Eru,
In your opinion, is Quenya or Sindarin easier to learn? I've always felt that Quenya was nicer sounding so that's why I looked up the courses on it first.
Both have their pros and cons.
Pros: Quenya corpus is the largest by far, and Tolkien laboured more into this language than in any other, so the grammar is far more complete and the degree of development is greater, what leaves less room for speculation and theories.
It is the most popular of Tolkien languages, and there are thousands of people out there studying it. Also, the number of "experts" is greater, so in case you need someone to give you a hand, there's always more people to turn to.
Finally, there are more sites and publications dedicated to this language, and therefore, more research.
Cons: Quenya grammar is quite different to that of the Germanic languages, i.e. English
BUT at the same time it's quite simple, so once you get familiar with a few concepts and manage to forget about English grammar, you'll be OK.
Pros: Compared to Quenya, Sindarin basically has little pros. Those interested must find consolation in the fact that the Grey Tongue was the most important elven language spoken in ME, not Quenya.
If you have a taste for Celtic languages, the Sindarin mutation system and phonology will please you.
Cons:Its corpus is minimal, what leaves too much room for speculation, theories, and humongous-headed geek wars (see TORC Languages forum
).
It's grammar, same as Quenya's, is different to that of the English tongue, with the added inconvenience I just mentioned: its small corpus.
It also requieres to memorise a lot of information such as tables of mutations, exceptions, etc.
If you really like the sound of Quenya, then you should definitely go for this language. On top of the pros listed above, your interest will keep you going when you find yourself struggling with one thing or another.
I haven't ever run across Thor's. Have a link?
You can download it from my Yahoo Briefcase. I'm working on its translation right now to upload it onto my website.
Click on the following link to get to the briefcase welcoming page:
http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/house_of_feanor
and once there,
sign in with your YahooID (which I have previously authorised in order to grant you permission), and it will redirect you to the briefcase page, but know you'll see 2 folders. In the one called "Ceol" you will find the Quenya Course,
Quetin Lambe Eldaiva, in pdf format ready to be downloaded.