a conversation with someone online.
Dia duit Hello
Dia's Muire duit Reply to Hello
Maidin mhaith! Good morning!
Cad é mar atá tú? How are you?
Tá mé go maith/dona/measartha, go raibh maith agat. I'm good/bad/OK, thanks.
Slán! Bye!
Slán anois! Bye for now!
One last thing - it's easy to cut and paste Irish into your status updates or messages, but to help you learn, you should try and type it yourself, even if you're copying directly from one place to another. This will help you remember the Irish. Message me or comment on my profile - I will try to do the same!
Ádh mór (good luck)
Michelle
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