Dia dhaoibh!
Le Lá Eorpach na dTeangacha ag teacht ar an 26ú Meán Fómhair, cén fáth nach roinnfimis ár dtaithí foghlama teangacha agus ár scéalta? :)
Cinnte, tá an fhoghlaim teangacha lán le hiontas agus le chuimhneacháin greannmhara! Ó “falsa cairde” greannmhara go botúin aistriúcháin gháire, tá rud éigin ait nó nath cainte iontais faighte againn go léir a d’fhág muid ar mhuin na muice. Tugann foghlaim teangacha dúinn a lán scéalta spraíúla le roinnt le foghlaimeoirí eile. D’fhéadfadh sé a bheith faoin teanga féin, faoi eachtra ghreannmhar, nó faoi rud éigin neamhghnách a tharla le linn do phróisis foghlama.
An ndearna tú botún aistriúcháin riamh a d'iompaigh ina scéal greannmhar? Cad é an focal is aistí nó is greannmhaire atá aimsithe agat sa teanga atá tú ag foghlaim? Ná bíodh drogall ort do thaithí a roinnt, agus déanaimis plé ar na háthais agus na dúshláin neamhghnách a bhaineann le foghlaim teangacha!
Sílim gurb é an scéal is greannmhaire domsa a bhaineann le mo ainm féin. Caoimhe is ainm dom (pronounced Quee-va), agus is ceann de na hainmneacha Gaelacha é a bhíonn i gcónaí ar na liostaí de “Na 10 ainmneacha Gaelacha is deacra le fhuaimniú”. Mar sin, nuair a bhí mé ag fás aníos, bheadh daoine i gcónaí ag fáil an fuaimniú mícheart agus ag cur ceiste orm "Cén cineál ainm é sin?" D'oibrigh mé i dtacaíocht TF ar feadh 4 bliana. Leis an bpost seo, bheadh orm tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine i Meiriceá agus ar fud na hEorpa. Mar is féidir leat a shamhlú, má tá duine ag glaoch ar dheasc chabhrach TF, níl siad ar an meon is fearr le bheith socair agus réidh. De ghnáth bíonn siad faoi bhrú agus ag iarraidh gan a gcuid gruaige a stróiceadh amach. Anois samhlaigh an strus sin a chur le hiarracht a dhéanamh Caoimhe a fhuaimniú... Ní meascán maith é sin. Ar aon nós, lá amháin ghlaoigh fear lách as Nua-Eabhrac isteach, agus bhí sé sách socair ar dtús, ach de réir mar a lean an glao ar aghaidh, bhí sé soiléir go mbeadh ar an tsaincheist TF a aistriú chuig foireann níos airde ná mise mar gur eisiúint ar leith a bhí ann nach raibh na huirlisí agam chun í a réiteach. D’eascair as sin go bhfuair sé feargach agus ghlaoigh sé orm... Chow Mein. Anois, is mias bhia Síneach an-bhlasta é Chow Mein, ach is cinnte nach é sin mo ainm. Chuir sé an fón síos agus é frustrach agus lean mé orm le mo lá. Ach sea, sílim gurb é sin an scéal is greannmhaire atá agam a bhaineann leis an nGaeilge.
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ENG
Hello community!
With European Day of Languages, falling on September 26, why not share our language-learning experiences and stories? : )
Indeed, language learning can be full of surprises and quirky moments! From funny fake friends to hilarious translation mistakes, every single one of us has found an unusual word or an idiom that has left us amazed. Language learning gives us a lot of fun stories to share with other learners. It could be about the language itself, a funny encounter, or something unexpected that happened during your learning process.
Have you ever made a translation error that turned into a funny story? What’s the strangest or funniest word you’ve come across in the language you are learning? Feel free to share your experience, and let’s discuss the unexpected joys and challenges of language learning!
I guess the funniest story for me would be linked to my name. My name is Caoimhe (pronounced Quee-va) and it is one of the Irish names that always makes it onto “The 10 hardest Irish names to pronounce” lists. So growing up, people would often get the pronunciation wrong and ask me “What type of a name is that? I used to work in IT Support for 4 years. With this job, I would have to support people in America and across Europe. As you can imagine, if someone is calling a helpdesk for IT assistance, they are not in the best mood to be calm and collected. They are usually stressed out and are trying not to pull their hair out. Now combine that stress with trying to pronounce Caoimhe.. It isn’t a good combination. Anyway, one day this lovely guy from New York called up and he was relatively calm at first but as the call carried on, it was clear that his IT issue would need to be escalated to a higher team than mine because it was a specific issue that I did not have the tools to fix. That led to him getting angry and calling me… Chow Mein. Now Chow Mein is a chinese food dish that is very delicious but it is most certainly not my name. He hung up the phone in frustration and I carried on with my day. But yes, I guess that is the funniest story that I have linked to the Irish language.
Caoimhe, OLS Community manager - Irish