One of the things I love about this Irish class is that it is totally impractical. It is not going to get anyone a better job, or even a line on a transcript. I never filled out a registration form. I don’t know if my name is on any record. Everybody is there because they are interested and willing, and for no other reason.

So I went to the second class on Monday night. I had spent some time reviewing the notes and exercises from the previous week, but felt a little guilt about not having done enough. However, I was able to keep up so I guess I had done OK.

This being an evening Adult Ed class, the students straggle in from their various lives, sometimes a few minutes late. One guy walked in a couple minutes late and the teacher, quickly putting on a straight face, said that she was asking everybody to tell the class, in Irish, what they had done over the weekend. This was of course a ridiculous request–it is a very elementary class–but Sean quickly answered: “Ag ithe! Ag ól!” (“Eating!”, “Drinking!”). I joined in the general laughter–and realized I was actually understanding some banter in Irish. A very small step, but I have made some progress.

Also, I figured out the etymology of the Scottish name Hamish (James). In Irish when you speak about James (3rd person) he is Séamus or Séamas, but when speaking to James he is Shéamais, the “vocative” case. Following Irish spelling rules, e.g. sh is pronounced similarly to English “h”, Shéamais sounds like what an English speaker would write as “Hamish”. I have since confirmed that, as I expected, Scottish Gaelic is just like Irish in this case. Hence Hamish.

Of course, I could have simply looked this up (and I did later), but there is a real satisfaction in learning the general principle which explains a fact I have known for a long time.