Boulder Scottish Gaelic Study Group Schedule
Meetings are suspended for now due to the pandemic and the need for social distancing.
We will resume when caution in having meetings is no longer required.
Useful Links
A few links here to things Gaelic. We appreciate your input so that we can repair broken links, or add links to things you find useful in your Gaelic studies. We hope these are helpful.Index
- For the Beginner
- Instructional Sites
- Sites with Written and Spoken Gaelic Resources
- Videos
- Games and Software
- Blogs
- Dictionaries
- Other References
- Other Celtic Languages
- Organizations
- Teachers, Courses, Colleges and Universities
- Folklore and Field Collection Sites
- Other Miscellaneous Sites
- Song Lyrics and Singing
- Musical Artists
- Book, Music and Materials Sources
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For the Beginner
Are you just starting Gaelic, or want to see what the language is all about? Sometimes it's hard to find a place to start. Try these links first, then go on to the other material.
- Sheena's Garden A children's ebook, with sound, words and pictures.
- LearnGaelic Things for learners at all levels. Audio, video, children's songs and games.
- Beag air Bheag from Radio Nan Gaidheal Beginning Lessons with sound files.
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Instructional Sites
These pages have lessons, activities, sound files and videos to help you teach yourself the language. They may have other materials, but the main focus is on lessons.
- LearnGaelic A great site with activities, video, and lessons for all levels and all ages. Includes a lot of videos from the Speaking Our Language series, along with printed English and Gaelic scripts.
- Learn Gaelic Section of Radio Nan Gaidheal Several really good resources here including Beag air Bheag (a set of lessons), and lots of other materials.
- Taic Lessons with sound files, a key of Gaelic sounds, a dictionary and other resources. An old site, not much kept up, but working.
- Speaking Our Language videos (youtube) Speaking Our Language videos are very useful for learning common phrases. Instructional videos from the 1990's.
- Can Seo (youtube) Can Seo is an older TV series from the late 1970's. It is better on grammar subjects than Speaking Our Language, and the skits are memorable.
- Gaelic Podcasts from Fiona J. MacKenzie Fiona MacKenzie's podcasts with short Gaelic lessons.
- Basic Gaelic for Parents A phrase book for parents with sound files.
- Speaking Our Language A set of beginning lessons with sound files, based around the first few Speaking Our Language lessons.
- Ceumannan Ceumannan is a set of books to teach Gaelic in schools. This site supports the books with sounds and activities. Especially useful if you have the books. If not, it's still a great resource.
- Memrise Scottish Gaelic Courses Courses made up of sets of flash cards submitted by users of the Memrise site.
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Sites with Written and Spoken Gaelic Resources
Not so much lessons as things you can practice on. Some of these sites are informational about one subject. Some are about Scottish history and culture. There are sites with readings of children's books and radio programs too.
- Radio Nan Gaìdheal, where you can listen to Gaelic radio. Lots of other things to explore as well.
- Gaelic4Parents A site for parents with children who are learning gaelic. One really great thing here is the reading of children's books. There are games and learning activities as well.
- Litir do Luchd-Ionnsachaidh Every week a new Litir (Letter) comes out. There are over 700, and the earlier ones are available at this site as well. They are available in both written and spoken form, and contain not only the Litir itself, but also vocabulary and grammar notes.
- An Litir Beag Not ready for Litir do Luchd-Ionnsachaidh yet? An Litir Beag has the same material in a simplified form.
- BBC Alba The home site for BBC's Gaelic service, with many Gaelic resources.
- Gaelic Idioms and Expressions, a book of idioms, read by Angus MacLeod on youtube.
- Fiorfear Gaelic videos (or rather audio files for the most part) from Cape Breton. Includes the reading of Gaelic Idioms and Expressions (above), and also songs and other material.
- Bocan.tv Games, stories, films, books, and songs for children. Lots of fun stuff here.
- Fòram na Gàidhlig Forums and resources. There appear to be many links to software as well.
- Am Baile The site is in both Gaelic and English, and is devoted to highland culture. It includes pictures, sound files, learning resources with worksheets, and other material on a variety of topics.
- Sheena's Garden An ebook with pictures, a simple story, and sound. A great intro to Gaelic.
- An Sgeulachd Ghoirid Gaelic short stories, with both text and sound.
- St. Kilda/Hiort A site about St. Kilda (Hiort in Gaelic), now deserted but once a home for islanders. It is available in both Gaelic and English.
- Why Study Chemistry in Gaelic and English A document on Chemistry from the Glasgow Gaelic School. It might be worth keeping an eye on their home page for other material.
- Somhairle MacGill-Eain A site about one of the great Gaelic poets. Contains history, articles about and by the poet, and poems.
- Corpus de theacsaichean Gàidhlig Collection of Gaelic material, much of it old. Some links are unavailable, but there is some cool stuff.
