About this journal

My main aim with this journal is simply to share my thoughts and experiences while I do my Celtic Studies degree. Celtic Studies is the study of Celtic languages, both modern and extinct, with focus on the six Celtic languages spoken today (Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Breton, Manx, and Cornish) and their associated histories, literatures, cultures, politics, etc.

As well as my Celtic Studies BA, I am also working on a Certificate of Higher Education in Modern Languages in German and Chinese. I'm planning on doing a masters degree in either linguistics, translation studies, or Celtic studies, and I'd like to do a PhD in something eventually!

I've been interested in Celtic languages and Celtic nations since I was very young, although I only started to seriously learn the languages/history/etc when I was a teenager. I'm from Wales, one side of my family is Cornish, and the other side is Scottish and Irish, so the Celtic nations and languages are very near and dear to my heart. I'm a second-language Welsh speaker, and I grew up with a little bit of Cornish, Irish, and Scots (the Germanic language) from my family. My main language-learning goals are to improve my knowledge of those three languages, and to refine and polish my Welsh skills.

I would also like to try and aid in combatting the misinformation, ignorance, and bigotry against the Celtic nations, both online and in my daily life. I'd love to read comments and talk, as long as you're not looking for an argument or a "debate". I'm very aware that the Celtic Studies (and Germanic) sphere can attract all sorts of alt-right/white supremacist types looking to distort and use our cultures and peoples to fuel their own bigoted agendas, and I will not tolerate that at all here.

I'm also transgender, multiply disabled, a multimedia artist, and a musician, so those are also likely to make themselves known in this journal from time to time.

Useful posts for Celtic Studies beginners:

• Brief explanation of some Celtic terms

Interests:( Read more... )

Languages I know:( Read more... )

Images are hosted on Postimages.

Pondering

I've decided I want to do a historiography module and the intermediate Old Irish module next year, but I can't decide on what I want the last one to be. It has to be either Scottish Gaelic language/literature/history, or one about Welsh translation and the translation industry. It doesn't necessarily matter which one I pick, because I can do the other one later on. I'm on a part-time timetable so I only get three modules a year.

The year after next, I want to do the advanced Modern Irish class, modern British and Irish politics, and comparative Celtic linguistics.

After that year, I want to do minority language preservation, literature as a source of history, and then either the Scottish Gaelic or translation depending on which on I decide to do next year.

But I can't really decide. As I'm typing this out, I'm actually thinking that I'll pick the translation one next year, and leave Scottish Gaelic until my last year. The part of the Scottish Gaelic module I'm most interested in is the history element of it, although I am interested in the language too, so maybe I'll pick the translation module and just get the reading list for Scottish Gaelic.