Ròna Agus MacCodruim

Leugh mi an leabhar seo a-rithist an t-seachdain seo, còig mìosan deug às deidh a' chiad leughadh. Chrìochnaich mi e ann an nas lugha a uair a thìde. Cha robh agam ach trì faclan a lorg! Tha mi glè thoilichte gu bheil a' Ghàidhlig agam air fàs cho mòr. Bha Ròna agus MacCodruim caran doirbh dhomh a leughadh an-uiridh.

Bha mi air a bhith ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig airson beagan mìosan nuair a leugh mi Ròna agus MacCodruim an-uiridh. Bha mi air a bhith a' cleachadh bhideothan YouTube Jason agus, nuair a chunnaic mi na leabhraichean aige, bha mi dèidheil iad a leughadh. 'S e beul-aithris Cheilteach a bhrosnaich an sgeulachd seo, gu h-àraid sgeulachdan seileach.

Tha an sgeulachd sìmplidh, ach tha mìon-fiosrachadh snog innte mu bheatha agus dachaigh MhicCodruim. Bidh faclan agus seantasan gan ath-aithris a tha feumail do luchd-ionnsachadh. Tha deagh àbhachdas anns an sgeulachd cuideachd.

I read this book again this week, fifteen months after the first reading. I finished it in less than an hour. I only had to look up three words! I am very happy that my Gaelic is growing so much. Ròna and MacCodruim was somewhat difficult for me to read last year.

I had been learning Gaelic for a few months when I read Ròna and MacCodruim last year. I had been using Jason's YouTube videos and, when I saw his books, I was eager to read them. This story is inspired by Celtic folktales, especially selkie stories.

The story is simple, but it has nice details about MacCodruim's life and home. Words and sentences are repeated which is useful for learners. There is nice humour in the story too.

Leugh mi leabhar Gàidhlig! Tha mi cho toilichte agus caran pròiseil! (I read a Gaelic book! I am so happy and somewhat proud!)

I'd been learning Scottish Gaelic for a few months at the time I first read Ròna agus MacCodruim, using the Duolingo course and also been making use of Jason Bond's excellent YouTube videos so, when I spotted he had written a couple of short fairytale books for Gaelic beginners, I was keen to give them a try.

Ròna agus MacCodruim is inspired by selkie folktales. The narrative itself is pretty simple, but fleshed out with details of MacCodruim's island home so it's an interesting tale yet still short enough not to intimidate someone who needs to visit the glossary a few times for every page - and sometimes to repeatedly look up the same word several pages running. Grrr! Practically every word is translated in the glossary with a few more colloquial phrases explained in footnotes at the end of each chapter. As a Gaelic learner, this was ideal for me and I appreciated this support even while I surprised myself by how much I could understand without having to 'cheat'.

I'm planning to reread Ròna agus MacCodruim again every so often until I can confidently complete it independently, and I am also going to pick up the second book in this series. Hopefully more stories might follow in due course as this is a really useful resource.