- Scottish Gaelic Poetry Poetry books in the Open Library. There may be a lot of other material in the library as well.
- Historic Scotland Free pdf Scottish government publications on various historic sites and happenings. Use "gaelic" as a keyword and your search will return a list of the publications. Each may be downloaded.
- Iona Discoveries A site on Iona in Gaelic.
- Gaelic in the Landscape A lovely little booklet on place names around Arisaig and Loch Shiel.
- Ìnnse Gall Another wonderful booklet from the same source as the one above. This time on the geology of the Hebrides.
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Videos
Sites with videos in Gaelic. Some of these may have other materials as well.
- Island Voices - Guthan nan Eilean Lots of videos about island life, music, interviews with Gaelic speakers. A great place to listen to a variety of speakers on a variety of subjects. And there are videos with both Gaelic and English versions.
- Speaking Our Language videos (youtube) Speaking Our Language videos are very useful for learning common phrases. Instructional videos from the 1990's.
- Can Seo (youtube) Can Seo is an older TV series from the late 1970's. It is better on grammar subjects than Speaking Our Language, and the skits are memorable.
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Games and Software
Sites with games, apps, or other software in Gaelic.
- Scrabble Gàidhlig Gaelic Scrabble program.
- An Crochadair Gaelic Hangman program.
- Fòram na Gàidhlig Forums and resources. There appear to be many links to software as well.
- iGàidhlig Gaelic software site. They help create, translate and distribute tools, and generally help with Gaelic software needs and problems.
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Blogs
Not many of these yet. If you find any, let us know. Blogs can give you a bit of practice every so often.
- Caroline Root's Blog Gaelic blog from a former Boulder Study Group member, Caroline Root. Now a fluent speaker, she has taught in Gaelic-medium schools in Scotland, and now lives in Crestone, CO.
- Rudy's Rants: Gàidhlig Rudy is a fluent Colorado speaker.
- Seaboard Blog Bilingual blog from the Seaboard area (villages in Easter Ross).
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Dictionaries
Online dictionaries are gu math handy.
- Am Faclair Beag Very good all-purpose dictionary. Incorporates Dwelly's.
- Online Dwelly's Dictionary The old-fashioned standby.
- Stordata Briathrachais Gaidhlig Stordata has definitions for modern terms that are sometimes hard to find otherwise.
- MacBain Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language Gives derivations of Gaelic words, relationships between Irish and Gaelic, etc.
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General Celtic Language Links
Scottish Gaelic is one of 6 Celtic languages--along with Irish, Manx, Cornish, Breton, and Welsh. Some information on those languages may be of interest to Scottish Gaelic learners.
- Old Irish Online Both Scottish Gaelic and Irish came from an ancient ancestor. Learn more here.
- Irish and Scottish Gaelic Comparison One of the most common questions about Gaelic is "How is it different from Irish?" This shows some of those differences.
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Other Reference
Not dictionaries, but other language reference sites.
- An Seotal Terminology database.
- Gaelic Orthographic Conventions Standardized spelling conventions.
- How to Use a Gaelic Dictionary (pdf) If you are new to Gaelic, this may help you get the most out of your dictionary.
- Teach Yourself Gaelic Index If you are using Teach Yourself Gaelic, the poor index may have driven you to drink. This may help,
- Akerbeltz.org This was a fairly large site, but is now under construction, so some material is not available. However there are some nice things on phonetics, for instance.
- English words borrowed from Gaelic (Wikipedia) English and Gaelic have been borrowing from each other for some time.
- Gaelic Periodic Table For all you chemistry buffs out there.
- Gaelic Place Names of Scotland It's very helpful to be able to look up place names, and here is a good site for that.
- Junior Gaelic Grammar Don't know how useful this is. Mostly a list of grammar rules, with a good index.
- Arizona Scottish Gaelic Syntax Project A linguistics program that investigates the usage of native speakers. Lots of material, including sound files.
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Organizations
Connect with other speakers, and see what groups are doing.
- ACGA--The Gaelic Society of America The major organization for speakers and learners in North America. Learn here about events like the annual immersion weekend, Grandfather Mountain, and the US Mòd. The ACGA has many members and officers here in Colorado.
- ACGA Forum More from ACGA--link to their website, facebook page, other resources and chats.
- Slighe nan Gaidheal Seattle Gaelic group with many classes and other events.
- Comann an Luchd Ionnsachaidh (CLI) Scottish learner's group. They publish a bilingual magazine, Cothrom, that is very useful.
- Office of Gaelic Affairs (Nova Scotia) Official voice of Gaelic in Nova Scotia. This site has a lot of information and material of interest.
- Comunn na Gàidhlig Major and long-standing organ for Gaelic in Scotland.
- Fèisean nan Gàidheal Supports community Gaelic arts festivals in Scotland.
- SaveGaelic.org A private group interested in saving Gaelic in Scotland. A good source for news about the status of Gaelic.
