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Can we please revive this clinic and resuscitate my conlag

Thanks again for all the effort to finally publish Ōsweald Bera: the youngsters and I are having a lot of fun with the text. I just wish there had been a Kickstarter for us to buy into the project more: the possibility of getting early access to (even drafts of) any additional learning materials would have been neat. You could have even had a "Wessex" package with a stuffed bear with "Ōsweald" scrawled on with marker, and I would have been first in line. :)

What reading level would you say the Heliand is, if you were to place it in your reading program for studying old english

It helps to know German; for example, hatte = heißen.

I got a such lot from watching this video. Comparing vocabulary with Grammar, value of rereading, not getting hung up on pronunciation, and more. Thank you. I'm learning Koine Greek and am doing modern Greek at the same time. Every day I doubt the wisdom of this but was encouraged when you mentioned learning multpile languages simultaneously as a posiiblility. It's my first time learning a second language.

I'm up to Chapter 12 after having received the book about 3 weeks ago, and while I'm going slow to consolidate my vocab, this is finally sticking for me. I first tried Old English about 20 years ago, but I think I've been quietly waiting for a book like this to come along before trying again.... Thank you so much Colin, this is wonderful. I'm just wondering whether there's any forum/place online to ask questions of the text. Eg. There's a half-paragraph in chapter 11 that kind of stumps me, and more generally I'd love to see other people's experiences/challenges/questions!

I received your book osweald bera for Christmas and ive never read a good graded reader your work is incredible and working 👏🏻👏🏻

The riddle is known as "Exeter Book Riddle 33" (according to the numbering of the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records), and the answer to the riddle is "an iceberg". "Shield-walls carved" refers to the cutting into the sides of ships. The "mother" is the sea-water from which the iceberg was formed, and the "daughter" is the "gracefully standing" lake that is left behind on the land once the iceberg has melted.

That analogy at the end reminds me of how Americans tend to pronounce Goebbels as Gurbles

Will these tips work in 2025?

I don't know how unusual I am, but I really want to be able to speak Old English rather than read it (although I'm sure I will read it eventually). I grew up in Scotland, have lived in Sweden for 49+ years, have dipped my toe into Irish and Icelandic and am fascinated by the archaeology of the Iron Age and the Anglo-Saxons. I am excitedly waiting for the audio book!!!

Real world example of a misheard name: I was introduced to Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy via the BBC dramatization. It was years before I realized Slartibartfast wasn't Slatibadfast

I'm trucking through Latin and have been for a while now, I got a bit burned out so O picked up your book and OMG it's such a refreshing read. AND THE ADJECTIVES ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!!!! This book is already pulling me out of my language funk. Thank you!

I like the way you teach Old English for beginners, but ... as someone who has always learnt languages in an analytical and comparative way, I actually enjoy the old fashioned grammars. Having thoroughly learnt Hochdeutsch and also being minimally au fait with Modern Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. I also learned Latin at school from the Cambridge tutors - 45+ years ago - and it has stood me in good stead

Love me a schwa! I'speak NZ English so all our vowels have been flattened. Fush and Chups etc Supposedly early NZ accent is closest to Suffolk English accent

It makes sense that it's run, because if you replace the end of the first syllable with the last one you get "hoof it."

Starting with a p? My creatures that speak this language don't have lips. I don't just create languages willy nilly, I create them for my book characters to speak.

Mikið var gaman að hlusta á þessa sögu. Nú langar mig að heyra framhaldið. Ef til vill tæki skemmri tíma að læra þetta samanborið við dönsku, haha 😅.

Are you in any way, shape or form related to Tolkien? This was very thorough. Being Flemish Dutch speaking myself I can see lots of links with other saxon languages. The influence of old Norse languages is, of course, very clear as well.

Just got it today! Already read chapter 1 once, stumbling over pronunciation a wee bit.

