Yeah, probably that’s the main reason! I remember reading a reply from a person who lived in Ireland but wasn’t Irish, and that person was really skeptical about learning Irish, and insisted that a language should be no more than a means of communication and therefore we all need to learn the languages that are widely used (English).
I’ve finally found time to start learning seriously and I can see what you mean by saying Skeul an Yeth isn’t the most exciting of textbooks! It’s really quite dry, but I suppose one can always dilute it with some short fun texts or videos (provided that one finds them). Do you perchance know any blogs in Cornish?
Hi. I’m new to the forum but currently up to lesson 7 of ssiC. I’m living in Cornwall as well as Cornish by ancestry. My mum is a language bard but unfortunately didn’t know the language very well when my siblings and I were little so I’m learning it now at 24. I have a 4, 3 and 1 year old. They (excepting the 1year old) have attended a bilingual nursery and we use the language to our limited but growing ability everyday. They were able to count to 10 and 20 in Cornish before they could in English so, depending on the definition of first language, I suppose you could say it is theirs? I wouldn’t describe us as obsessed fanatics but the Cornish language is important to me as a massive part of my culture and identity. X
Alice, lovely to meet you here! Oh dear, I’m so sorry I said “obsessed fanatics” - that sounds awful now! I meant it in a joking sort of way. By “first language”, too, I was really thinking more of Cornish being the main language someone speaks at home with their family, in preference to English. That is wonderful to hear how you’re doing that as much as you can with your own family. I hope more and more people in Cornwall will be able and willing to do so!
Stella, I don’t know any blogs in Cornish, but I do receive the monthly magazine “An Gannas” (which means “The Messenger”) from Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek. You can find out more about subscribing and read previous editions online here: http://www.cornish-language.org/Kowethas-an-Yeth-Kernewek-membership.html I still can’t say I can understand a lot of what’s in it, but every month when it arrives in the post, I’m delighted to find I can read more and more of it without resorting to the dictionary! There’s also usually a little pull-out section for beginning readers with a simple story in Cornish (sometimes with reading comprehension questions to answer) and vocabulary notes. I’m finding it’s well worth the subscription!
A very warm welcome to the forum, Alice! It’s people like you who are making a long-term revival of the language into a genuine possibility - it’s fantastic to see such passion
Aran mentioned earlier in this discussion that they’re planning to have the next set of Cornish lessons up in the next two or three months — I heard something similar from a representative of MAGA (Cornish Language Partnership), so I gather it’s definitely in the pipeline. I’m eagerly waiting for lesson 11 (and more) too!
Hi everyone
I’ve just started the course in the last week and I’m very enthusiastic about it. My mother’s family are Cornish and I’ve tried several times over the years to kewsel Kernewek with varying degrees of success. Doing the SaySomething course reminds me of nearly giving up German when I was in the 6th form. When I started work for a German company, they sent me to the Berlitz school for a year. Amazing difference it makes when you hear real accents and build your vocabulary via dialogue rather than the pages of a book. Bryntin!
Hi Stella
As someone rather long in the tooth, I can still remember my grandfather’s family reminiscing about the early years of the 1900s. My grandfather himself could count up to 10 in Cornish and the occasional word like iss (eus or yes) - but probably these were dialect rather than Kernewek, such as ‘Pahzon Jack’ (tramp) ‘didykoy’ (traveller although I think the word is Roma), ‘Izzy goin’ galavantin?’ (Are you looking for a mate?), ‘maid’ instead of girl and ‘a certain party’ (my girlfriend!). I think you’d have to go back to the 18th century to find people who spoke more than a few words.
How fascinating! I’m very interested in dialects too, apart from the languages themselves.
If you read this thread from the beginning, you’ll find lots of useful links that the wonderful @Courtenay shared with us. There’s even a Kesva textbook here, for those who can’t wait for the next lessons of SSiCornish.
It won’t interfere with your Welsh, Stella - the brain (for whatever reason - we don’t really know) is very good at keeping different languages separate, even similar ones. So go for the Kernewek!!
Oh, I think I couldn’t, even if I wanted to Welsh was love at first sight, and I still feel it more as a pleasure than as real work or effort, as it often was with other languages I studied. But Cornish does seem wonderful, and it’s spelling system is very pleasant:)
I meant it in a joking sort of way. By “first language”, too, I was really thinking more of Cornish being the main language someone speaks at home with their family, in preference to English. That is wonderful to hear how you’re doing that as much as you can with your own family. I hope more and more people in Cornwall will be able and willing to do so!