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Teachers, Courses, Colleges and Universities
Here we've put links to teachers in our area, and places to learn Gaelic, including both distance learning, and in-school courses. These links are arranged more or less in the ease of availability for learners in the area. If you teach Gaelic, and either live in Colorado, or give distance lessons, we'd love to list you.
- Caroline Root Caroline is a former learner in the Boulder Gaelic Study Group. She has a degree in Celtic Studies from St. Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia, teacher training in Glasgow, and taught in the Gaelic medium school on Tiree. She lives in Crestone, CO, and gives distance lessons on Skype. Here is a handout about her. She also has a Self Study Group--for information see this link.
- Atlantic Gaelic Academy The AGA gives in-person lessons and also has classes over the internet at a variety of levels.
- Gaelic College The Gaelic College in Nova Scotia has summer classes in Gaelic, music and dance, and crafts. These classes are a more affordable option for people in North America than going to Scotland for classes. Check them out.
- Sabhal Mór Ostaig The premier Gaelic education facility in Scotland. They have regular degree programs taught in Gaelic, Gaelic classes at all levels, and distance learning classes.
- St. Francis Xavier University This university in Antigonish, Nova Scotia has a Celtic Studies degree which includes studies in Gaelic language.
- Ùlpan Ùlpan is a teaching method originally developed for Hebrew, and later adapted for other languages. This site is for a group holding courses all over Scotland.
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Folklore and Field Collection Sites
These sites are collections of material made mostly by field researchers. Recordings of folklore, songs, and stories save the past, and some of this material is of use to the Gaelic student.
- Gaelstream (at St. Francis Xavier) Sound files, videos, and transcriptions of Nova Scotia material.
- School of Scottish Studies This site has been around a long time. Songs and folklore, mostly in Scots but also including some Gaelic items.
- Pròiseact Thiriodh Material from Tiree. The search is somewhat difficult, since I can't see a way to see all available records. But there are some neat things here.
- Tobar an Dualchais Oral material from all over Scotland.
- When the Song Dies A lovely film on Scottish folklore and its connection to the language.
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Other Miscellaneous Sites
These are websites that didn't really fit anywhere else. Some of them are people's personal collections of material, some are collections of links.
- George Seto's Gaelic Pages Hasn't been updated for some time, but there are some links here I haven't seen elsewhere.
- Donald Macdonald's Gaelic Pages Most notably, a good collection of song lyrics, and some folklore material. WARNING: bagpipe music--if you are at work, have your sound down.
- Rampant Scotland on Gaelic and Scots A collection of links, value unknown.
- Electric Scotland--Gaelic Literature, Language and Music There is some literary material here that could be of use to the learner, particularly if you are interested in history.
- Quizlet Free flash card site. There are some cards for Scottish Gaelic, and you can make your own.
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Song Lyrics and Singing
Gaelic song is very important in highland culture, and a great way to learn and practice your Gaelic. Here are some sites with information on Gaelic singing or lyrics to songs.
- Donald Macdonald's Gaelic Songs and Translations Lyrics to 19 songs, and English translations.
- Celtic Lyrics Corner Lyrics to a large number of Celtic songs, in Gaelic, Irish, and English. Translations are provided, and artists and albums as well.
- An Cruinne's Page of Songs A few songs from Cape Breton.
- Julie Fowlis Lyrics Lyrics for several of her albums.
- Runrig Lyrics Lyrics to Runrig's Gaelic songs. No translations.
- Runrig Lyrics More Runrig songs. There are translations with these.
- Collection of Gaelic Songs Some Gaelic lyrics. Translations do not seem to be provided.
- Traditional Gaelic Song An introduction to the types of Gaelic song, and some do's and don't's in singing them.
- 'S ioma rud a dhith orm (mouth music) A short article on puirt-a-beul.
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Musical Artists
Here are pages of Gaelic musical artists and groups. This doesn't cover them all, by any means, but if you find others, please let us know.
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Book, Music and Materials Sources
You may want to find Gaelic books, videos and CDs. Here are some of the best sources we know. You might also want to try for used items, say through bookfinder.
- Comhairle nan Leabhraichean/The Gaelic Books Council Very large selection (they have been said to carry all Gaelic books in print). A trusted Scottish source.
- Sìol Cultural Enterprises Best source of Canadian Gaelic books. They publish as well. Good folks who have contributed greatly to the Gaelic community.
- EuroTalk EuroTalk has language learning software for Scottish Gaelic.
- BooksFromScotland.com Source for lots of Scottish books, they have Gaelic ones as well.
- Music Scotland Worth visiting even if you aren't buying from them, as they have music samples from most artists. A good source for all Scottish music.
- Macmeanmna Gaelic music company.
- Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig Publishers of Gaelic medium school books. They don't sell to the public, but their products are sold by the Gaelic Books Council above.
- Birlinn Limited Publisher of Gaelic books, among others.
- Acair Books Gaelic book publisher