What the world needs is "O familie romaneasca" 🙂

Wow, what a handsome you are! ❤ cute! also the beard.

Reading widely below your level solidifies common structures in the language and reinforces vocab mastery. Look for novellas published for learners. Focus on the best stylists for genuine texts and go as slowly as you need. Each sentence is a trove. As soon as possible, compose sentences in the language using unfamiliar vocab. It will make review very simple, even if the sentences are grammatically accurate but slightly ridiculous. Articulate a selection aloud (Vergil) to replicate how ancient authors sung in meter. Keep a diary of your impressions in your ancient language so you can plainly observe your progress and development.

Good advice.

God I wish I could roll my Rs.

Great etymology deep dive! I've always wondered about Christ/messiah but for some reason never looked it up 😅 Happy Little Christmas Eve as we say on the 23rd in southern Scandinavia!

I just wanna point out you say some of your vowels as dipthongs "pa pal(schwa)wei" at 52:22 cool stuff tho

Sē forma capitol is swīþe gōd :D

6:35 Instead of re-reading, I've found myself just getting two very closely related textbooks. Like I'll read two different grammar books for reinforcement rather than the same one twice. However I do read graded readers twice or thrice.

I think Ōsweald Bera is my spirit animal 😁🐻... Also, I like the bloopers at the end 😂

You didn't pronounce Christmas differently at the end, dislike dislike dislike.

So you never really told us how to say “Merry Christmas” in Anglo Saxon..!!!

I was always confused as to why we pronounce “Christmas” with a monophthong but “Christ” with a diphthong.

I’m on chapter 3 right now. But I do reread each chapter until it flows. Witondlīċe, þīn bōc is swīðe gōd!

Thank you for all this wonderful information! BLITHE GEOLA!

Simon Roper sent me. or should I say, Roperum Simonus missa me. LOL. Just guessing here with my new found etymology.

Merry Christmas!

Love this kinda stuff, thank you!!!

Morning! Your lesson on Chapter 1 that you recently made available is very engaging and stimulating. Thanks so much. I find that hearing your pronunciation of words improves comprehension. I'm currently working through Chapter 6 of Osweald Bera. I find your method of telling the story very helpful -- the repetition of words and phrases as well as the subtle, gradual introduction to strong verb forms, subjunctive voice, dative forms (probably instrumental too), and adjective endings. I do believe with patience, not only will one understand Osweald Bera without having to constantly turn to an Old English grammar text, but one will also acquire a solid foundation for tackling other Old English texts. I hope you continue to post additional lessons featuring your reading of Old English texts (besides the many that you have already posted).

איך האָב זײער ליב געהאַט אַז דו האָסט געניצט דעם אַשכּנזישן אַרױסרײד. ש'כּוח!

Old English looks and sounds quite a bit like Latin tbh.

Language change is so fascinating. I recently read a comment about how Latin (book Latin) may owe a large part of it's historical steadiness, and in some part then it's usefulness, to the fact that it wasn't a 'living' language undergoing all of these changes. It was (and perhaps still is to some extent) outside of linguistic time.

Fascinating! Could you explain why the final /a/ in Latin "missa" becomes an /e/ in Kentish Old English, and subsequently, in West Saxon Old English? Iċ þancie þē!

First!!!!!!!

Ancient English was so beautiful i hope we never forget our past

What does the word “efne” or “evne” or “ethne” mean? I’m not sure how it’s spelled but Collin says it quit a bit.

So do I need a dictionary to be able to decipher this?

Best book to read ?

15:45 Þæt wæs god cyning! 😁 I love this and am looking forward to reading the book! I hope resources like this continue to become more plentiful for historical languages. I could see someone making a graded reader for Mesoamerican languages that have a lot of L1 texts like Colonial Yucatec, K'iche', Nahuatl, or even Classic Maya (with some work, since there are ongoing debates about the decipherment of the grammar).

I understand everything except the "evne". What does it mean?